Carbonates on Mars

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/carbonates-on-mars

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What are carbonates on Mars?Carbonates are shiny, mineral rocks that form when liquid water and carbon dioxide mix. On Mars they are found in places like old lakebeds and volcanic vents, showing where water once existed.
2. Did Mars once have oceans?Scientists think Mars may have had oceans because carbonates form only when water is liquid. The presence of many carbonate rocks suggests that Mars was wetter a long time ago.

Geochemical Archives: Rocks or minerals that preserve information about past environmental conditions and chemical processes.
Hydrosphere: All the water on a planet's surface, underground, and in the air.
Isotopic Composition: The relative abundance of different isotopes of an element within a sample, used for tracing origins and processes.