NASA confirms it has no idea where this Martian rock came from

NASA's Mars rover has stumbled across a rock that has researchers scratching their heads, as its color starkly contrasts with the surface of the Red Planet.

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NASA's Mars rover Perseverance has been exploring the surface of Mars since 2021, and throughout its travels in the Jezero Crater, it has encountered many different rocks, geological formations, and peculiar points of interest - but nothing like this before. NASA has explained in a recent press release titled "Origins Uncertain: 'Skull Hill' Rock" that as Perseverance continued its journey down "Witch Hazel Hill" on the rim of Jezero Crater, it encountered a variety of rocks that "may have originated from elsewhere and transported to their current location."

The rover captured the above image of a rock that has been named "Skull Hill," a dark-toned float rock. Float rocks are rocks that have originated in another location and have been transported to the location where they were discovered. As for Skull Hill, researchers aren't exactly sure where it came from, with the NASA article stating it's reminiscent of meteorites found in the Gale crater by NASA's Curiosity rover.

However, meteorites discovered in the Gale crater that underwent chemical composition analysis determined they contain significant amounts of iron and nickel, but Skull Hill's recent analysis suggests a composition that's "inconsistent with a meteorite origin."

So, where did it come from?

"Alternatively, 'Skull Hill' could be an igneous rock eroded from a nearby outcrop or ejected from an impact crater. On Earth and Mars, iron and magnesium are some of the main contributors to igneous rocks, which form from the cooling of magma or lava. These rocks can include dark-colored minerals such as olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, and biotite. Luckily for us, the rover has instruments that can measure the chemical composition of rocks on Mars. Understanding the composition of these darker-toned floats will help the team to interpret the origin of this unique rock!" - writes NASA