Curiosity finds an ex-lake on Mars… and does some speed dating

[brdavis]

No, not that kind of dating…

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-356

From the standpoint of KSP, note that this is the first in situ use of radiometric dating techniques (potential science instruments anyone?), as well as a deeper analysis of both the history and environment of the surface of Mars. Interesting.

[Brotoro]

Nice. I was not aware that Curiosity had equipment for radiometric dating.

[Needles_10]

I'm curious as to what Curiosity will come up with as to how long ago this lake was still a lake.

I just realized I made an unintended pun.

[Lohan2008]

I wonder how long ago the ice caps on Mars melted ? I suspect that most of Mars atmosphere is still locked up at the poles but don't quote me.

Wonder what weird combination of elements makes up Mars ice caps ??

Analyses of three different gases yielded exposure ages in the range of 60 million to 100 million years. This suggests shielding layers above the rock were stripped away relatively recently

[brdavis]

Nice. I was not aware that Curiosity had equipment for radiometric dating.

Niether was I, actually. The abstract talks about detecting 21-Ne, 36-Ar, and 3-He, all gases (and all used for CRE age estimates… what tells you it's been on the surface), as well as the K-Ar dating. So I'm guessing this was done with SAM, which has a mass spectrometer so it can do isotopic analysis. The actual article, alas, is locked behind a paywall… I might grab a copy when I'm at work later this week (the university has access).