Mars Views Hint at Early Land of Lakes
By Ron Cowen
For 30 years, ever since spacecraft recorded what appeared to be dried-up channels on Mars, scientists have sought to determine whether water ever flowed on the Red Planet. High-resolution images unveiled this week offer more evidence that parts of ancient Mars resembled a land of lakes. They also point out prime locations to look for fossils that would indicate life once existed on the planet.
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The images, taken by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, show in unprecedented detail that massive structures of layered rock, like Earth’s Grand Canyon, are widespread on Mars. On Earth, such structures are made of sediments deposited over eons. The layers often sandwich fossils between them. Common at the site of dried-up lakes, these structures preserve our planet’s ancient history.