PERSEVERANCE · JEZERO CRATER · MARS
One ancient rock. At least three encounters with water. Perseverance found a geological record more complicated than the lakebed scientists expected.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE ↓READ THE ROCK · 01—03
Carbon-dioxide-rich groundwater reacted with olivine-rich rock. Carbonate minerals filled fractures; later erosion wore away softer surrounding rock and left the resistant ridges standing.
!The team can determine the order of these events, but not their ages.
THE PLACE · JEZERO CRATER
The Margin Unit hugs the inner rim of Jezero’s ancient lake basin. Perseverance examined the rocks across roughly 265 meters of elevation—from largely unaltered olivine-rich rock to lower exposures transformed by water.
WHAT THE INSTRUMENT SAW
SuperCam reads the light from a rock’s surface to help identify its chemistry. When the team spots a target, it can fire a laser from up to 6.5 meters away; the resulting plasma gives scientists a chemical fingerprint.
For this study, the team analyzed more than 185 bedrock targets across the Margin Unit. The rock’s mineral mix, texture, and position along the rover’s traverse combine into a story no single observation could tell.
READ THE RESEARCHCommunications Earth & Environment · 2026 ↗