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Polygonal formations recorded by Curiosity in Antofagasta draw attention for their unusual scale and may help scientists investigate ancient cycles of wetting, drying, and the presence of liquid water in Mars’ Gale Crater with new data
NASA’s Curiosity rover recorded thousands of honeycomb-like polygons in Mars’ Gale Crater on April 13, 2026, a significant finding for investigating how long liquid water existed on the planet.
Images reveal unusual formation
The images were captured on Sol 4865, during the rover’s traverse towards Antofagasta crater.
The area was named after a Chilean port city and the surrounding region, located on the edge of the Atacama, within Gale Crater.
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What caught attention was the repetition of polygons scattered across the surface. The pattern appears in thousands of shapes, with a scale-like appearance and much more widespread than similar structures previously seen there.
Curiosity’s Mastcam showed wide mosaics of terrain covered by regular patterns. In the preceding days, mission updates indicated that the rover was heading towards a small crater about 10 meters, or 32 feet, in diameter.
Scale surprises mission team
Scientist Abigail Fraeman, from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, reported that rocks with polygonal patterns had been observed before. The difference, this time, was in the scale and the abundant presence of the shapes.
The polygons stretched for meters and meters in the Mastcam mosaics, appearing much more dramatic than in previous records.
This distribution reinforced scientists’ interest in the new site in Antofagasta.
The appearance of the terrain generated comparisons to reptile skin, although the scientific explanation remains geological.
The large quantity of shapes suggests repeated processes over time, not just an isolated episode.
Honeycomb may indicate water cycles
On Earth, similar cracks often appear when wet mud dries and shrinks. When this process repeats multiple times, the fissures can evolve into more organized hexagonal shapes, similar to a honeycomb.
A comparable case was identified in 2023 in Pontours, also on Mars. A study published in the Journal of Statistical Physics indicated that the hexagonal patterns in that location formed through multiple wetting and drying cycles.
The research showed that the cracks evolved from T-intersections to Y-junctions. This type of transformation indicates repetitive conditions, possibly linked to seasonal changes.
If the same process occurred in Antofagasta, the terrain may hold signs of continuous cycles involving liquid water.
This point is central to understanding the duration and dynamics of water presence on Mars.
Elevated ridges open new hypotheses
Despite similarities with Pontours, the new area presents its own characteristics. The edges of the polygons are elevated, creating ridges that stand out from the rest of the rock and preserve the original design.
Fraeman explained that this relief can arise when minerals fill fissures and then resist erosion better than the surrounding material. Over time, the elevated lines become exposed on the surface.
The rover has already collected 8 images and chemical data from the area. The mission team intends to use this information to assess whether minerals like salts, identified in Pontours, are also present in Antofagasta.
The mission also continues to gather images and chemical measurements to differentiate hypotheses about the origin of the textures observed by the Curiosity rover.
The goal is to distinguish between drying processes, mineral infilling, and subsequent erosion in Martian rocks.
The new observations of the honeycomb pattern add to the body of evidence pointing to a more complex relationship between Mars and water. The current surface shows subtle signs, but the rocks preserve marks of ancient processes.
With information from Daily Galaxy.
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