Rocks on Mars are telling scientists a more complicated story about water. NASA's Perseverance rover studied an area beside an ancient lake in Jezero Crater. Researchers expected rocks made from layers of sand and mud. Instead, they found rocks that formed from melted material. The rocks showed signs of contact with water on at least three different occasions.
A tool called SuperCam helped reveal these changes. It uses a laser to examine rocks from a distance. Light from the heated material provides information about its chemistry. The team can identify the order of the water events, but not their ages. The last event involved hot underground water. These findings may help explain how the Martian environment changed.