Perseverance Rover Detects Gemstone Minerals in Martian Crater

Geochemist Ann Ollila and her team at Los Alamos National Laboratory identified the minerals after the rover’s SuperCam instrument analyzed three plagioclase-rich rocks. On Earth, corundum—the mineral family that includes rubies and sapphires—typically crystallizes when hot water circulates through fractured rock over vast timescales. Finding these signatures in the crater rim implies that similar fluid-driven processes occurred deep beneath the Martian surface millions or even billions of years ago.

These findings, published in Geophysical Research Letters, complicate current models of Martian volcanic and aqueous history. By identifying these specific geological markers, scientists gain a sharper lens through which to view the planet's ancient environment and its potential to have once supported microbial life. Perseverance remains in the region, gathering core samples intended for a future return mission that could provide the first direct laboratory analysis of these Martian gemstones.