‘Completely unexpected’ discovery on ancient lake on Mars

A groundbreaking and “completely unexpected” discovery on Mars by NASA’s Perseverance rover has excited scientists.

A groundbreaking new discovery on Mars has excited NASA scientists overseeing the Perseverance rover mission.

This week, the rover discovered that the bedrock it been driving on since landing in February was likely formed from red-hot magma.

According to the space organisation, the discovery has implications for understanding and accurately dating critical events in the history of Jezero Crater – as well as the rest of the planet.

NASA’s Perseverance rover captured this shot of its surroundings on the floor of Jezero Crater. Picture: NASA/Twitter

“I was beginning to despair we would never find the answer,” Perseverance Project Scientist Ken Farley said.

“But then our PIXL instrument got a good look at the abraded patch of a rock from the area nicknamed ‘South Séítah,’ and it all became clear: The crystals within the rock provided the smoking gun.”

A core sample recovered from using the rover’s drill provided scientists back on Earth with crucial data in the discovery. Data showed the rock, nicknamed “Brac,” to be composed of an unusual abundance of large olivine crystals engulfed in pyroxene crystals.

NASA's Perseverance rover has made significant ground since landing safely on Mars.

“A good geology student will tell you that such a texture indicates the rock formed when crystals grew and settled in a slowly cooling magma – for example a thick lava flow, lava lake, or magma chamber,” Farley continued.

“The rock was then altered by water several times, making it a treasure trove that will allow future scientists to date events in Jezero, better understand the period in which water was more common on its surface, and reveal the early history of the planet. Mars Sample Return is going to have great stuff to choose from!”

The team is now investigating if the rocks containing olivine were formed by a cooling lake of lava, or if they originated from a subsurface chamber of lava that was later exposed due to erosion.

“This was completely unexpected, and we are struggling to understand what it means,” Farley said.

“But I will speculate that this is not likely the original crater floor.

“From the diameter of this crater, we expect the original crater floor is significantly deeper than where we are right now.”

Perseverance has also retrieved new samples of organic compounds by the SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals) instrument. However, NASA has stated confirmation of organic material is not necessarily a confirmation that life once existed in the region.

“Curiosity also discovered organics at its landing site within Gale Crater,” SHERLOC principal investigator Luther Beegle said.

“What SHERLOC adds to the story is its capability to map the spatial distribution of organics inside rocks and relate those organics to minerals found there. This helps us understand the environment in which the organics formed. More analysis needs to be done to determine the method of production for the identified organics.”

Perseverance’s primary mission on Mars is astrobiology, which includes the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover, which landed on the red planet in 2020, is attempting to better characterise the planet’s geology and past climate to “pave the way for human exploration, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith”.

You’ve asked what I’m finding. My latest discoveries:
-many rocks here are volcanic
-they’ve interacted with water multiple times
-some hold organic molecules, aka “the building blocks of life”
Will signs of past microbes be found here? The hunt continues. https://t.co/65OluGsT02

— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) December 16, 2021

Originally published as ‘Completely unexpected’ discovery on ancient lake on Mars