Overview
- NASA’s rover identified light-toned, aluminum-rich kaolinite fragments in Jezero crater and a Dec. 1 study interprets them as products of prolonged rainfall.
- SuperCam and Mastcam-Z measurements were compared with Earth samples from near San Diego and from South Africa to constrain the minerals’ formation conditions.
- The rocks’ aluminum and titanium enrichment with depleted iron and magnesium aligns with rain-driven leaching rather than a hydrothermal origin.
- Researchers say such sustained wet conditions would have created potentially habitable settings on early Mars where water was abundant at the surface.
- The fragments’ provenance remains unclear, with hypotheses including delivery by the ancient delta or emplacement by an impact, while larger kaolinite outcrops seen from orbit await rover investigation.