Last April, NASA’s Curiosity Rover captured images of rows of spikes, plates, and wedges protruding from rocks found in Mars’ 154-kilometer-long Gale Crater.
Nathalie Cabrol, an astrobiologist from NASA’s Ames Research Center and the SETI Institute, described this discovery as “the strangest rock” she had seen in the 20 years of her Mars research.
Now, The Telegraph has reported on a new article published in the scientific journal Journal of Astrobiology, which concludes that these formations could be the result of strong earthquakes in that area of the planet, although it does not rule out the possibility that they could also be the consequence of an alien spacecraft impact.
Specifically, the article mentions that the sand spikes photographed in April resemble those that form in waterlogged sand during an earthquake of magnitude seven or higher on the Richter scale. Similar rock formations have been found on our planet, such as at Signal Hill, located near the San Andreas Fault.
However, the researchers also state that “it cannot be ruled out with absolute certainty that it is a fragment from an extraterrestrial or terrestrial craft” and mention a photograph taken by the Curiosity Rover showing what could be wheels, an axle, and a pile of debris.
Richard Amstrong, the first author of the article and a professor at the University of Aston (Birmingham), stated to The Telegraph, “There is no way to prove with certainty what the spikes are. But the balance of evidence suggests that they are ‘sand spikes’ caused by seismic activity on Mars.”
“Given the enigmatic ‘wheels,’ I suspect they are a separate phenomenon. Mars images often show strange formations and features that ‘resemble’ familiar objects,” says the researcher. “Any field of debris on Mars would undoubtedly undergo erosion over time, especially from the wind.”
Strange rock formations or evidence of alien visitation to the red planet? Only time will tell.
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