PAST VARIATIONS OF WATER LEVEL OF JEZERO PALEOLAKE

Abstract

International audienceThe western fan of Jezero crater displays features interpreted as fluvial and deltaic sedimentary rocks from orbital data [1,2]. Images obtained using the SuperCam Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) and the Mastcam-Z camera provide in-situ observations of Jezero crater’s western fan in various locations along the Perseverance traverse. In the last two years, the rover analyzed the fan front from a distance using these imaging tools and at close range using its entire payload. Then, in 2023, the Perseverance rover explored the top of the western Jezero sedimentary fan. Here we show that fluvial topsets and deltaic foresets dominate sedimentary rocks. Determining the boundary between fluvial and prodelta deposits enables us to draw the evolution of the lake level through time