The same olivine-rich bedrock is also found in Gusev Crater.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, ARIZONA — An unusual type of rock found by two Mars rover. The rock may show landscape Mars formed by volcanic eruptions which is very terrible.
The Nili Fossae region on Mars, which includes Jezero Crater that is currently being explored by the American Space Agency’s Perseverance rover, is filled with bedrock laden with the volcanic mineral olivine. The same olivine-rich bedrock was also found in Gusev Crater where NASA’s Spirit rover roamed until his death in 2010.
But the connection between the regions was not made until now, by a team led by planetary geologist Steve Ruff of Arizona State University. The researchers examined data from several Martian explorers to confirm geological similarities, which suggest that local rocks may have been formed by a similar process. The scientists then compared Spirit’s images of Gusev Crater rocks with images of Earth’s rocks.
“It was a eureka moment. I saw the same texture in the rocks of the Gusev crater as in very specific types of volcanic rock found on Earth,” Ruff said in a statement. Space, Monday (2/5/2022).
The rock is ignimbrite, which is formed from ash, pumice, and pyroclastic flows from powerful volcanic eruptions. “No one has previously suggested ignimbrites as an explanation for the said bedrock of olivine on Mars. And it’s possible that this is the type of rock that the Perseverance rover has been moving and sampling over the past year,” Ruff said.
Although researchers have long theorized that volcanism is responsible for producing Nili Fossae -olivine, however, is a volcanic mineral—identification of ignimbrite, if proven accurate, would indicate that the eruption was more violent than previously thought.
“Imagine a cloud of hot gas enveloping the ground and near-liquid ash and pumice flowing through a landscape for tens of miles and piling up in layers to hundreds of feet in just a few days,” Ruff said of the eruptions that have produced this rock type on Earth.
To confirm the presence of ignimbrites on Mars, scientists say they will have to study rocks in other terrestrial laboratories for the planned Mars Sample Return mission to transport Perseverance samples back to Earth.
https://www.space.com/mars-rock-violent-volcanic-eruption-ignimbrite
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