The idea that life once existed on Mars just got a big boostThe first definitive evidence of an ancient lake on Mars has been discovered by scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The evidence: shorelines that indicate the past presence of a large body of water.
"This is the first unambiguous evidence of shorelines on the surface of Mars," said CU-Boulder research associate and study leader Gaetano Di Achille in a statement. "The identification of the shorelines and accompanying geological evidence allows us to calculate the size and volume of the lake, which appears to have formed about 3.4 billion years ago."
Though there is a great amount of solid water in the planet's cryosphere in the form of permafrost and polar caps, water in liquid form is not possible due to low surface temperatures and pressure. But the idea of liquid water on Mars sometime during the planet's past has driven much speculation that it may have once harbored life.
"On Earth, deltas and lakes are excellent collectors and preservers of signs of past life," said Di Achille. "If life ever arose on Mars, deltas may be the key to unlocking Mars' biological past."
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- It's the End of the World As We Know It (June 12, 2009)
- Hubble's Last Stand (May 24, 2009)
- Getting Closer to the Beginning of Time (May 16, 2009)
- Strange, New Worlds (May 9, 2009)
- Ol' Lightnin' (May 3, 2009)
- A Possible New World Fit for Life (April 28, 2009)
- Blast From the Past (March 28, 2009)
- Captured on Film: The Personification of Dread (March 13, 2009)
- Martian Soil Appears to Support Life, Scientists "Flabbergasted" (June 28, 2008)
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