Data collected by NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover has revealed that rocks recently discovered in the Jezero crater are organic carbon-bearing mudstones. The findings, published in Nature, suggest these mudstones have undergone chemical processes that resulted in colorful and unusual textures. These features may represent potential biosignatures.
The research was led by Joel Hurowitz, associate professor in the Department of Geosciences at Stony Brook University. The study builds on ongoing work with the Perseverance rover since its landing in 2021. The team aims to understand early Martian geological processes and collect samples for possible return to Earth.
When Perseverance entered the western edge of Jezero crater, it examined distinctive mudstone outcrops known as the Bright Angel formation. The Mars 2020 science team conducted a detailed survey of these rocks and found traces of carbon matter along with minerals such as ferrous iron phosphate and iron sulfide.
The researchers emphasize that they are not claiming to have found fossilized life on Mars. However, they note that the rocks contain features that could have been formed by life—a potential biosignature. A potential biosignature is any characteristic or feature that could have been created by past biological activity but might also form without life present. The team states that more data is needed before drawing conclusions about whether microbial activity caused the observed features.
“These mudstones provide information about Mars’ surface environmental conditions at a time hundreds of millions of years after the planet formed, and thus they can be seen as a great record of the planetary environment and habitability during that period,” said Hurowitz, who has been involved with Mars rover research since he was a graduate student at Stony Brook University in 2004.
“We will need to conduct broader research into both living and non-living processes that will help us to better understand the conditions under which the collection of minerals and organic phases in the Bright Angel formation were formed,” he added.
Researchers plan to continue analyzing these rocks and their features. They state: “conclude that analysis of the core sample collected from this unit using high-sensitivity instrumentation on Earth will enable the measurements required to determine the origin of the minerals, organics and textures it contains.”