Glauconitic-Like Clay Found On Mars Suggests the Planet Once Had Habitable Conditions (phys.org) 17
A team of researchers from Spain, France and the U.S. has found evidence of a glauconitic-like clay on Mars that suggests the planet once had habitable conditions. Phys.Org reports: In their paper published in the journal Nature Astronomy, the group describes their study of clay minerals extracted from Gale Crater by Curiosity rover back in 2016 and what they found. Back in 2016, NASA's Curiosity rover drilled into the Martian surface inside of Gale Crater. The rover then extracted samples of the clay minerals and used its instruments to analyze the material. In this new effort, the researchers have taken a close look at the results of the analysis and found that it very closely resembles glauconitic clays here on Earth.
Glauconite is an iron potassium phyllosilicate mineral. It is almost always found as ovoid shapes in sediment beds, carbonates and sandstones -- formation requires stable conditions over a long period. This is what makes the discovery of a similar clay on Mars so exciting -- it suggests that it likely formed under stable conditions for a long time, perhaps millions of years. And that suggests that for at least one part of Mars, conditions were, to some extent, suitable for life over millions of years. [...] The researchers note that their findings are not evidence of life on Mars, but suggest that there was a time during which conditions on the surface were favorable for its presence.
Glauconite is an iron potassium phyllosilicate mineral. It is almost always found as ovoid shapes in sediment beds, carbonates and sandstones -- formation requires stable conditions over a long period. This is what makes the discovery of a similar clay on Mars so exciting -- it suggests that it likely formed under stable conditions for a long time, perhaps millions of years. And that suggests that for at least one part of Mars, conditions were, to some extent, suitable for life over millions of years. [...] The researchers note that their findings are not evidence of life on Mars, but suggest that there was a time during which conditions on the surface were favorable for its presence.
Clay? (Score:2)
Perhaps some Martian pottery pieces?
The Martians were on Facebook once (Score:2)
Google it.
:-P
Alternative title (Score:2)
More rocks found on Mars.
Cars on Mars (Score:1)
They converted all their water into hydrogen for their car's fuel cells
They used an AI to automate the process and... no more water
The oxygen just floated off in to space
don't these clays require oxygen to be present? (Score:3)
I thought these types of clay required oxygen for their formation, as they are found on earth after oxygen levels rose due to photosynthesis. I don't see how they could have formed in water on Mars when there could not have been much or any oxygen. I am not a mineralogist, so maybe someone who is could weigh in on this?
Re:don't these clays require oxygen to be present? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Glauconite needs low oxygen conditions to form. Usually underwater on a shelf with low to no sedimentation.
That being said, I don't have access to their data and interpretative software, but just looking at the low resolution peak list they provide, it looks like both 100% peaks are shifted over at least two degrees 2THETA higher than what you would expect from a glauconite. The low peak is sitting ~11 degrees instead of ~9 degrees, and the ~19 degree peak is around 23 degrees.
I'm not 100% convinced it's gl
Let me correct that headline (Score:1)
Life only happens ... on purpose (Score:2)
Slashdot (Score:2)
I see why /. is not as popular as it used to be.