NASA’s Perseverance spacecraft has uncovered significant evidence of polymeric carbon in the rocks of Jezero Crater’s Bright Angel Formation, marking one of the most substantial findings of complex organic molecules on Mars to date. While this discovery does not prove the existence of extraterrestrial life, it bolsters the hypothesis that the fundamental building blocks of life may have been prevalent on Mars billions of years ago.
Artist’s concept of NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance on the surface of Mars. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
The Perseverance team utilized the SHERLOC instrument on the spacecraft’s robotic arm to identify hundreds of organic detections within various rocks in the Bright Angel outcrop. This light-toned geological formation lies in the Neretva Gorge, an ancient riverbed that once supplied water to Jezero’s paleo-lake.
The material identified is polymeric carbon (MMC), a complex, interwoven configuration of carbon atoms typically found in rocks and meteorites on Earth, arising from either biological or abiotic sources.
Due to its robustness, MMC can endure extreme environmental conditions that typically degrade simpler organic molecules.
“Mars’ surface environment exposes organic matter to harmful radiation and chemical oxidants. Laboratory simulations on Earth indicate that the survivability of organic compounds in Mars-like conditions is influenced by various factors, including the type of organic molecules and the surrounding mineralogy,” explained Dr. Ashley Murphy, a postdoctoral fellow at the Planetary Science Institute.
“The MMC detected in the Bright Angel mudstone may either be resistant to degradation or well protected by minerals like clay and iron-rich Martian soils, or possibly both.”
In some specimens, MMC occurs alongside secondary carbonate and sulfate minerals, formed through fluid alteration post-deposition, whereas, in others, it exists within the silicate-rich primary matrix of the mudstone.
These varying associations imply that organic matter may have been integrated through multiple processes and at different stages throughout the rock’s history.
“Although the exact formation mechanism of the MMC in the Bright Angel mudstone remains uncertain, this discovery is one of the most intriguing yet,” stated Dr. Murphy.
This finding also highlights the presence of organic-rich mudstones located over 3,500 km from organic detections reported by NASA’s Curiosity rover at Gale Crater, suggesting that Mars’ habitability and the availability of organic materials could have been widespread billions of years ago.
“This is promising for Mars’ habitability,” noted Murphy. “It implies that billions of years ago, organic matter was not just localized but may have been more abundantly available in ancient lakes and rivers on Mars.”
The researchers propose various potential origins for the organic matter, including delivery by carbon-rich meteorites or interplanetary dust, formation through abiotic geochemical reactions involving water and rocks, or even biological processes.
“The origins of the observed organic matter could be biological, geological, or meteorite-related,” the researchers stated.
“To deepen our understanding of the origins, distribution, and historical changes of organic carbon, high-resolution and sensitive analyses in ground-based laboratories are necessary, ideally through the return of these samples to Earth.”
These findings are documented in the journal Scientific Advances.
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Ashley E. Murphy et al. 2026. Complex spatially distributed organic matter detected in an ancient river valley in Jezero Crater on Mars. Scientific Advances 12(26); doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adx00
Source: www.sci.news