Perseverance data show rocks at Jezero Crater's edge were altered by water at least three times

Rocks along the inner edge of Mars' Jezero Crater were touched by water on at least three separate occasions, including at least one episode involving hot water, according to a study based on data from NASA's Perseverance rover. NASA announced the findings on September 21, 2026, the day the paper was published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment.

Where the rover looked

The study focuses on an area called the Margin Unit, along the inner edge of the crater rim. Perseverance explored the area from October 8 to 16, 2023, according to NASA. During that time, the rover's SuperCam instrument, which uses a laser to study the minerals in rocks, analyzed more than 185 bedrock targets across the unit.

The rock there is igneous. NASA says the new analysis shows that this rock was later changed by water in several distinct ways.

Three water events

According to NASA, the researchers identified three separate interactions with water:

  • Groundwater rich in carbon dioxide reacted with the mineral olivine, forming carbonate ridges inside fractures in the rock.
  • Silica deposits suggest that the rock also interacted with the ancient lake that once filled the crater.
  • A hot water event produced mineral veins made of calcium sulfate and fluorite, about 10 inches thick.

NASA describes the results as revealing complex water systems on early Mars.

The research team

The study was led by Candice Bedford of Purdue University, with co-author Eleni Ravanis of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, according to NASA.

"The Margin Unit findings are important because Jezero Crater sits inside one of the largest exposures of carbonate on Mars, so what we learn here reaches well beyond this crater," Bedford said in NASA's release.

Why it matters

In the Margin Unit, carbonate formed where carbon-dioxide-rich groundwater reacted with rock. Because Jezero lies within one of the largest exposures of carbonate on the planet, the researchers say the results help explain conditions over a much wider area than the crater itself. The evidence of several separate episodes, including hot water, adds detail to the history of water at the site.

Sources

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