The planet Mars has been attracting humanity for decades, and some even think it could be our next home. However, the conditions are too harsh for humanity to survive unless they adapt the planet and/or its way of life. Despite this, life on the Red Planet could have been possible a long time ago, according to a recent discovery.

Was Mars similar to Earth 3.6 billion years ago?

The Curiosity rover was sent to Mars just over 11 years ago and is traveling the planet Pojo to study it and also to find evidence that life existed there, at least favorable conditions, in a more or less distant past. Although several discoveries supporting this hypothesis have already been made on the surface of the planet, one in particular has convinced a large part of the scientific community.

In 2021, the Curiosity rover discovered polygon-shaped cracks on Mount Sharp, located in the remnants of an ancient lake. These lie between layers of sulfites and layers of clay-rich sediments.

Since clay usually forms in wetlands and sulfites form when water evaporates, the proximity of these two sediment layers and the shape of these cracks They are irrefutable proof that billions of years ago the planet experienced wet and dry cycles.similar to those experienced by the Earth today.

This discovery it is also important in determining whether life could have developed on the planet in the distant past. The alternation of dry and wet cycles is essential to the development of carbon polymers, which are also essential to the birth of life.

The Curiosity rover has confirmed that around 3.6 billion years ago, the Red Planet had a climate conducive to water evaporation and flow cycles.

These alternations of wet and dry periods could have allowed the development of carbonaceous compounds., considered the main chemical components of life. However, no evidence of the presence of life has yet been found on Mars, even if the evidence in favor of this hypothesis is increasing.

One discovery after another at Mount Sharp

After 11 years of exploring the soil of Mars, the Curiosity robot accumulates a series of important discoveries. Because there is no tectonic activity on Mars, ancient sediments are not buried as deeply as they usually are on Earth.which makes it possible to study soils that are sometimes very old, as was the case for the discovery described above.

This offers researchers the possibility of studying certain soils, such as that of Mount Sharp, in more detail. Earlier this year, for example, scientists discovered wavy textures on the slopes of this mountain, believed to have been created by waves.

These undulating structures were the first of their kind observed on the planet., despite the exploration of many lake deposits by the Curiosity rover. They represent to date the most important proof of the presence of large quantities of water on Mars in the past. Above this undulating layer, Curiosity also discovered rocks with evenly spaced, regularly thick patterns.which would also have been sculpted by the flow of water on the surface of the planet.

Mount Sharp is therefore a veritable gold mine in the search for the presence of life on Mars in the past.since many indications of conditions favorable to its formation have been discovered on its slopes in recent years.

Although the presence of potentially abundant water has already been documented, the discovery of evidence of regular dry and wet climate cycles marks a further step in the search for ancient life on the surface of our neighboring planet.