Rocks examined by the Curiosity rover in an ancient, long-dried lakebed on Mars suggest habitability billions of years ago.
Curiosity observed a remarkable amount of manganese oxide in Gale Crater rocks,
a mineral prevalent in lakes on Earth because to its highly oxidizing conditions, which create manganese crystals in oxygen.
Its abundance on Mars shows that the Gale Crater probably had similar circumstances when it was filled with water ages ago.
manganese oxidation reactions," says Los Alamos National Laboratory geochemist Patrick Gasda.
"Mars has no life, and its ancient atmosphere's oxygen production mechanism is unknown,
thus how manganese oxide was created and concentrated here is baffling.
These findings suggest broader mechanisms in the Martian atmosphere or surface water and suggest additional research is needed to understand oxidation on Mars."
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