Technology
Radar Reveals Ancient River Delta Buried Under Mars' Jezero Crater
NASA's Perseverance rover discovered a buried river delta in Mars' Jezero Crater using ground-penetrating radar. The delta, found tens of metres below the surface, predates the crater's well-known Western Delta and may hold biosignatures.
Scientists using NASA's Perseverance rover have detected a previously unknown river delta buried beneath the surface of Mars' Jezero Crater. The rover, which landed in 2021, is examining a dried-up Martian lakebed for signs of ancient life. The Radar Imager for Mars Subsurface Experiment (RIMFAX) continuously sends radar waves into the ground as the rover travels. The radar waves bounce back when they encounter boundaries between rock, ice, and sediment layers. According to Emily L. Cardarelli, an astrobiologist at the University of California Los Angeles, the newly discovered delta is a promising place to look for signs of biosignatures at depth.
Key Facts
- Perseverance's RIMFAX detected a river delta buried under Jezero Crater's Western Delta.
- The radar sends radio waves into the ground every 10 centimetres of rover travel.
- The timing and intensity of radio wave reflections allow scientists to construct a vertical slice of the subsurface.
- The newly discovered delta is buried tens of metres below the surface.
- The rover landed in Jezero Crater in 2021 to search for signs of ancient life.
- Jezero Crater features a dried-up Martian lakebed.
- Scientists have been studying the crater's Western Delta, a geologic feature deposited by a river billions of years ago.
Primary Source
Research Sources
- Ars Technica — Perseverance’s radar revealed ancient subsurface river delta on Mars