Is There Life On Mars? of the Day: The Mars Rover Opportunity has found mineral deposits that a spectrometer analysis has confirmed to be calcium sulfate, providing even more hard evidence that water once flowed beneath the surface of the red planet.
The material was found in a vein near the rim of the Endeavor Crater, and has been given the unofficial name “Homestake.”
Calcium sulfate has many forms, depending on how much water is present in the mineral’s structure, but the information gathered from Opportunity points to this particular deposit being gypsum.
Gypsum has been found elsewhere on Mars, most notably in large dunes near the planet’s north pole, but Steve Squyres, the principal investigator for Opportunity feels that this new discovery is special.
He explains:
This stuff is a fairly pure chemical deposit that formed in place right where we see it. That can’t be said for other gypsum seen on Mars or for other water-related minerals Opportunity has found.
Scientists believe that the Homestake gypsum was formed when water dissolved calcium from volcanic rocks. The calcium then combined with sulfur and ended up in an underground fracture that eventually became exposed.
Submitted by: Unknown
-
-
Copy & paste this:
