Mars likely had cold and icy past, new study finds

A new study points that Mars had a frigid, icy history, similar to current subarctic regions on Earth

Scientists have long wondered if Mars ever supported life, focusing on its past climate. A new study points to a frigid, icy history, similar to subarctic regions on Earth, potentially making life as we know it less likely.

According to the Eureka Alert, the study, published in Communications Earth and Environment, compares soils from Mars' Gale Crater to those in Canada's Newfoundland. "Gale Crater is a paleo lakebed—there was obviously water present. But what were the environmental conditions when the water was there?" said Anthony Feldman, a soil scientist and geomorphologist at DRI.

Read: Mars rover data confirms ancient lake sediments on red planet

NASA’s Curiosity Rover, investigating Gale Crater since 2011, found X-ray amorphous material in the soil. These materials, unlike typical minerals, lack a repeating atomic structure, complicating analysis. Feldman described them as "a soup of different elements and chemicals that just slide past each other."

Chemical analyses by Curiosity revealed that the amorphous material was rich in iron and silica but deficient in aluminum. Feldman and his team searched for similar materials on Earth, studying soils in Newfoundland, Northern California’s Klamath Mountains, and western Nevada.

Their findings showed that the cold, near-freezing conditions in Newfoundland produced materials similar to those in Gale Crater. "You need the water there to form these materials, but it needs to be cold to preserve the amorphous material in the soils," Feldman explained.

This research enhances understanding of Mars' climate, suggesting that Gale Crater's materials formed under subarctic conditions. "The results suggest that the abundance of this material in Gale Crater is consistent with subarctic conditions, similar to what we would see in, for instance, Iceland," Feldman said.

The study, supported by multiple institutions, aims to extend its findings to other types of dementia and data, potentially revolutionizing early diagnosis and treatment pathways.