A rich deposit of precious stones found on Mars
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According to data that lead NASA researchers, Gale crater on Mars is teeming with opals. Of course, no one is going to mine them for the most expensive jewelry on Earth.
The discovery is of great scientific importance and will force theories about the past of the Red Planet to be rewritten. It turns out that the planet previously had huge reserves of water.
Scientists noticed that in the images of the Curiosity rover, “kink areas” of lighter rock are visible. It is composed of opals, a bluish hydrated mineral.
It also turned out that the reserves of this precious stone are much larger than previously thought. It can be found all over Gale Crater, believed to be the bottom of an ancient lake.
Arizona State University researcher Travis Gabriel admitted that the presence of opals is particularly interesting because opals are formed when silica is dissolved in water. Since the reverse process can be done fairly easily, potentially, opal deposits could become a source of water for future astronauts who flew to the surface of the planet.
The presence of opals also suggests that some regions of Mars may still have water.
Read also: “NASA rover says it will soon finish its mission”
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