Lead
The Curiosity rover found a unique set of geological structures in the photos taken on the surface of Mars, which have a unique shape and are nicknamed "cobras" by scientists, so what exactly is this set of cobra-shaped geological structures and how did they form?
According to scientists' speculation, this group of cobra geological structures is likely to be formed by water erosion, and if this speculation is true, then this will be the first geological structure found on Mars so far that can prove that Mars may have had water in the past, so why did Mars lose water?
How did this group of cobra geological structures form on the surface of Mars?## 1. Curiosity discovered the cobra geological structure.
In the Curiosity rover's photographs, the "Cobra" geological structure was found next to a steep cliff on Mars, and researchers believe that this group of geological formations was formed due to long-term erosion by water currents.
The shape of the tail in the geological structure of the "Cobra" is also quite unique, you can see that its tail shape is thinner, and there is a break between the tail and the main body, and the length and width of the tail are exactly the same as the length of the main body.
As a result, researchers speculate that this group of "cobra" geological formations may have originally been a more complete ring, but as the water eroded, it eventually took on the very unique shape it is now.
Scientists speculate that the cliff may have once been a lake or reservoir on Mars, and that the "cobra" geological structure was formed at the bottom or bottom of the lake or reservoir, a terrain that resembles the sedimentary landform of the lake floor on Earth, which scientists call "lake floor fan deposits."
On Earth, there is a large number of fan-like deposits on the bottom of the lake, and this phenomenon has also been discovered on Mars, and this discovery further confirms the signs that water may have existed on Mars in the past.
In the process of human exploration of Mars, many signs of water may be found on Mars, such as water marks on Mars, river valleys, frozen water and lakes.
However, these discoveries can only prove that there may have been water on Mars in the past, but not that there is indeed water on Mars, and the emergence of this group of "Cobra" geological structures will be a breakthrough, and if humans carry out Mars exploration in the future, they can further detect and verify the water resources of Mars through this group of geological structures. ## 2. The reason why Mars loses water.
So how is water on Mars formed and lost?
There is a lot of speculation about the origin of Mars' water resources, but scientists have a clear explanation for why Mars loses water.
In the solar system, Mars is a planet between Earth and Jupiter, and like Earth, Mars also has its own atmosphere, which is mainly composed of carbon dioxide, with small amounts of water vapor and argon.
Under normal conditions, there is a balanced conversion between carbon dioxide and water vapor in the Martian atmosphere, so as long as there is carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere, there will also be water vapor in the Martian atmosphere.
Moreover, the atmosphere of Mars can also produce a certain greenhouse effect, so in the presence of water vapor in the atmosphere, a certain greenhouse effect will be formed, which will cause the temperature of Mars to rise, and a large amount of liquid water will be formed on the surface.
As a result, most of the water resources on Mars are liquid water that can exist on the surface of Mars, which means that there was a large amount of liquid water on Mars, and this has been the case for a long time.
But as time goes on, the sun's radiation becomes more and more intense, and the atmosphere of Mars is too thin to produce enough greenhouse effect, and the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is gradually broken down by the sun's radiation and escapes into space.
As a result, the atmosphere on Mars will become thinner and thinner over time, and eventually the atmosphere of Mars will basically not be able to produce enough greenhouse effect, which means that liquid water can no longer exist on the surface of Mars.
At this time, the water vapor on Mars is still there, but the atmosphere is thin and cannot produce the greenhouse effect, so the temperature of Mars will also plummet at night, causing the water vapor on Mars to condense into ice crystals at night, and then sublimate again into water vapor in the morning as the temperature rises.
Eventually, as the atmosphere of Mars becomes thinner, the condensation and sublimation of water vapor becomes more and more difficult, and eventually as the atmosphere of Mars is almost lost, Mars' water resources will gradually be lost, eventually causing Mars to lose most of its water resources.
3. Reclaimed water from Mars.
Most of the water on Mars exists in the groundwater of Mars, so after Mars loses its water resources, does it mean that Mars no longer has the conditions for life?
In fact, after Mars loses its water resources, it is still possible for life to exist in the groundwater of Mars, but this possibility is very slim.
On Earth, although there are extreme environments in groundwater in many places, there is still life in this environment, and life is very interdependent.
In groundwater, there will be extreme temperature, pressure, pH and salinity, so life in groundwater will form a certain level and relationship due to different environments, and eventually form a complex ecological system.
Moreover, there used to be a large amount of liquid water on Mars, so it is possible to form a certain ecosystem on Mars.
Moreover, scientists believe that life on Mars may be earlier than life on Earth, but after Mars loses its water resources, life in groundwater will gradually become extinct, so life on Mars is a very unlikely existence.
So in the future, will humans be able to survive on Mars, and will they be able to colonize Mars?
In fact, Mars is not without water resources, there is still a small amount of water in the groundwater, but considering the quality of Mars, the possibility of regenerating water on Mars is very small.
epilogue
Before the space colonization program begins, humanity needs to conduct an in-depth study of the water resources on Mars, and at the same time need to consider how to survive self-sufficiency on planets other than Earth.
In space, humans can't grow a lot of vegetation, so it's important to think about how to build an effective greenhouse effect and conserve water resources, as well as how to build an ecosystem on Mars.
There are also many unsolved mysteries on Earth, and human beings need to conduct more in-depth research on the ecological balance and resource utilization on Earth, and also need to consider how to survive self-sufficiency on Earth and avoid the failure of Mars to lose water.
Extended perspective
Human beings also need to pay attention to the protection and utilization of water resources on the earth, and at the same time, they also need to pay attention to the environmental protection of the earth.
On the earth, water is a very precious resource, but people's waste of water resources is also more serious, so we need to learn to use water sparingly in our daily life.
Moreover, the earth's water resources can still be regenerated, but in human activities, water resources will still be polluted to a certain extent, so people need to pay attention to the protection and purification of water resources in their daily life.
In the process of human exploration, the progress and innovation of science and technology can bring more possibilities to mankind, and human beings also need to conduct in-depth research on ecological balance in space exploration to avoid repeating the mistake of Mars losing water resources.