JUNE 17, 2025 — The recent discovery of a key mineral has reshaped our scientific understanding of what Mars looked like in the past. 

Researchers at UTSA are exploring whether Mars could have once been habitable by investigating new mineral evidence that suggests the red planet may have sequestered large amounts of CO2 and the relationship of carbon cycle on Mars with iron, chlorine and bromine.

Last April, NASA announced that its Curiosity rover had made a groundbreaking discovery. 

Drill samples taken from the rover at the Gale crater were analyzed and found to contain high levels of iron carbonate siderite, a mineral composed primarily of iron, carbon and oxygen. 

This finding is significant because the formation of siderite typically requires a stable, aqueous environment that is rich in ferrous iron and carbon-containing anions, carbonate and bicarbonate.

Kaushik Mitra, an assistant professor in the UTSA Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, has conducted a laboratory-based experimental study to investigate the formation of ferric iron-bearing minerals that were detected at Gale crater on Mars along with siderite by the Curiosity rover. 

The team is hoping to uncover the processes that led to the juxtaposition of ferrous and ferric iron-bearing minerals.

Source: utsa