Georgia Tech Assistant Professor Josef Dufek is attempting to learn more about the past atmospheric conditions of Mars. Dufek’s first research tool was a rock fragment propelled into the Martian atmosphere during a volcanic eruption roughly 3.5 billion years ago. The deposit landed in the volcanic sediment, created a divot (or bomb sag), eventually solidified and remains in the same location today. Dufek’s next tool was the Mars rover. In 2007, Spirit landed at that site, known as Home Plate, and took a closer look at the imbedded fragment. Dufek and his collaborators at the University of California-Berkeley received enough data to determine the size, depth and shape of the bomb sag.
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| This bomb sag on the surface of Mars was created during a volcanic blast approximately 3.5 billion years ago. Assistant Professor Josef Dufek has replicated the sag in his lab while studying the possibility of water and atmospheric conditions of early Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL |
