(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona)
A new study suggests that thick, mineral-rich clay layers found on Mars suggest that potentially habitable environments existed on the Red Planet for significant periods of time in ancient times.
The clays require liquid water to form. These layers reach significant thicknesses of hundreds of feet and are thought to have formed about 3.7 billion years ago in warmer, wetter conditions than those currently found on Mars.
“These regions have a lot of water but no major topographic changes, making them very stable,” said study co-author Rianna Moore, who did her work as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas Jackson School of Geological Sciences.
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Sourse: www.livescience.com
