Perhaps the well-known rover was able to detect the very real dirt in the form of fine soil, a colloidal suspension, similar to the one on Earth, according to the official website of the NASA space agency. If this is true, then this would be the first dirt found on Mars.
The Curiosity rover spent 2016 on the Red Planet very fruitfully. New details of Mars' history have been uncovered, including the beds of once-evaporated lakes and mineral deposits, which indicate that oxygen was once present on the planet. At the beginning of 2017, the work of the apparatus was aimed at studying the natural formation it discovered, which may be mud with cracks formed as a result of drying out.
If these assumptions are confirmed, then this will be a completely new phenomenon and the next direction for detailed study. A preliminary analysis by NASA experts showed that cracks on the surface formed 3 billion years ago, after which they were buried under layers of sedimentary rocks, which later also began to delaminate.
Scientists believe similar splitting in the Sharp area known as Old Soaker was caused by wind erosion. Moreover, in this area, rock layers were found that could have formed only if the water flow was intense enough.
