Corundum
Data from the famous Perseverance rover reveals valuable secrets of the Red Planet: signs of corundum were found in Jezero Crater, a structure around 4 billion years old.
New data obtained from observations by NASA’s Perseverance rover indicate that some Martian rocks may contain small ruby-like crystals and possibly other minerals from the Martian group. corundumlike sapphires.
The discovery was presented by an international team of researchers at the 57th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas, based on data collected in the spring of last year and whose results are currently under peer review and are expected to be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
The investigation focuses on clear rocks found by Perseverance at the edge of the Jezero Cratera structure around 4 billion years old, according to .
These rocks displaced from their place of origin would have been transported by impacts, geological activity or processes associated with water. The scientists’ interest arose when some of these samples were analyzed with the SuperCam instrument, which uses a green laser to excite the minerals and identify their chemical composition through the emitted light.
According to researchers, three of these rocks revealed clear signs of the presence of corundum with chromium inclusionsa combination compatible with the chemical composition of rubies.
Still, the team avoids definitively classifying them as Martian rubies. The crystals are too small to be observed directly through the rover’s cameras, and the exact composition remains to be determined.
Corundum is a mineral formed by aluminum and oxygen and is among the hardest natural substances known. In its pure state it is colorless, but small impurities alter its tone: chromium can give rise to the red of rubies, while iron or titanium are associated with the blue of sapphires.
As scientists are still unable to accurately measure the amount of these elements in Martian samples, they prefer, for now, to speak only of corundum.
Nor, at least for now, are precious stones of any relevant size. The identified crystals have less than 0.2 millimeters in diameter. But researchers admit that there may be slightly larger specimens elsewhere on the planetalthough corundum is rare on both the Red Planet and Earth.
The origin of these crystals could also differ from that of their terrestrial counterparts. As there is no conclusive evidence of plate tectonics on Mars, the team considers that impacts from meteoritescapable of generating extreme temperatures and pressures, may have played a decisive role in the furious formation of these objects.
Evidence previously investigated in our “neighbor” had already indicated the presence of quartz and opal on Mars.
