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Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Diverse exposed surface mineralogy around the Jezero delta

Diverse exposed surface mineralogy around the Jezero delta
Diverse exposed surface mineralogy around the Jezero delta A preserved river delta in Jezero crater, Mars as imaged by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The colors denote the presence of different types of materials formed or altered by water. NASA / JPL / JHUAPL / MSSS / Brown University

The ancient river that flowed into Jezero crater ferried clay-like minerals (shown in green) into the lake, forming the delta. Clays tend to trap and preserve organic matter, making the delta a good place to look for signs of ancient life. The Mars Perseverance rover will land near this delta.

MRO's CRISM instrument was used to determine the mineral types around this the delta, which was then overlaid over an image captured by the spacecraft's Context Camera (CTX).