NASA's Perseverance rover finds evidence of mighty river on Mars in latest discovery

NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars has found what is believed to be clear evidence of a fast-flowing and deep river that once existed on the red planet. This ancient river is visible in the latest mosaic pictures beamed to Earth by the rover. NASA says that this river was part of a network of waterways that flowed into Jezero Crater, the site Perseverance has been exploring since its landing in February 2021. Question: When you see something like this, do you say, “Huh, a pile of rocks.” – or something more like, “Whoa! Crazy tall, tilted, sedimentary layers! Formed by a fast-moving ancient river, maybe?” (I think you know where I stand.) Latest findings: https://t.co/vU8O1gpLmP pic.twitter.com/zZjmWimVge — NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) May 11, 2023 Perseverance uncovers 'high-energy river' The robot is currently exploring the top of a fan-shaped pile of sedimentary rock that stands 820 feet (250 meters) tall and its features suggest water once flowed around it. The hundreds of images that were stitched together into two mosaics along with the coarse sediment grains and circular-shaped rocks at the site have made scientists believe that it could have been a powerful river system. (Band of rocks spotted by Perseverance rover; Image: NASA) "Those (sediments & rocks) indicate a high-energy river that’s trucking and carrying a lot of debris. The more powerful the flow of water, the more easily it’s able to move larger pieces of material,” said Libby Ives, a researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It is the team at JPL which controls the rover. “It’s been a delight to look at rocks on another planet and see processes that are so familiar,” Ives said. Thanks to Perseverance, the JPL team is able to explore the curving bands of layered rock within Jezero Crater which were only observed from the Martian orbit until now. These bands are named “the curvilinear unit” and the mosaics created showcase a feature nicknamed the “Skrinkle Haven.” NASA says that the curved layers of rocks were created by a river, but scientists are debating whether the river flowed snakelike across the landscape or had many branches. Apart from the “Skrinkle Haven", there is a second location called "Pinestand" which is an isolated hill bearing sedimentary layers that curve skyward, some as high as 66 feet (20 meters). Experts believe these curves were also formed by flowing water. “These layers are anomalously tall for rivers on Earth,” Ives said. “But at the same time, the most common way to create these kinds of landforms would be a river.” With these findings, Katie Stack Morgan, Perseverance’s deputy project scientist at JPL said that scientists are now "thinking about rivers on a different scale than we have before.”

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NASA's Perseverance rover finds evidence of mighty river on Mars in latest discovery

NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars has sent pictures featuring layered rocks which are believed to be part of once an ancient fast-flowing and deep river.

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