The first detection of perchlorate salts in the Martian regolith was made by NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander in the northern polar plains. Perchlorate salts are important as they can lead to the formation of brines, are a possible energy source for microbes and can be used as a marker for climate change from wet to dry conditions. There is currently no known mechanism of perchlorate production on Mars though an atmospheric chemical pathway resulting in perchlorate has been proposed
