NASA has released the clearest view of Mars yet, revealing images of stunning blue rocks scattered across the landscape of the famous ‘red planet’. The images, captured by the Perseverance rover, showed a unique, never-before-seen geological formation located on the dry bed of an ancient Martian lake.
Among the rocks seen, large irregular blocks of dark blue volcanic basalt stand out, surrounded by white, mottled rock, and their mineralization surprised the NASA team. These findings were captured in the area that the North American space agency has nicknamed “Mount Washburn”, after a mountain in Yellowstone National Park, in the US.
The Perseverance rover, a mobile remote-controlled car-sized laboratory, has been studying the dusty basin of Jezero Crater since February 2021. This crater, which is 45 km in diameter, was once the site of ancient lake, about 3.7 billion years old. , with signs of “paleolago” and river delta.
The fine clay sediments, carried by rivers that once flowed into the crater, are of particular interest to NASA, who believe that Jezero could be an environment ripe for life. outside the country. The aim of the mission is to examine these materials and look for possible signs of ancient microbial life.
The discovery of such unique rocks in the soil of Mars raised the curiosity of scientists, as noted by the NASA planning expert, Dr. Katie Stack Morgan, who was quoted by the Daily Mail. “Every now and then, we find something strange in the Martian landscape and the team decides to investigate further,” explained Morgan.
Most of the dark blue rocks seen on Mars, including those seen on “Mount Washburn”, are composed of volcanic basalt, as stated by the planet -expert and geophysicist Dr. G. Jeffrey Taylor of the University of Hawaii. According to Taylor, these rocks are similar to terrestrial tholeiites, which make up many of the oceans and mid-ocean ridges on Earth.
However, it was a white, speckled rock that caught the attention of scientists. Found in the middle of volcanic basalt, the rock, nicknamed “Atoko Point”, is about 45 centimeters wide and 35 centimeters high and was named after a cliff of more than 2,400 meters in the Grand Canyon , USA.
Dr Katie Stack Morgan, who was surprised by the discovery, said the timing was “a clear example of [perseguir] something bright and attractive, because the rock was very bright and white.” The images were captured by Perseverance’s Mastcam-Z camera, a set of three-dimensional cameras mounted on a two-metre mast, which offers a view similar to that of the human eye.
Chemical analysis reveals an unprecedented discovery
A detailed analysis of the “Atoko Point” rock was made possible by the Perseverance series of instruments, including SuperCam, which combines two lasers and four spectrometers to study the chemical composition of the rocks Using this technology, the NASA team discovered that the white rock was composed of anorthosite, a type of volcanic rock full of feldspar.
This discovery is important because, until then, the presence of anorthosites on Mars was only theoretical and had never been documented. The formation suggests that the rock may have originated in deeper layers of the Martian subsurface, before being brought to the surface.
“Seeing a rock like ‘Atoko Point’ is a sign that yes, we do have anorthosites on Mars,” said Dr. Stack Morgan. “And this could be a sample of material from the lower crust of the planet. ” The scientist, who is the deputy project director for the Mars 2020 mission, hopes that new discoveries will help to better understand what lies beneath the surface of Mars and how the planet formed.
An important step towards unraveling the geological history of Mars
The presence of anorthosite on Mars could provide crucial information about the early formation of the Martian crust. According to Dr. Stack Morgan, these types of rocks, if found in larger quantities, could help clarify whether “Atoko Point” was transported to the crater by ancient rivers or whether it was created with deep volcanic activity and reflected by the impact it created. . the Jezero pit for a thousand years.
With more discoveries like this, scientists hope to build a more detailed account of the geological history of Mars and find out if the planet once had suitable conditions to support life. “If we see this rock in the context of other formations, it can give us an idea of how the early crust of Mars formed,” concluded Stack Morgan.
2024-10-08 14:36:48
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