Aqueously altered igneous rocks sampled on the floor of Jezero crater, Mars.
Kenneth A FarleyKathryn M StackDavid L ShusterBriony H N HorganJoel A HurowitzJesse TarnasJustin I SimonVivian Z SunEva L SchellerK R MooreScott M McLennanP M VasconcelosRoger C WiensAllan H TreimanLisa MayhewOlivier BeyssacTanya V KizovskiNicholas J ToscaK H WillifordLarry CrumplerLuther W BeegleJames F BellBethany L EhlmannYang LiuJustin N MakiMariek E SchmidtA C AllwoodH E F AmundsenRohit BhartiaTanja BosakAdrian J BrownBenton C ClarkAgnes CousinOlivier ForniTravis S J GabrielY GorevaSanjeev GuptaSvein-Erik HamranC D K HerdKeyron Hickman-LewisJeffrey R JohnsonLinda C KahPeter B KelemenKjartan M KinchLucia MandonNicolas MangoldCathy Quantin-NatafMelissa S RiceP S RussellSunanda SharmaSandra SiljeströmAndrew SteeleRobert J SullivanMeenakshi WadhwaBenjamin P WeissAmy J WilliamsBrittan WogslandPeter A WillisT A Acosta-MaedaPierre BeckKarim BenzeraraSylvain BernardAaron S BurtonEmily L CardarelliBaptiste ChideElise ClavéEdward A CloutisB A CohenAndrew D CzajaV DebailleErwin DehouckAlberto G FairénDavid T FlanneryStephanie FleronThierry FouchetJens FrydenvangBrad GarczynskiErin GibbonsElisabeth M HausrathAlexander G HayesJesper HennekeJ L JoergensenEvan M KellyJeremie LasueStéphane Le MouélicJuan Manuel MadariagaSylvestre MauriceMarco MerusiPierre-Yves MeslinS M MilkovichChase MillionR C MoellerJorge I NúñezAnn M OllilaGerhard PaarD A PaigeDavid A K PedersenPaolo PilleriCedric PilorgetP C PinetJ W RiceClement RoyerV SautterMitchell SchulteMark A SephtonShiv K SharmaS F SholesN SpanovichMichael St ClairChristian TateKyle UckertScott J VanBommelAnastasia YanchilinaMaría-Paz ZorzanoPublished in: Science (New York, N.Y.) (2022)
The Perseverance rover landed in Jezero crater, Mars, to investigate ancient lake and river deposits. We report observations of the crater floor, below the crater's sedimentary delta, finding that the floor consists of igneous rocks altered by water. The lowest exposed unit, informally named Séítah, is a coarsely crystalline olivine-rich rock, which accumulated at the base of a magma body. Magnesium-iron carbonates along grain boundaries indicate reactions with carbon dioxide-rich water under water-poor conditions. Overlying Séítah is a unit informally named Máaz, which we interpret as lava flows or the chemical complement to Séítah in a layered igneous body. Voids in these rocks contain sulfates and perchlorates, likely introduced by later near-surface brine evaporation. Core samples of these rocks have been stored aboard Perseverance for potential return to Earth.