Overview
- A new Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets paper reports Curiosity’s ChemCam found unusually high iron, manganese and zinc in the Amapari Marker Band on Mount Sharp.
- Curiosity’s ChemCam used laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, firing a laser to make a tiny plasma and reading the light to identify elements.
- The metals sit in preserved ripple beds that point to a very shallow, ice-free lake that later gave way to deeper-water deposits.
- On Earth, these redox-active metals can fuel microbes, so the team flags the site as promising for habitability studies without claiming evidence of life.
- The authors recommend targeted Curiosity chemistry at Amapari and list these rocks as candidates for a future Mars Sample Return.