Perseverance finds evidence of repeated water activity in Jezero Crater

Rocks along the inner rim of Mars’ Jezero Crater preserve evidence of several episodes of water activity, according to a new study using Perseverance rover observations.

Scientists expected the area known as the Margin Unit to contain lake sediments, but instead found igneous rocks that had been altered by water. SuperCam measurements of more than 185 bedrock targets helped reconstruct the sequence.

The team identified evidence consistent with groundwater, lake-related changes and a later hydrothermal event. The relative order can be inferred, but the events’ ages remain uncertain. These findings reveal a complicated environmental history; they do not constitute a discovery of past life.