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Perseverance finds nickel-rich rocks in Neretva Vallis, strengthening early-Mars habitability case

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Summary

A purdue-university-led study using the perseverance-rover’s data has identified unusually high concentrations of nickel in neretva-vallis, the ancient river valley feeding jezero-crater. Published March 31, 2026 in Nature Communications and led by henry-manelski (Purdue EAPS), the paper reports nickel detections in 32 rock targets reaching ~1.1 wt% — the highest bedrock nickel abundance yet seen on Mars. The nickel co-occurs with iron sulfides, reduced sulfur, and organic carbon — a chemistry suite that on Earth supports the oldest known microbial metabolisms. The authors argue this strengthens the case that early Mars hosted the prebiotic-chemistry needed for life, and the finding helps contextualize the Sapphire Canyon sample already cached for mars-sample-return (cf. src-mars-perseverance-biosignature-2025).

Key Claims

  • 32 rock targets in neretva-vallis contain elevated nickel; peak concentration ~1.1 wt% — highest Martian bedrock nickel ever measured.
  • Nickel detected first by supercam (LIBS) and localized at finer scale by pixl; associated with iron sulfides and their weathering products.
  • Iron sulfides chemically and morphologically resemble pyrite in very ancient terrestrial sedimentary rocks.
  • Nickel co-occurs with organic carbon and patches of reduced sulfur previously described as a “potential biosignature” at Cheyava Falls.
  • Nickel is biologically important: catalyzes reactions central to early-Earth microbial metabolisms (methanogens, hydrogenases).
  • Calibration standards built in roger-wiens’s lab at purdue-university were essential for quantifying nickel from supercam LIBS spectra; further analyzed at los-alamos-national-laboratory.
  • The “Sapphire Canyon” sample, collected at the same site, is among the cores prioritized for mars-sample-return; this paper provides geochemical context for eventual Earth-lab analysis.
  • Interpretation of the nickel find was refined by joel-hurowitz (Stony Brook), who also led the 2025 Cheyava Falls biosignature paper (src-mars-perseverance-biosignature-2025).
  • Funded by NASA Mars Exploration Program (NNH13ZDA018O).

Notable Quotes

“Nickel is actually quite rare on Earth’s surface because most of it sank into the planet’s core when Earth was forming. But nickel is important — it helps speed up chemical reactions that were likely crucial for the earliest forms of microbial life on our planet.” — Henry Manelski

“What’s especially interesting is that these nickel-rich areas also contain organic carbon and patches of reduced sulfur, which has been previously described a ‘potential biosignature.’ Together, these findings support the hypothesis that the right chemical conditions, and even some of the building blocks for life, likely existed on Mars billions of years ago.” — Henry Manelski

“If this sample is one day returned to Earth, this work will be critical for interpretation.” — Henry Manelski

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