Evidence of ancient lake found on Mars

NASA’s Perseverance rover has found what may have been an ancient Martian lake, and possible home to microbial life. An investigation of the planet’s Jezero Crater confirmed that water had flowed there some 3 billion years ago, due to the existence of sediment and clay, as well as evidence of water erosion of the rock. Using Perseverance’s onboard radar, the researchers were able to determine that the lake was not only home to a vast bed of sedimentation, but that the sediment was deposited over multiple time periods in between eras of erosion. In other words, the water was flowing. ‘We can see a bunch of different deposits, but we can’t tell for sure if what we’re seeing is their original state or if we’re seeing the conclusion of a long geological story,’ said the UCLA team behind the findings. The discovery has fueled speculation that the lake could also have been home to microbial life, based on the diverse mineral content found in the sediments, which resemble a river delta on Earth.