New findings from NASA's Mars mission are strengthening hypotheses about the existence of favorable conditions for life in the red planet's past. The Perseverance rover, NASA's robotic vehicle that began searching for signs of life on February 18, 2021, as part of the Mars 2020 mission, has delivered another significant scientific result. During exploration in the Jezero crater area, researchers have identified chemical compounds that on Earth are directly linked to biological activity.
A team led by Henry Manelski of Purdue University has discovered the presence of nickel in the Neretva Vallis channel, an ancient river valley on the edge of the crater. The study, published in late March in the journal "Nature Communications," indicates that in sedimentary rocks approximately 3 billion years old, nickel concentrations of up to about 1.1% by weight have been recorded—the highest level ever measured on Mars.
This element was found together with organic carbon compounds and iron sulfide minerals, a combination that on Earth is created only by living organisms. Researchers emphasize that these data constitute an interesting indicator of biological processes in Mars' past.
Simultaneously, research near the Jezero crater has also revealed microscopic corundum particles, a fundamental mineral for the formation of rubies and sapphires. Analyses led by Ann Ollila of Los Alamos National Laboratory demonstrated the presence of chromium in these structures, an element characteristic of rubies on Earth.
However, the origin of corundum on Mars remains unclear. Unlike Earth, the red planet lacks tectonic plates, so scientists suspect that the formation of these crystals may have been caused by meteorite impacts, which created the necessary conditions for their formation.