Overview
- After roughly six months traversing boxwork terrain, Curiosity verified that the dark ridge lines are central fractures created by ancient groundwater flow.
- X-ray analyses of drilled samples identified clay minerals from a ridge and carbonate minerals from a nearby hollow.
- The rover documented pea-sized nodules concentrated along ridge walls and in adjacent hollows rather than at the central fractures.
- A fourth sample was processed with a wet-chemistry reagent assay to boost detection of certain organic molecules, which does not constitute evidence of life.
- Curiosity is slated to depart the boxwork region in March to continue ascending the sulfate-rich layers that record Mars’ drying climate.