Carbonates on Mars: Clues to a Changing Climate
Mars Carbonates Reveal Climate Cycles and Past Habitability
Mars has fascinated scientists for years. It once had a thick atmosphere and liquid water on its surface. Now, the planet is dry and cold. Certainly, understanding this change helps us learn about planetary climates and habitability.
New rover findings from Curiosity and Perseverance discovered significant carbonate deposits. Carbonates form when carbon dioxide (CO2) reacts with minerals, locking carbon in rocks. Thus, this process reduces atmospheric CO2, which cools the climate over time. In fact, these rock layers are found mainly in Aeolis Mons (Mount Sharp) inside Gale Crater, showing past wet conditions were intermittent.
This carbonate formation suggests Mars’ atmosphere shrank gradually. Instead of losing all CO2 at once, much got trapped in sedimentary rocks over billions of years. Moreover, climate models show Mars went through cycles of warming and cooling driven by its orbit and the Sun’s brightening. During warm phases, liquid water appeared briefly in patches called oases, allowing carbonate minerals to form.
The research team used advanced climate models combining orbital changes, solar intensity shifts, and chemical reactions in rocks. They found that thick carbonate layers helped maintain these cycles from about 3.5 billion years ago until recent times on a geological scale. This explains why Mars was not always dry but had fluctuating habitability lasting a billion years or more.
These discoveries broaden our understanding of how planets evolve atmospherically and geologically over time. Mars shows that carbon cycles can regulate climates even in harsh environments—similar to how Earth stays habitable through balanced systems involving volcanic activity and rock formation.
This new insight also guides future missions exploring Martian geology and searching for signs of past life where water once existed intermittently but repeatedly.
Reference
Kite, E. S., Tutolo, B. M., Turner, M. L., Franz, H. B., Burtt, D. G., Bristow, T. F., Fischer, W. W., Milliken, R. E., Fraeman, A. A., & Zhou, D. Y. (2025). Carbonate formation and fluctuating habitability on Mars. Nature, 643(8070), 60–66. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09161-1
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Until 2023, Dr. Charudatta S Pathak held multiple academic positions, including lecturer, assistant professor, professor, dean, principal, director, and vice chancellor at public and private universities across India. From 2008 to 2010, he held the position of project lead in the CAE department at a European multinational corporation. Throughout his 28-year professional experience, he observed a requirement for reliable publications aimed at youngsters in grades 8 to 12, specifically for early-stage career planning. He initiated the establishment of ENTECH Digital Magazine, a complimentary periodical released on a monthly basis, accessible via stemconference.in and magzter.com. Teenagers with a keen interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and aspiring to pursue professional paths in these domains can consider reading ENTECH Digital Magazine.