New images taken by NASA's Perseverance rover may show evidence that ancient rivers that once flowed over the planet ran much deeper, and flowed much faster than researchers previously thought. The river was part of a network of waterways that flowed in Jezero Crater. Notably, it's the area the rover has been exploring since landing more than two years ago in the hopes of eventually seeking out signs of ancient microbial life.
A composite image was created by piecing together hundreds of images taken with Perseverance's Mastcam-Z instrument.
''Those indicate a high-energy river that's truckin' and carrying a lot of debris. The more powerful the flow of water, the more easily it's able to move larger pieces of material. It's been a delight to look at rocks on another planet and see processes that are so familiar,'' said Libby Ives, a postdoctoral researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a NASA release.
For two years, Perseverance has been examining a top of an 820-foot-tall pile of sedimentary rock that stands 820 feet (250 meters) tall and features curving layers suggestive of flowing water. One location within the curvilinear unit, nicknamed ''Skrinkle Haven,'' is captured in one of the new Mastcam-Z mosaics.
While NASA scientists are sure that the curved layers were created by powerful water, the images have raised questions about what kind.
"Scientists are now debating what kind of powerfully flowing water formed those curves: a river like the Mississippi, which winds snakelike across the landscape, or a braided river like Nebraska's Platte, which forms small islands of sediment called sandbars," NASA wrote.
