The finding could change our understanding of the history of the Red Planet.
Scientists from the SETI Institute have made a major discovery on the Red Planet. They have identified a previously unknown mineral — iron hydroxysulfate. The discovery, made using the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, sheds new light on the geological history of Mars.
Researchers led by Dr. Janice Bishop analyzed data from the CRISM spectrometer, which studies light reflected from the Martian surface. Unique spectral signatures were detected in two regions of the Valles Marineris canyon system — Juventae Chasma and the Aram Chaos area.
Iron hydroxysulfate forms only in the presence of three key components: water, sulfur, and iron. Furthermore, the formation process requires temperatures above 100°C and the involvement of oxygen, indicating active volcanic activity on Mars in the past, the presence of geothermal systems, and complex chemical processes in an aqueous environment. The formation of the mineral is dated to the Amazonian period, meaning it occurred within the last 3 billion years.
Judging by the presence of this mineral, Mars had a warmer and wetter climate than previously thought. It is highly likely that conditions potentially suitable for life existed here—the planet may have resembled early Earth, writes BGR.
The discovery of iron hydroxysulfate complements the earlier finding of kaolinite by the Perseverance rover—a mineral that also forms in warm and wet conditions. Scientists are getting closer to proving that Mars was habitable in the distant past.
