Mount Sharp, Mars, Shaped by Water and Wind

Researchers have presented evidence that water and wind were both responsible for the shaping of Aeolis Mons within Gale Crater on Mars.

IMAGE: Curiosity’s traverse route the past 10 years superimposed on an oblique view of Gale Crater. The rover touched down at Bradbury Landing and the star on the map marks its approximate location in July 2022. CREDIT: NASA

NASA’s Curiosity rover landed on the red planet ten years ago. Since then, it has traveled over eighteen miles along the surface, trundling slowly as it gathers massive amounts of data, searching for evidence of flowing water.

The landing site of the rolling laboratory is Gale Crater, an impact crater created at least 3.5 billion years ago. The crater is full of sediments, making it a prime target for understanding some of Mars’ wet history, especially with Aeolis Mons — also known as Mount Sharp — in the middle. As Curiosity approached the small mountain and started climbing its slopes, images revealed sedimentary layers in detail, likely created by water-eroded lake deposits.

Mount Sharp is about 1,300 feet high, and the depositional layers represent millions to tens of millions of years’ worth of deposited sand and mud. Curiosity not only took images of the formations but also collected samples of the rock and soil which were then analyzed with the onboard instruments. With more than 700 published papers to date, scientists around the world have discovered evidence of Mars’ ancient, wet past…