Scientists find evidence of ancient Martian lake
Scientists find evidence of ancient Martian lake
By Agence France-Presse
Sunday, January 20, 2013 16:15 EST
A US spacecraft orbiting Mars has provided evidence of an ancient crater lake fed by groundwater, adding further support to theories that the Red Planet may once have hosted life, NASA said Sunday.
Spectrometer data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows traces of carbonate and clay minerals usually formed in the presence of water at the bottom of the 1.4-mile (2.2-kilometer) deep McLaughlin Crater.
“These new observations suggest the formation of the carbonates and clay in a groundwater-fed lake within the closed basin of the crater,” NASA said of the findings, which were published in the online edition of Nature Geoscience.
“Some researchers propose the crater interior catching the water,” the space agency said, adding that “the underground zone contributing the water could have been wet environments and potential habitats.”
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