Sky and Telescope - November 2017 - 23

2. Jezero

3. NE Syrtis

4. Oxia Planum

5. Mawrth Vallis

2. Jezero - This ancient crater contains evidence of a delta
that formed when a river overran the crater's wall and flowed
into it, creating a lake. Conceivably, microbial life could have
lived in Jezero during one or more of the wet epochs the crater
experienced. If so, signs of their remains might have been
trapped in lakebed sediments.

ExoMars (landing ellipse 104 km × 19 km)
4. Oxia Planum - This plain, covered in layers of clay-rich
minerals, formed in wet conditions some 3.9 billion years ago
and could have hosted microorganisms. The site features the
remnants of a fan or delta near the outlet of Coogoon Valles,
which might preserve biosignatures.

3. Northeastern Syrtis Major Planum - Just upstream from
Jezero, this broad plateau was once warmed by volcanic activity. Underground heat made springs flow and surface ice melt.
"It's a layer cake stratigraphy of rocks containing all kinds of
different minerals laid down in different environments," says
Horgan. Some of these environments could have been ideal for
microbes to flourish.

5. Mawrth Vallis - A few hundred kilometers away from Oxia
Planum, Mawrth Vallis also contains layered, clay-rich sedimentary deposits, and hints at ancient localized ponds, subsurface aquifers, and possible hydrothermal activity. All of this
could have provided the ideal conditions for life to thrive. Both
sites lie just north of the equator and preserve a rich record of
geological history from the planet's wetter past.
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GUSE V: N ASA / JPL- CA LTECH / COR NELL; JE ZERO: N ASA / JPL- CA LTECH / MS S S / JHU -A PL;
NE SYRTIS: N ASA /JPL- CA LTECH / UNIV. OF A RIZON A ; OXIA PL A NUM: N ASA / MRO / HIRISE / OXIA
PL A NUM TE A M / LS SWG; M AWRTH VA LLIS: ESA / D LR / FU BER LIN, CC BY- SA 3.0 IG O

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s k y a n d t e l e s c o p e . c o m * N O V E M B E R 2 0 17

23
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Sky and Telescope - November 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky and Telescope - November 2017
