A significant number of experts believe that three and a half billion years ago, there was the presence of rivers and lakes. However, since the Sun was also believed to be a lot dimmer than it is today, scientists have explained that it might have caused the drying up of these bodies of water. Moreover, experts have also added that the Red Planet must have been in full greenhouse-mode, with plenty of carbon dioxide warming up its otherwise frigid atmosphere.
Water On Mars
According to reports revealed by IFL Science, NASA's Curiosity has been constantly giving astronomers a hard time in terms of explaining where carbon might be coming from. It was found that the rover has been studying the bed of an ancient lake, and yet, it wasn't able to find any trace of carbonate minerals, which then suggests that the atmosphere was quite devoid of carbon dioxide. Thomas Bristow from NASA's Ames Research Center said that what causes them to be continuously perplexed is regarding the absence of carbonate minerals in sedimentary rock the rover has examined.
Carbon Dioxide: Is It Good Or Bad For Mars?
Meanwhile, experts have explained that it would make it hard for them to get liquid water even if there were a hundred times more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than what the mineral evidence in the rock would tell them. Additionally, NASA has revealed that Curiosity has the ability to identify carbonates even if they make up just a few percent of the rocks. However, as of the press time, they have highly emphasized that it has failed to make any definitive detection, which is quite the opposite of what the researchers were expecting.
On the other hand, Bristow has claimed that it remains to be a mystery for them as to why there hasn't been much carbonate seen from orbit. Furthermore, he has revealed that what makes it even harder fo them to look for carbonates since either they're covered by dust, buried or they are just looking at the wrong place.
