CRISM Archives

Mars vast clay region - View showing the transition between clay units in the Oxia Planum and Mawrth Vallis regions on Mars, taken by the HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. -- ESA Larger image

Analog Studies, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Desert Worlds, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Astrobiology Rover Targets A Vast Bed Of Clay In Its Search For Life

by Keith CowingJune 4, 2026June 26, 2026

In the region where the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover will search for signs of life, clay deposits extend beyond previous estimates, a new study finds. One hypothesis even suggests a […]

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Status Report

Mars Orbital Recon: Coprates Chasma Within Valles Marineris

by Keith CowingDecember 22, 2025December 22, 2025

This image of Coprates Chasma shows the deepest part of the giant Valles Marineris canyon system, more than 7 kilometers below the nearest rim and 11 kilometers beneath the surrounding […]

a Mars Orbital LASER Altimeter (MOLA) map of equatorial Mars with black boxes indicating locations of the Juventae Plateau and Aram Chaos (red indicates higher elevations and blue lower elevations). b View of the plateau above Juventae Chasma with compositional units from CRISM image FRT00005814 showing pyroxene-bearing basalt in green, polyhydrated sulfates in blue, and the Fe3+SO4OH-bearing phase in red over a High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) Digital Terrain Model (DTM). c Same CRISM compositional units over a HiRISE DTM (5x vertical exaggeration) with the basalt units split into basalt-1 in dark cyan and basalt-2 in medium green, scale bar for foreground. d CRISM spectra of unusual units with a band near 2.23 µm (top) and lab spectra of several minerals (bottom). Note that none of these minerals are a good spectral match to the CRISM spectra of the Fe3+SO4OH-bearing outcrop. -- Nature

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

A New Mineral Identified On Mars Providing Insight To Supporting Life

by Keith CowingSeptember 30, 2025September 30, 2025

Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst are part of a team that has identified a unique mineral on Mars, described in Nature Communications. Named ferric hydroxysulfate, the mineral provides […]

Mineralogical map of Jezero crater explored by the Perseverance rover. This mineral map was created from near-infrared (1-2.6 µm) CRISM imagery (Parente et al., 2021) using recently developed technologies (Itoh et al., 2021; Saranathan et al., 2021) and overlain on High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE ) imagery. The basaltic rocks at the landing site are dominated by the minerals olivine (red) and pyroxene (tan). Further west, in regions called the Western Fan and Margin Unit, sedimentary rocks predominate. Smectite clay minerals rich in iron and magnesium (light to dark blue tones) and carbonate rich in magnesium and iron (green-yellow tones) were formed through aqueous processes. Unusual iron phosphate and iron sulfide minerals were found at the Bright Angel and Masonic Temple sites near Neretva Vallis (Hurowitz et al., 2025). Other iron phosphate minerals were observed at the Onahu site in the Western Fan region. Credit M. Parente

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Habitable Zones, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Origin & Evolution of Life, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs

Perseverance Rover Uncovers Clues To Ancient Martian Chemistry

by Keith CowingSeptember 11, 2025

NASA’s Perseverance Rover spent three years exploring the floor of Jezero Crater, located just north of the Martian equator.

Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) map of Valles Marineris region with higher elevations in red and lower elevations in yellow, green and then blue tones. — Nature via PubMed

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Status Report

Characterization Of Ferric Hydroxysulfate On Mars And Implications Of The Geochemical Environment Supporting Its Formation

by Keith CowingAugust 16, 2025August 16, 2025

Sulfate minerals are significant components of the martian surface and provide clues about the martian geochemical environment.

Aram Chaos., Mars Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona.

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Press Release

A Unique Martian Mineral Offers Fresh Clues About Planet’s Past

by Keith CowingAugust 5, 2025August 5, 2025

New research published in Nature Communications identifies an iron sulfate on Mars that may represent a brand-new mineral.

Candor Chasma in central Valles Marineris -- NASA HiRISE

Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Status Report

Martian Sandstone In West Candor Chasma

by Keith CowingMay 22, 2025May 22, 2025

Candor Chasma in central Valles Marineris is filled with light-toned layered deposits thought to be sandstones, perhaps formed in an ancient wet and potentially habitable environment.

(A) MOLA image of Valles Marineris, including Ius Chasma. (B) THEMIS Day IR image of Ius Chasma including Geryon Montes and the bright layered materials containing the “doublet” spectral signatures. (C) HRSC DTM overlain by CTX and CRISM images of the doublet type unit on the southern wall of the northern valley of Ius Chasma. -- Icarus

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Status Report

Characterization of Aqueous Alteration and Formation of Salty Exposures at Ius Chasma, Mars

by Keith CowingJuly 21, 2024July 7, 2024

Intriguing outcrops in Ius Chasma provide a window into past aqueous processes in Valles Marineris, Mars. Hydrous sulfate minerals are abundant throughout this region, but one area in Ius Chasma […]

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Status Report

A Clay-Rich Mound In An Eroded Plateau On Mars

by Keith CowingJanuary 12, 2024January 12, 2024

These mounds contain bright-toned material which have been found to be clay-bearing with data from the CRISM instrument on MRO.

Bioenergetic results from the modeled simulations showing the feasibility of sulfate reduction, methanotrophy, methanogenesis, and anaerobic methane oxidation (AMO), based on Gibbs Energy quantification. All reactions at equilibrium are exergonic at all modeled conditions. Computed Gibbs Free Energy of Reaction is displayed as kJ/mol per e− transferred in the given reaction. -- Life

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report

Mineral Indicators of Geologically Recent Past Habitability on Mars

by Keith CowingJanuary 3, 2024January 3, 2024

We provide new support for habitable microenvironments in the near-subsurface of Mars, hosted in Fe- and Mg-rich rock units, and present a list of minerals that can serve as indicators […]