Minerals are rock building blocks, and their mineral types and chemistry provide important information about the formation of rocks and history. On Mars, NASA is born in NASA, equipped with the planetary tool for the stone chemistry of X -ray (Pixl), geochemical maps of rock surfaces. In new research, scientists analyzed the results of more than 90,000 chemical analysis performed by Pixl in the first 1100 days on Mars and found that minerals in the Jezero hole interacted with multiple and distinctive types of fluid over time. the results Appear Geophysical Research Magazine: Planets.
This image of NASA Mars shows the Jezero Creater Equity on Mars. Credit Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS / JHU-APL.
In the study, a graduate student at the University of Rice Elianor Moreland and her colleagues used the identification of minerals by equal measuring algorithm (fog) to interpret Pixl data.
Pixl Bombars Mars rock with X -rays to detect their chemical composition, providing the most detailed geochi measurements ever collected on another planet, according to the study.
“The exhibitions we find in the Jezero hole that use fog support multiple rings, temporarily distinct from liquid changes, indicating that there are several times in the history of Mars when these private volcanic rocks interacted with liquid water, and thus more than once when this site hosted possible life environments.”
Minerals are formed under specific environmental conditions of temperature, acidity and chemical makeup of fluids, making them reliable stories narrators from the history of the planets.
In the Jezero hole, 24 species of minerals reveal the volcanic nature of the Mars surface and its interactions with water over time.
Chemical water wanders rocks and creates mud minerals or minerals, and the specific minerals that are formed dependent on environmental conditions.
The minerals specified in the hole reveal three types of fluid reactions, each with different effects on the pledge capacity.
The first mineral group of minerals-including Greenalite, HISINERITE and Ferroaluminoceladonite-refers to translated acid fluids with a high temperature that is found only in rocks on the hole, which is interpreted as some of the oldest rocks listed in this study.
Water participating in this episode is the least housing of life, because research on Earth has shown high temperatures and that a decrease in acidity can harm biological structures.
“These hot hot conditions will be the most challenging in life,” said Rice Kirsten Cibach.
“But on Earth, life can even last in harsh environments such as the acidic ponds of water in Yellowston, so do not rule out housing.”
The second wing of minerals reflects moderate and neutral fluids that support more life conditions and have been present on a larger area.
Minerals such as Minnesotatite and Clinopatolite were formed at low temperatures and neutral pH with Minnesotatite discovered in both the hole and the upper fan area, while the acacheoopettellite was restricted on the hole.
Finally, the third category represents low temperatures and alkaline liquids and is considered to be inhabited from our modern Earth perspective.
Cibulite, a common change metal on the ground, consists of moderate temperatures and alkaline conditions and was widely found in all units that Rover explored.
Sebiolite’s presence in all these units reveals a wide loop of liquid water that creates living conditions for housing in the Jezero hole and uninterrupted sediments.
“These minerals tell us that” Jezero Crater has seen a transformation from harsh, hot and acidic fluids to that neutral and alkaline over time – the conditions we believe are increasingly supporting life. “
Since Mars samples cannot be prepared or specifically wiped like Earth’s samples, the team has developed a model for publishing uncertainty to strengthen its results
Using a statistical approach, MIST tested the metal drivers again and again taking into account potential errors, similar to how meteorologists predict the hurricane paths by running many models.
“Our error analysis allows us to set confidence levels for every metal match,” said Morialand.
“Not only does the MIST science and make decisions in Mars 2020, but also create a metal archive from the Jezero hole that will be invaluable if the samples are returned to the ground.”
The results confirm that Jezero Crate – which was home to the old lake – witnessed a complex and dynamic water history.
Every new metal discovery does not make scientists only closer to answering whether Mars supports life ever, but also sharpens the strategy of perseverance that samples collect and return to them.
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Elianor L. Moreland And others. 2025. Multiple rings of fluid change in the Jezero hole referred to by the fog metal identity in the Pixl XRF data from the first 1100 SOLS from Mars 2020 Mission. Geophysical Research Magazine: Planets 130 (9): e2024je008797; Doi: 10.1029/2024je008797