Green sand might seem like an odd thing to discover on the Red Planet, however that is precisely what a new paper from scientists led by a group at Purdue discovered in images from Determination.
The findings, published just recently in a wave of documents in Science and Science Advances, even surprised some of the scientists working on the objective. While observing Perseverances landing site from orbit, it became clear that the rover would be landing near some magnificent layered rocks in Jezero Crater. What the team didnt recognize is they were looking at volcanic rock instead of sedimentary.
That might look like a very little difference, however it was a huge discovery for the geologists studying the crater. Researchers expected to find sedimentary rocks, which had actually been used away by water when Jezero crater, and Mars more generally, was a much wetter place. And while they did find some sedimentary rocks, they were generally deposited near the floor of the crater, what would have been the lake bottom throughout that wetter duration.
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Rocks on the method up the sides of the crater, which are the ones that were the most visible from space, were igneous– the type that forms from lava. After observing them in detail with Perseverances SuperCam, the rovers geology group recognized that these rocks were more than 4 billion years old.
In the world, rocks that old would be weathered down by our climate. On Mars, they are almost beautiful, which implies they are likewise much easier to study. When the researchers did that, they discovered a color they were not anticipating– green.
Mars is referred to as the Red Planet for excellent reason– oxidation has actually formed a red tint to practically everything on the planets surface area. Upon closer assessment, though, these igneous rocks were in fact made from a mineral called olivine. Olivine is a somewhat less incredible version of a commonly understood gemstone here in the world– peridot.
Information of the surface that
Olivine is also what makes the beaches on Hawaii seem dark green, and it has the same effect on Mars. However on Mars, its age makes it even more special, particularly as a lab for comprehending the operations of the early planetary system.
It is also a remarkable window into what the earlier Earth may have resembled, right around when life formed practically 4 billion years earlier. Earths environment from that time is lost to us, changed irrevocably by the climate and tectonics over countless years. On Mars, the environment has stayed mostly untouched up until Perseverance occurred upon it.
Finding the rocks and performing an initial analysis is just the very first step. That is one of the primary goals of Perseverance and its group of devoted geologists.
Find out more: Purdue– The sands of Mars are green along with red, rover Perseverance discoversFarley et al– Aqueously altered igneous rocks tested on the floor of Jezero crater, MarsLiu et al– An olivine cumulate outcrop on the flooring of Jezero crater, MarsUT– Strange Intersecting Sand Dunes on MarsUT– This is Probably Sandstone Layers on Mars. Absolutely Beautiful
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While observing Perseverances landing website from orbit, it ended up being clear that the rover would be landing near some amazing layered rocks in Jezero Crater. Researchers anticipated to discover sedimentary rocks, which had been used away by water when Jezero crater, and Mars more generally, was a much wetter place. And while they did discover some sedimentary rocks, they were generally deposited near the floor of the crater, what would have been the lake bottom during that wetter duration.
After observing them in information with Perseverances SuperCam, the rovers geology team understood that these rocks were more than 4 billion years old.
Discovering the rocks and conducting a preliminary analysis is just the first step.