Curiosity’s Journey Through Gediz Valley and Kings Canyon
The rover is searching for evidence that ancient Mars had the conditions necessary for microbial life, if such life existed at all, billions of years ago, when lakes and rivers existed on the Red Planet. The Gediz Valley channel, located at the foot of the 5-kilometer (3-mile) high Mount Sharp, may help tell the story: what this area looked like when Mars’s water disappeared.
Geological age of planets: scientists reveal secrets of its determination
Recent advances in geochronology, or rock dating, allow geologists to measure radioactive decay and assign very precise absolute ages to geological events. In another study, scientists found isotopic evidence of a sudden switch to primitive plate tectonics dating back about 3.8 billion years. The discovery suggests that a simple form of subduction had begun at least in one place on the planet by that time. And a tree-lined African lake has provided data on the Earth’s magnetic field for the past 150,000 years.