Overview

• The mineral’s spectral fingerprint appears at Aram Chaos and on the plateau above Juventae Chasma, based on reprocessed orbital data.
• UMass Amherst researchers applied advanced atmospheric correction and deep‑learning mapping to isolate and chart the previously unexplained signal.
• SETI Institute and NASA Ames reproduced the compound in the laboratory, supporting the identification as ferric hydroxysulfate.
• Researchers infer geothermal heating at Aram Chaos and volcanic heating at Juventae, likely during the Amazonian period less than 3 billion years ago.
• Lead author Janice Bishop says the lab material is likely a new mineral, though official recognition awaits an Earth occurrence and further confirmation.