Giant Cracks on Mars Hint at Ancient Lakes

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By Space.com Staff
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Giant Cracks on Mars Hint at Ancient Lakes
Desiccation patterns on Earth (left) and Mars (right). (Image credit: Google/NASA/JPL)

A series of huge cracks etched

The cracks were initially

?They resembled the desiccation

The average diameter of the

?When a meteorite impacts with

It had been estimated that Mars

However, these latest findings

Cracks on the crater floor were

Correction: Due to an error in press materials provided by the European Planetary Science Congress Press Office, we incorrectly reported the lake-bed cracks to have an average diameter of 70-140 kilometers. The figure has been corrected to 70-140 meters.

 

 

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Space.com Staff
Space.com Staff
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Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.