For decades, orbital and rover missions to Mars have sought to learn more about the planet’s history, including how it formed and developed over time.
The mysterious olivine-rich bedrock in and around Gusev Crater and in and around Jezero Crater could be a rock type called “ignimbrite,” which is both igneous and sedimentary and is formed by catastrophic explosive eruptions from huge volcanic calderas, according to a team of researchers led by Steve Ruff from Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Science.
If the researchers are correct, it might lead to a better understanding of olivine-rich bedrock on Mars as well as a type of volcanism that was more widespread in Mars’ early history. Their findings were just published in the journal Icarus.
“There are many suggestions about the origin of the olivine-rich bedrock that covers most of the region called Nili Fosse, which includes the Jezero crater,” Ruff said. “This is a debate that has been going on for almost 20 years.”
Gusev crater, which NASA’s Spirit rover investigated 16 years ago, and the Nili Fosse region, where the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is now studying Jezero crater, are linked by bedrock outcrops rich in olivine and carbonate.
Both places have the largest concentrations of olivine yet discovered on Mars. The composition and morphology of the widely dispersed olivine-rich rocks have never been investigated before. It has now been shown that they were produced in a similar manner.
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