NASA · Space

Perseverance Rover Investigates Unusual Light-Toned Rocks on Mars

NASA's Perseverance rover has discovered a field of light-toned boulders in a region called "Lac de Charmes," beyond the western rim of Jezero crater. This unusual concentration of light-colored rocks, contrasting with Mars' typical dark basalt, has prompted scientific investigation.

Data suggests many of these light-toned rocks are gabbro, an igneous rock formed from the slow cooling of magma deep within the Martian crust. Scientists are now working to understand how these subsurface fragments reached the surface.

Perseverance is examining a potential bedrock outcrop nearby, which appears to be a breccia composed of angular light and dark fragments. One hypothesis is that the scattered boulders may have eroded from this breccia.

Breccias often form from violent geological processes, and layers of breccia found elsewhere on Mars have been linked to asteroid impacts. It is possible that similar impacts, or the impact that formed Jezero crater, unearthed these light-colored blocks.

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