Researchers at the American Geophysical Union's fall meeting revealed that Mars' Jezero Crater formed from molten volcanic magma. NASA's Perseverance rover has also identified organic molecules in rocks there.
Organic molecules do not prove life—they are carbon-hydrogen compounds that can form through non-biological processes. They've been found on Mars before, including by the Curiosity rover.
This find in ancient lakebed Jezero Crater stands out. It shows these rocks preserve organics, raising the possibility that biological materials, if ever present, could endure too.
Perseverance's SHERLOC instrument detected them in cored samples and nearby dust. Further tests will explore their formation.
The PIXL instrument analyzed a core from the "Brac" site, spotting olivine crystals within pyroxene—hallmarks of igneous rock from cooling magma.
On Earth, this texture forms in slowly cooling environments like thick lava flows or magma chambers, explains Ken Farley of Caltech: "A good geology student will tell you that such a texture indicates that the rock was formed when the crystals grew and were deposited in a magma that cools slowly."
Water later altered this bedrock, offering clues to Jezero's dynamic history.
