Add another score to the enumeration of how similar Mars is to Earth . While evidence continues to jump on forwateron the Red Planet , an unexpected young piece of research has find that it may have a continental - like impudence once thought unequaled to Earth , suggesting it had tectonic activity long ago , possibly in its first 100 million year .
It may also rule out the hypothesis that Mars see alarge impactearly in its story , leave in its northerly cerebral hemisphere being much lower than the southerly hemisphere .
The challenging discovery , published inNature Geoscience , was made by Violaine Sautter of the Museum of Natural History in Paris and her colleagues . They analyse datum from 20 rocks studied by the ChemCam instrumental role on the Curiosity rover and suggested that they originated from a continental crust , rather than basaltic rock ‘n’ roll , due to the teemingness of silica which is similar to what we note in our own continental crust .
On Earth , ourcontinental crustis thought to have originated from the bm of magma when plate tectonics first formed billions of age ago . antecedently , the freshness on Mars was thought to beone piece – that is , unlike Earth , it had no tectonic dental plate that wobble on the open . But this latest evidence suggests otherwise . Tectonic activity on Mars would have come “ very early ” Sautter notes , roughly from the prison term of its formation 4.57 billion years ago to 4.47 billion years ago .
The evidence from Gale Crater , shown by the mark , may explain why the northern hemisphere ( blue ) is so much lower than the southern hemisphere ( orangish and red ) . Credit : Google Mars / NASA
“ It is very important , because Mars is supposed to be a basalt address world , ” Sautter told IFLScience . Until now , it had been impossible to encounter evidence for a continental impertinence from electron orbit , but Curiosity ’s location – Gale Crater – is unique in that it is deep , giving a hybridization section across the geological history on Mars , and it is also at the boundary line of the northerly and southern hemispheres .
This is significant , because the hemisphere pose a job . For some ground , the northerly hemisphere is several kilometers below the southern hemisphere , appear as a expectant depression . The predominant hypothesis had been that Mars was excise by a Pluto - sized body four billion days ago , but this discovery may propose otherwise . “ To some extent yes , this report [ rules out a with child encroachment ] , ” Sautter explicate .
The continental crust , fat in silica and feldspar , could excuse thedifferent altitudesof the two hemispheres . Sautter explains that it may be the result of an “ internal reason ” under the airfoil of Mars , such as the non - symmetrical transfer of heat , “ not by an external [ effect ] such as a elephantine wallop . ” Sautter estimates that the continental crust would extend 50 to 70 kilometers ( 30 to 45 miles ) below the control surface , and the researcher note in theirpaperthat parts of it could have thaw into a “ spicy and soft lithosphere ” on the Red Planet .
The bearing of a continental freshness will require further inquiry before it can be confirmed though . This might be possible on NASA ’s upcomingInSightmission , which will land in September 2016 and drill five meters ( 16 feet ) into the ground . If it is present , it poses further questions about just how world - like Mars once was .
