Giant crater on Mars was once a vast lake, Curiosity Rover shows

A mountain on Mars may have built up over time from lake sediments, according to NASA scientists who have been studying observations from the Curiosity rover. This latest analysis is based on rocks discovered at the lower edges of Mount Sharp, which is located, rather oddly, in the midst of a crater on Earth’s neighboring planet. While scientists are still not sure how long Mars was wet for any given spell through history, they were stunned to find slanted rocks and soil that point to the existence of a lake bed in the crater, said Curiosity project scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology.

Gale Crater had a large lake filling the bottom of the 155 kilometres crater, perhaps even a series of lakes.

Michael Meyer, Mars Exploration Program lead scientist at NASA

While scientists are still not sure how long Mars was wet for any given spell through history, they were stunned to find slanted rocks and soil that point to the existence of a lake bed in the crater, said Curiosity project scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology. Known as inclined strata, this kind of geological formation is key for understanding how a planet formed but is hard to find distinct examples of, even on Earth, he told reporters. Billions of years ago, Mars is believed to have been much warmer, with a thicker atmosphere that would have supported liquid water and potentially some form of life.

Science Mars lake