NASA’s Curiosity rover has discovered opals on Mars. This deposit may prove valuable not as a gem to future Mars explorers, but as a potential source of water.
Opals form when water weathers silica-rich rocks, forming a solution that settles in cracks and crevices in the rocks. Over time, this solution hardens and becomes cloudy and dull or dazzling. Most supplies come from Australia or Ethiopia, but now a new source has been discovered: Mars.
Brightly colored rocks can be seen surrounding a fracture ‘halo’ that crisscrosses the Martian surface throughout old images collected by the Curiosity rover. Samples of these rocks had previously been collected by Rover’s instruments, and in a new study, researchers at Arizona State University used new techniques to analyze his data from this archive.
The composition of the rock appeared to be mostly silica and water, which are the main components of opal. This was consistent with the various veins Curiosity intersected at various points in the mission, even with very different types of rock.
“A new analysis of archival data shows striking similarities between all the fracture halos we observed long after the mission,” said study co-lead author Travis Gabriel. “It was incredible to see that these fracture networks were so widespread and likely packed with opal.”
Marine Space Science Systems/NASA/JPL-California Institute of Technology
This is not the first time opal-like material has been found on Mars. Back in 2008, the Mars Reconnaissance His orbiter detected large, pale spots attributed to hydrated silica deposits in several regions of Mars. Today, this material appears to be more widespread than previously thought.
The implications of finding opal on Mars extend beyond adornment for future astronauts: one suggests that water existed on Mars much more recently than is currently thought . Subsurface conditions remained potentially habitable for much longer, even after the surface dried out and became uninhabitable for any microorganisms that might have lived there. Good news for its successor rover, Perseverance, which is currently searching Jezero Crater for signs of life. The site is also rich in opal-like substances.
Another implication is that this opal could be a useful source of water for future human visitors. The team found that a 1 meter (3.3 ft) long halo could contain up to 5.7 liters (1.5 gallons) of water above 0.3 m (1 ft) above the surface. Estimated.
This research Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.
Source: Arizona State University
