Scientists using NASA’s Curiosity rover have made an exciting discovery on Mars! They found patterns in the rocks called wave ripples in Gale Crater. These ripples suggest that Mars once had liquid water on its surface without ice covering it. This discovery is important because it helps scientists understand what the climate on ancient Mars was like.
Wave ripples are small, wavy patterns found in sand and mud. They form when wind creates waves in water, which then move the sediment back and forth. These types of ripples can be found on Earth in shallow lakes, beaches, and even on the ocean floor.
Curiosity found two sets of wave ripples in different layers of rock:
Amapari Marker Band (AMB) – A layer of rock that contains well-preserved ripples about 4.5 cm wide.
Prow Outcrop – Another rock layer with ripples that suggest oscillatory wave motion, meaning they were shaped by waves moving back and forth.
These ripples formed more than 3 billion years ago when shallow lakes existed in Gale Crater.
For years, scientists debated whether Mars was cold and covered in ice or warmer with lakes of liquid water. Many thought that if Mars had water, it was frozen most of the time. However, the discovery of wave ripples proves that Mars once had open, unfrozen lakes—meaning it must have had a thicker atmosphere and a warmer climate at some point.
The ripples show that Mars had lakes at different times in its history.
These lakes were likely shallow, less than 2 meters deep.
The atmosphere of ancient Mars must have been denser and warmer than today to allow liquid water.
This discovery challenges old ideas about Mars' climate and gives new clues about its history. Scientists will continue exploring Gale Crater to learn how long these lakes lasted and whether Mars could have once supported life.