Alteration history of aluminum-rich rocks at Jezero crater, Mars
Aluminum-rich clay minerals are detected across the ancient surface of Mars and record intervals of intense alteration by liquid water. On Earth, these clay minerals can form from hydrothermal alteration or rainfall-driven chemical weathering over thousands to millions of years, but how they formed on Mars remains a mystery. The Perseverance rover discovered light-toned, cobble-sized, aluminum-rich (30-45 wt% Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>) "float" rocks (rock fragments), with some exhibiting spectral signatures of kaolinite, an aluminum-rich clay mineral. These rocks now enable an investigation into the ancient kaolinite-bearing terrains of Mars. To interpret their formation, we use data from the SuperCam and Mastcam-Z instruments onboard the rover to compare the chemistry and reflectance spectra of the float rocks with deeply weathered paleosols and hydrothermal kaolin deposits from Earth's geological record. Aluminum and titanium enrichments coupled with depletion of iron and magnesium are unlike hydrothermal deposits and instead comparable to bleached horizons of paleosols that formed under high rainfall during past greenhouse climates on Earth. These rocks therefore likely represent some of the wettest intervals of Mars' history.
Authors
- E. A. Cloutis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7301-0929)
- Jorge I. Núñez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0930-6674)
- E. Dehouck (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1368-4494)
- Emily Cardarelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5451-2309)
- J. F. Bell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2006-4074)
- John Carter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7395-0398)
- Clément Royer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5472-7235)
- Juan Manuel Madariaga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1685-6335)
- C. C. Bedford (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0783-1064)
- M. S. Bramble (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9440-4756)
- Henry Manelski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8468-6446)
- Stephanie Connell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2109-1565)
- Elisabeth M. Hausrath (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5520-1622)
- Adrian Broz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1843-6702)
- L. Mandon
- Briony H. N. Horgan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6314-9724)
- R. C. Wiens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3409-7344)
- O. Forni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6772-9689)
- Justin I. Simon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3969-8958)
- Pierre Beck (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6532-5602)
- A. Cousin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7823-7794)
- Athanasios Klidaras (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7231-8443)
- C. Quantin-Nataf
- B. S. Kathir (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1772-0472)
- U. Wolf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8145-1864)
Institutions
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR)
- Dartmouth College (US)
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Planetary Science Institute (US)
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory (US)
- University of Nevada, Las Vegas (US)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (US)
- Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (FR)
- University of the Basque Country (ES)
- University of Oregon (US)
- Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
- Université Paris-Saclay (FR)
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (US)
- Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale (FR)
- Los Alamos National Security (United States) (US)
- Johnson Space Center (US)
- Laboratoire atmosphères, milieux, observations spatiales (FR)
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (FR)
- Arizona State University (US)
- The University of Winnipeg (CA)
- Université Grenoble Alpes (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Communications Earth & Environment
- Published
- 2025-12-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02856-3
- Primary Topic
- Planetary Science and Exploration
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00