NASA’s Perseverance rover has uncovered evidence that water transformed Mars in at least three distinct episodes. In Jezero Crater’s Margin Unit, the rover found igneous rocks containing carbonates and silica—clues to ancient groundwater, a long-vanished lake, and later heated fluids underground.

The discovery reveals a far more complex watery history for Mars and raises new questions about whether its ancient environments could have supported microbial life.

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