It has been 12 years since Curiosity Rover landed on Mars' Gale Crater on the evening of August 5, 2012 PDT (morning of August 6 EDT), with one aim- determine if the planet was ever habitable for microbial life. And as per the newest update, the rover is moving to Mount Sharp to investigate the giant spiderwebs.
For the past year, NASA’s Curiosity rover has been exploring the Gediz Vallis channel on Mount Sharp within Gale Crater on Mars. During its investigations, the rover discovered stones embedded with pure sulfur crystals, a finding that has left the mission team intrigued and searching for answers about their origin and formation. Now Curiosity is on its way to an intriguing set of web-like patterns called boxwork. These patterns appear like giant spiderwebs or honeycombs, and scientists believe that they have been formed as the last remaining surface water in this part of Mars dried up.

Image Credit: X handle-@MarioNawfal
The boxwork is a striking geological formation composed of intersecting ridges that stretch across an area of 6 to 12 miles (10 to 20 km). From an aerial view, it resembles a massive spider web, though its origins are entirely geological, not the work of any real spiders. The true intrigue lies in whether biological processes played a role in shaping this unique structure.
How did these patterns come to be?
While Mars, today, appears to be dry, its core once had liquid water on its surface. The boxwork seems to be the consequence of the last water in the region disappearing. As per earlier explanation, the water contained minerals later hardened and cemented themselves in the fractures in surface rocks. The neighbouring rock was softer and gradually eroded away, leaving behind the now-hardened fractures as intersecting ridges.
Such boxworks also exist on Earth, but they are typically seen in caves and on cliff faces. It is possible that microbes lived here billions of years ago, because microorganisms also thrived in similar situations on Earth.