Such stones should not be here.
igneous rocks in the Lake crater. This could help scientists better understand the climatic history of Mars and find out when the Red Planet was wet and potentially inhabited, reports Space.com.
The discovery of volcanic rocks came as a surprise to scientists. Perseverance was thought to have landed in a region formed from dirt and debris left over from the site of an ancient lake that existed in Lake Crater some 3.7 billion years ago.
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The origin of these stones remains a mystery to scientists, since there are no obvious volcanic deposits in or near the crater. Perseverance studied two igneous rock formations, designated Seita and Maaz, the latter of which overlies the former.
Seita is rich in olivine, which is a common volcanic mineral formed from magnesium iron silicate. Maaz was formed by magma that flowed on top of Seita.
Another paper analyzing the rocks studied by the rover suggests that both Seita and Maaz were located below the surface and were then partially uplifted, settling at an angle.
According to scientists, the rocky ridge about a kilometer long is inclined at an angle of about 10 degrees. This discovery is surprising because it takes exceptional tectonic forces to lift such geological units, but there is no plate tectonics on Mars, and there is no convincing evidence that it ever existed.
The lake filled Lake Crater shortly after how Seita and Maaz were formed by covering them with a layer of sedimentary rocks. But when the Martian climate changed, the lake dried up and exposed these sediments. Since then, they have remained in the region, subject to erosion, mainly by wind.
Perseverance differs from other rovers in its ability to collect soil samples and then transmit them to Earth for analysis. The sample return mission is planned for 2028.
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Recall that NASA has given the Perseverance rover the ability to independently select targets for sample collection, which should accelerate the development of science on Mars. Without direct guidance from Earth, the rover “shot” two targets with its SuperCam instrument.
