Mars was once an iceball. Here's what past climatic history of the Red Planet hints at about existence of life

New York, United States

Scientists have been hunting for any trace of life on planet Mars for decades and now a new study has spilled out the details of the past climatic conditions on the Red Planet which has dampened down their hopes of encountering an alien life. 

For all those who had hoped that the planet was warm and wet and may have had seas and rivers flowing, the study has presented a starkly different picture of the planet which existed millions of years ago.

The study has said that Mars was rather icy and frigid, which has decreased its chances of supporting any kind of life in the past.

Also Read: Organic material found on Mars by Curiosity rover may reveal clues to life on Earth

In the latest study, scientists have found similarities between soils present on Mars and those picked from Newfoundland in Canada, which has a cold subarctic climate.

Scientists study soils in the Gale Crater of Mars

Researchers of the study, published in Communications Earth and Environment, searched for soils on Earth which contained comparable materials to those present in the Gale Crater of Mars.

Scientists generally use soil to understand environmental history since the minerals are able to present the story of landscape evolution with the help of time.

Researchers have studied the rocks and soils of Gale Crater which gave them details of the climatic conditions of Mars nearly three and four billion years ago. In this period, the first life is said to have appeared on Earth.

In a statement, soil scientist and geomorphologist at Desert Research Institute in Las Vegas Anthony Feldman said, "Gale Crater is a paleo lakebed—there was obviously water present. But what were the environmental conditions when the water was there?" 

Watch: NASA's manned mission to Mars around the corner?

"We're never going to find a direct analogue to the Martian surface, because conditions are so different between Mars and Earth. But we can look at trends under terrestrial conditions and use those to try to extrapolate to Martian questions," he added.

The Curiosity Rover of NASA has been investigating Gale Crater since 2011, and has discovered a plethora of soil materials which are called "X-ray amorphous material." 

Such components of the soil do not have repeating atomic structure which defines minerals and it is difficult to characterise them using traditional techniques like X-ray diffraction.

(With inputs from agencies)