The mud can lubricate the gravel, ... In really wet weather, water can fill up and stand within the crack. If the temperature drops below 32 degrees, the water can freeze.

Clear as mud: Desiccation cracks help reveal the shape of water on Mars. ScienceDaily . Retrieved June 2, 2025 from www.sciencedaily.com / releases / 2018 / 04 / 180419172658.htm ...

Mud cracks spotted on Mars' Mount Sharp region may provide clues about the Red Planet's watery past. NASA's Curiosity rover captured images of these cracks.

BOULDER, CO, USA: As Curiosity rover marches across Mars, the red planet's watery past comes into clearer focus. In early 2017 scientists announced the discovery of possible desiccation cracks in ...

But to scientists operating NASA’s Curiosity Rover, the dusty slab is a geological treasure trove, potentially revealing evidence that water once ran across the surface of the Red Planet. Over ...

How the mud cracks may have formed. The water that led to the formation of these mud cracks likely came from a combination of the flooding of water on Mars’ surface and rising groundwater, which ...

This indicates that water was still present on the surface of Mars episodically, meaning water could have been present for a time, evaporated, and repeated until polygons, or mud cracks, formed.

The rover spotted the mud cracks in 2021 after drilling a sample from a rock target nicknamed “Pontours,” found within a transitional zone between a clay-rich layer and one higher up that is ...

NASA's four-year-old Curiosity rover spent 2016 discovering new clues to Mars' history, including veins potentially from evaporated lakes and mineral deposits suggesting the planet once had oxygen.

INDIANAPOLIS — A patchwork of hexagonal cracks discovered on the surface of Mars could hint at a crucial cycle that may have once supported the emergence of microscopic life. Though Mars is a harsh, ...

The rover spotted the mud cracks in 2021 as it explored a rock target nicknamed “Pontours,” found within a transitional zone between a clay-rich layer and one higher up that is enriched with salty ...

Bearing a network of cracks that may have formed in drying mud, Old Soaker shows that even as water was becoming scarce on Mars, it persisted in seeps, trickling streams and shallow desert lakes. The ...