Overview

• The peer-reviewed study in Nature Communications reports ferric hydroxysulfate on Mars, led by UMass Amherst with collaborators at the SETI Institute and NASA Ames.
• The mineral is mapped at Aram Chaos and on the plateau above Juventae Chasma, two sites with distinct geologic settings.
• Researchers interpret formation by geothermal heating at Aram Chaos and by volcanic heating from ash or lava at Juventae during the Amazonian period.
• Laboratory work reproduced the material and indicates a unique crystal structure, though formal recognition as a new mineral species requires an Earth find.
• Deep-learning processing of CRISM data, including advanced atmospheric correction, clarified the 2010 spectral signature, revealed additional occurrences, and demonstrated broader mapping at Jezero Crater.