Mars turns out to be a geologic Klondike: Perseverance found a treasure trove on the edge of Jezero Crater, surpassing scientists’ expectations

The Mars rover Perseverance has uncovered a geologic “gold mine” on Mars, exceeding scientists’ expectations. Over the past four months, the research team has acquired an unprecedented amount of data, studying a variety of rocks that offer a glimpse into the Red Planet’s distant past.

Perseverance is currently exploring the hills, boulders and rock outcrops at the edge of Jezero Crater, a dry depression north of the Martian equator that was likely a lake billions of years ago. Since reaching the crater’s western edge in December, rover operators have focused on the layered terrain of a slope called Witch Hazel Hill, which may hold clues to a period when Mars’ climate was very different. In recent months, Perseverance has collected samples of five rocks, analyzed seven other rocks in detail, and remotely studied another 83 with a laser. According to NASA, this is the highest rate of scientific data collection by a robotic explorer since it landed on the Red Planet four years ago.

Source: NASA / JPL-Caltech

Perseverance’s project manager, Katie Morgan of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, noted that in previous science campaigns at Jezero, it could take months to find a rock significantly different and unique enough to sample. At the edge of the crater, however, new rocks are found everywhere the rover turns, which was a pleasant surprise for scientists. The western edge of the crater has turned out to be a geologic treasure trove containing many fragmented, once-molten rocks ejected from beneath the surface billions of years ago by meteorite impacts, possibly including the impact that created Jezero Crater itself.

Source: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU / MSSS

Of particular interest is the first sample taken at the edge of the crater, dubbed Silver Mountain. The find is likely at least 3.9 billion years old and dates back to the Noah era, an early period of Mars when the planet was subjected to intense meteorite bombardment that shaped its current cratered landscape. The rover also found nearby a rock rich in serpentine minerals, which are usually formed when water interacts with certain volcanic rocks. Scientists believe that this process can sometimes create hydrogen, a potential energy source for life as we know it on Earth.

The Perseverance team will continue to study Witch Hazel Hill, analyzing the data collected to determine where to take the next sample at the edge of the crater. In the future, these and other samples collected by Perseverance are planned to be delivered to Earth to analyze and search for answers to the question of the existence of life on Mars in the past. However, the fate of NASA’s mission to deliver samples from Mars remains uncertain due to budgetary, time and engineering difficulties encountered during this complex project. NASA is reviewing the mission strategy and is awaiting proposals from industry and academia to find a more affordable and faster way to deliver samples to Earth, but a decision is not expected until mid-2026.