¹Y.Liu et al. (>10)
Science 377, 1513-1519 Link to Article [DOI: 10.1126/science.abo2756]
¹Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
Reprinted with permission of AAAS

The geological units on the floor of Jezero crater, Mars, are part of a wider regional stratigraphy of olivine-rich rocks, which extends well beyond the crater. We investigated the petrology of olivine and carbonate-bearing rocks of the Séítah formation in the floor of Jezero. Using multispectral images and x-ray fluorescence data, acquired by the Perseverance rover, we performed a petrographic analysis of the Bastide and Brac outcrops within this unit. We found that these outcrops are composed of igneous rock, moderately altered by aqueous fluid. The igneous rocks are mainly made of coarse-grained olivine, similar to some martian meteorites. We interpret them as an olivine cumulate, formed by settling and enrichment of olivine through multistage cooling of a thick magma body.