Water and carbon dioxide react to form carbonate minerals.
Previous discoveries, however, werent able to find sufficient amounts of carbonate to match the theory.
That is until Curiositys recent discovery.
A selfie taken by NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars.NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
It tells us that the planet was habitable and that the models for habitability are correct, Tutoloadded.
As Mars atmosphere thinned over time, the carbon dioxide transformed into rock form.
That may explain why previous missions have failed at finding evidence of carbonate minerals on Mars.
This discovery helps us understand the mechanisms that drove the two planets down very different paths.
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