Lake Salda in Turkey is the only place on the planet that can be compared to an ancient impact formation on Mars. (Image credit: temizyurek/Getty Images)
Lake Salda is a body of water in Turkey that bears striking similarities to Mars’ Jezero Crater. This stunning lake is the only place on Earth where geological and mineralogical features can be compared to those of an ancient impact structure on the Red Planet. This striking similarity attracted the attention of scientists, who began studying its shores even before the Perseverance rover landed on Mars in 2021.
Lake Salda is one of Turkey’s deepest bodies of water, reaching a maximum depth of 643 feet (196 meters). Its shores are covered with powdery hydromagnesite, a magnesium-rich carbonate mineral found in caves and on the shores of some lakes. Interestingly, this mineral may hold clues to ancient microbial life.
“Carbonates are important because they're very good at preserving anything that existed in that environment, like microbes, organics, or certain textures that indicate past microbial life,” said Brad Garczynski, a planetary geology researcher at Western Washington University and NASA's Earth Observatory.
The hydromagnesite on the shores of Lake Salda likely formed from microbialites, which are rock-like mounds similar to coral reefs but made of microbes. Pristine microbialites can still be found in the lake, but over time they will be recycled and turn into sand on the shore, according to NASA Earth Observatory.
Using data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, scientists in 2019 found similar minerals on the western edge of Jezero, indicating the presence of a lake in the crater in the past. These observations were confirmed by the Perseverance rover, which found mineral evidence of a lake inside Jezero Crater billions of years ago.
Lake Salda and Jezero Crater have another feature in common: sedimentary formations known as deltas. Deltas are layers of sedimentary rock that accumulate where rivers flow into lakes and other bodies of water. These features provide fascinating clues about how water filled Jezero, and studying them in Lake Salda has helped scientists focus their search on specific locations in the Martian crater.
Exploration of the lake continues in an effort to search for ancient life on the Red Planet.
“One of the most amazing aspects of visiting Lake Salda is that it really allows you to feel what it was like to stand on the shores of an ancient lake called Jezero,” Horgan said.
Sourse: www.livescience.com
