Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The discovery of olivine cumulate at the Séítah Formation within Jezero Crater was one of the most unexpected findings of the Mars2020 Perseverance rover mission thus far. We use rover geochemistry data to calculate the viscosity and relative flow distance of the Séítah unit and its parental lava. Compared to Earth, Mars has lower gravity, current atmosphere and crustal volatile content. These factors imply commensurate changes in lava flow dynamics that need to be better understood. We suggest the Séítah olivine cumulate discovered by the rover was related to a ponded lava flow, based on the low viscosity and distribution of the unit. We estimate an approximate relative depth for the cumulate layer of the lava pond using a convective lava magma model. We also compare the Noachian Jezero olivine rich viscosities to Hesperian basalts analysed by Spirit, and find the Noachian samples to have a greater propensity to flow than their younger cousins. Future observations of the olivine rich unit and laboratory studies of the samples collected by Mars2020 will provide a key window into the flow dynamics and evolution of Martian lava flows. Olivine cumulate lava flows within Jerezo Crater behaved as low viscosity flows due to the reduced gravity of Mars compared to Earth, according to dynamic flow modelling and petrographic data from the Perseverance rover
Authors: Adrian J. Brown, Linda Kah, Roger C. Wiens, Patrick Pinet, Patrick J. Gasda, Clément Royer, Keyron Hickman-Lewis, Agnes Cousin, Justin I. Simon, Jade Comellas, Edward Cloutis, Thierry Fouchet, Alberto G. Fairén, Stephanie Connell, David Flannery, Jorge I. Núñez, Brittan Wogsland, Hans E. F. Amundsen, Kevin P. Hand, Vinciane Debaille, Ari Essunfeld, Pierre Beck, Nicholas J. Tosca, Juan M. Madariaga, Mitchell D. Schulte, Christopher D. K. Herd, Mariek E. Schmidt, Olivier Forni
Institutions: University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Purdue University West Lafayette, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Université Paris Cité, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, Université Paris Dauphine-PSL, University of London, Birkbeck, University of London, Johnson Space Center, The University of Winnipeg, Observatoire de Paris, Sorbonne Université, Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique, Cornell University, Centro de Astrobiología, Queensland University of Technology, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble, Université Grenoble Alpes, University of Cambridge, University of the Basque Country, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, University of Alberta, Brock University
Language: English
Subfield: Space and Planetary Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,490
OpenAlex ID: W7127951342