Looking down on Mars we see Gale Crater as a crater among many craters, but even from this distant perspective Gale Crater is unique, special, and above all, intriguing. In the image below we can spot the 150km in diameter Gale Crater because of its massive central uplift, Mount Sharp, which rises 5.5 km above the northern crater floor and 4.5 km above the southern crater floor. It is Mount Sharp that makes Gale Crater so intriguing and worthy of future study.
Mount Sharp's base is thought to be at least 2 billion years old. It is comprised of clays and sulfates, two materials that are only known to form in the presence of water. The layers directly on top of those are comprised primarily of sulfates, with very few clays, which implies that they were formed in an environment where Mars was becoming drier and water was evaporating. See the next image for an idea of what these intriguing layers look like.
Mount Sharp's base is thought to be at least 2 billion years old. It is comprised of clays and sulfates, two materials that are only known to form in the presence of water. The layers directly on top of those are comprised primarily of sulfates, with very few clays, which implies that they were formed in an environment where Mars was becoming drier and water was evaporating. See the next image for an idea of what these intriguing layers look like.
