Hard evidence: Lake on Mars

About 3.4 billion years ago but still... Pretty sure there would at least be evidence of microbial life there, even if it is not there now.

IMO Life is all over the universe.

I agree....

the planet had rivers and seas at one time....it must of been amazing if one could of seen it....

Im sure theres got to be some residues of past life...

The photo anomalys are are strange as well that we've seen...

Im also sure mars holds a lot of surprises that would be amazing....

huggs

Here I found this for yoru thread - great stuff huh!

University of Colorado team finds definitive evidence for ancient lake on Mars

A University of Colorado at Boulder research team has discovered the first definitive evidence of shorelines on Mars, an indication of a deep, ancient lake there and a finding with implications for the discovery of past life on the Red Planet.

Estimated to be more than 3 billion years old, the lake appears to have covered as much as 80 square miles and was up to 1,500 feet deep

An analysis of the HiRISE images indicate that water carved a 30-mile-long canyon that opened up into a valley, depositing sediment that formed a large delta. This delta and others surrounding the basin imply the existence of a large, long-lived lake. The lake bed is located within a much larger valley known as the Shalbatana Vallis.

"Finding shorelines is a Holy Grail of sorts to us," said Hynek.

In addition, the evidence shows the lake existed during a time when Mars is generally believed to have been cold and dry, which is at odds with current theories proposed by many planetary scientists, he said. "Not only does this research prove there was a long-lived lake system on Mars, but we can see that the lake formed after the warm, wet period is thought to have dissipated."

"On Earth, deltas and lakes are excellent collectors and preservers of signs of past life," said Di Achille. "If life ever arose on Mars, deltas may be the key to unlocking Mars' biological past."

Wonder how the fly-fishing was?

So there was a lake on mars ... Ok ... whats new. Anyone who ever saw a picture of the place knew there was going to be something like that . Tell me when they find a high rise parking facility and a Marsdonalds.

Life (as we know it) needs water to live. maybe there were other things on Mars as well in the past, or even today in its icy parts.

Originally posted by TrueBrit
So there was a lake on mars ... Ok ... whats new. Anyone who ever saw a picture of the place knew there was going to be something like that . Tell me when they find a high rise parking facility and a Marsdonalds.

Yeah we all saw it coming. But it is significant.

None of this knowledge was available just a couple decades ago when I was a boy in school. We did not have an internet feeding us information and utilizing a HiRISE Camera. These are great times we live in.

I was going to launch a thread after reading about it yesterday and looking at the HiRise images for interesting images. I'm two threads too late Still, I get to use this image I saved to illustrate the thread...

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/0e77bc38c126.jpg[/atsimg]

The lake was situated in the Shalbatana Vallis and the HiRise images can be found here and here as jump offs for more images.

These findings suggest that, at least regionally, clement conditions on Mars extended beyond the generally- accepted Noachian limit. Previously described older candidate deltas are highly eroded by aeolian deflation, which almost completely removed their fine and loose sedimentary fractions [7]. In contrast, the Shalbatana fluvio-lacustrine deposits preserve some of the youngest and unambiguous indicators of a past standing body of water and potentially any signatures from putative biological activity, making them a high priority for a future landed mission to Mars.

NEW EVIDENCE FOR THE SHALBATANA VALLIS PALEOLAKE, MARS, FROM THE HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGING SCIENCE EXPERIMENT (HiRISE).

It's estimated to have existed some 3 billion years ago so any material evidence of life will be unlikely to be visible on the HiRise images we have. Shells and suchlike (if they ever existed) would be buried beneath the surface millions of years ago. It still suggests a decent place to focus attention for future searches for evidence of past Martian life...

Di Achille said the newly discovered pristine lake bed and delta deposits would be would be a prime target for a future landing mission to Mars in search of evidence of past life. "On Earth, deltas and lakes are excellent collectors and preservers of signs of past life," said Di Achille. "If life ever arose on Mars, deltas may be the key to unlocking Mars' biological past."

Definitive Evidence For Ancient Lake On Mars

A different way to search for life and Could flowers bloom on icy moon Europa? discuss how we could look in areas where the evidence of life is more likely to be...

I'll be interested in any members posting images from the Shalbatana Vallis with unusual aspects....