By
Posted on
NASA and the California Institute of Technology discovered how tridymite, an uncommon mineral of the silica family, became on Mars. It was discovered by the Curiosity Rover in 2016, in Gale Crater. This lake was formed a billion years earlier.
This new study examined data from every tridymite record on Earth, patterns from Martian volcanoes, and deposits from Gale Crater.
Based on this study, planetary scientists suggested a hypothesis for the appearance of a rock on Mars’ surface. This hypothesis corresponds with all data. Scientists concluded that the Martian magma had cooled partially because it was longer than normal in the chamber beneath the volcano. Tridymite formed in the magma and was then thrown into Gale Lake with the ash.
