A NASA rover exploring the foothills of Mars’ mountains discovered wavy rocks, providing scientists with the clearest evidence yet of ancient water waves on Mars.
Curiosity, a car-sized robot that has been hovering over Mars for a decade, snapped a unique geological photo in mid-December (opens in new tab). The rocks are like the wavy patterns seen when the tide pulls the sea back from the beach, revealing wobbly tracks on the temporarily exposed sand.
Scientists on the mission say that waves of water lapping on the surface of shallow lakes created these trenches, probably billions of years ago. They speculate that the movement of the upper agitated the sediment below, forming a combed texture.
