Reconstructing Jezero Crater’s Paleoenvironment: Insights from Perseverance Rover and Orbital Data

Jezero Crater on Mars is a critical site for investigating ancient aqueous environments due to its preserved delta and lacustrine features.

Reconstructing its paleoenvironmental history is essential for understanding Mars’ climate evolution and assessing its past habitability. This study integrates in-situ data from the Perseverance rover, including review for high-resolution imaging, mineralogical analyses, and subsurface radar, with orbital imagery from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Express. Terrestrial analogues aid in interpreting sedimentary structures and depositional processes.

The integrated analysis reveals that Jezero Crater’s floor consists of igneous rocks with minimal aqueous alteration, overlain by deltaic sediments rich in clays and carbonates, indicative of a lacustrine setting. Orbital data confirm extensive fluvial networks and mineralogical diversity, while subsurface radar indicates stratified deposits consistent with episodic sedimentation. Sulfate-rich deposits suggest post-depositional diagenetic processes.

The findings depict a complex history of initial igneous activity, followed by prolonged water-related sedimentation forming the delta, and subsequent aeolian modification, highlighting the dynamic nature of Mars’ early environment. By synthesizing rover and orbital data, this review work provides a comprehensive model of Jezero Crater’s paleoenvironment, offering valuable insights for future Mars exploration and the search for biosignatures.

Context Map of Jezero Crater highlighting the Perseverance rover’s landing site, inlet/outlet channels, and key geological features. This provides a spatial context for the study. North is up, and illumination is from the left. (A) Context map showing Jezero crater, the inlet/outlet channels (outlined in black), and the edifice Jezero Mons in the southeast. (B) Close-up of the western delta with its associated features as mentioned in the text. (C) Detail view of the rover landing and traverse site, through mission sol 327 (20 January 2022). White circles represent the sol-by-sol locations of the rover starting from the OEB landing site, and yellow circles represent the different site locations defined so far in the mission. Base images: MRO/HiRISE, MRO/CTX, MEx/HRSC. — eartharxiv.org

Stratigraphic Column of Jezero Crater Floor. (a) Mola Hemispheric view of Mars with the location of (b). (b) Regional context of (c) MOLA topography is displayed in transparency over Themis Day-time mosaic (Smith et al., 2003). (c) Simplified geological context of the Jezero dark crater floor unit (here in red). The geological unit contours are from Goudge et al. (2015). The interpretation of the remnant deposit is from Stack et al. (2020) and Mangold et al. (2021). The stratigraphic relationships displayed in the legend are from Holm-Alwmark et al. (2021) who argued for a dark floor unit pre-dating the deltaic deposits. — eartharxiv.org

Reconstructing Jezero Crater’s Paleoenvironment: Insights from Perseverance Rover and Orbital Data, eartharxiv.org

Astrobiology, Astrogeology,