Recent research has challenged previous beliefs about Mars’ water history, showing that Martian gullies could be formed by the sublimation of CO2 ice, not just liquid water. This finding, which indicates a potentially shorter duration of liquid water on Mars, suggests a decreased likelihood for past life on the planet and underscores Earth’s uniqueness in the cosmos. Credit: SciTechDaily.comThe period that liquid water was present on the surface ofmay have been shorter than previously thought.
“The results of my research suggest that the chance of life having existed on Mars is smaller than previously thought.”ice could be a driving force behind these Martian landscape structures. “But those hypotheses were mainly based on models or satellite studies,” Roelofs explains. “With our experiments in a so-called ‘Mars chamber’, we were able to simulate this process under Martian conditions. Using this specialized lab equipment we could directly study this process with our own eyes.
“My research now shows that, in addition to debris flows powered by water, the sublimation of frozen COcan also serve as a driving force behind the formation of these Martian gully landscapes. That pushes the presence of water on Mars further into the past, making the chance of life on Mars smaller.” And that makes us even more unique than we thought.But what makes someone interested in landscapes 330 million km away? “Mars is our closest neighbor.
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