An olivine cumulate outcrop on the floor of Jezero crater, Mars.

The geological units on the floor of Jezero crater, Mars, are part of a wider regional stratigraphy of olivine-rich rocks, which extends well beyond the crater. We investigated the petrology of olivine and carbonate-bearing rocks of the Séítah formation in the floor of Jezero. Using multispectral images and x-ray fluorescence data, acquired by the Perseverance rover, we performed a petrographic analysis of the Bastide and Brac outcrops within this unit. We found that these outcrops are composed of igneous rock, moderately altered by aqueous fluid. The igneous rocks are mainly made of coarse-grained olivine, similar to some martian meteorites. We interpret them as an olivine cumulate, formed by settling and enrichment of olivine through multistage cooling of a thick magma body.

Promotion and nucleation of carbonate precipitation during microbial iron reduction.

Iron-bearing early diagenetic carbonate cements are common in sedimentary rocks, where they are thought to be associated with microbial iron reduction. However, little is yet known about how local environments around actively iron-reducing cells affect carbonate mineral precipitation rates and compositions. Precipitation experiments with the iron-reducing bacterium Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 were conducted to examine the potential role of cells in promoting precipitation and to explore the possible range of precipitate compositions generated in varying fluid compositions. Actively iron-reducing cells induced increased carbonate mineral saturation and nucleated precipitation on their poles. However, precipitation only occurred when calcium was present in solution, suggesting that cell surfaces lowered local ferrous iron concentrations by adsorption or intracellular iron oxide precipitation even as they locally raised pH. Resultant precipitates were a range of thermodynamically unstable calcium-rich siderites that would likely act as precursors to siderite, calcite, or even dolomite in nature. By modifying local pH, providing nucleation sites, and altering metal ion concentrations around cell surfaces, iron-reducing micro-organisms could produce a wide range of carbonate cements in natural sediments.

Oxygen and hydrogen isotope evidence for a temperate climate 3.42 billion years ago.

Stable oxygen isotope ratios (delta(18)O) of Precambrian cherts have been used to establish much of our understanding of the early climate history of Earth and suggest that ocean temperatures during the Archaean era ( approximately 3.5 billion years ago) were between 55 degrees C and 85 degrees C (ref. 2). But, because of uncertainty in the delta(18)O of the primitive ocean, there is considerable debate regarding this conclusion. Examination of modern and ancient cherts indicates that another approach, using a combined analysis of delta(18)O and hydrogen isotopes (deltaD) rather than delta(18)O alone, can provide a firmer constraint on formational temperatures without independent knowledge of the isotopic composition of ambient waters. Here we show that delta(18)O and deltaD sampled from 3.42-billion-year-old Buck Reef Chert rocks in South Africa are consistent with formation from waters at varied low temperatures. The most (18)O-enriched Buck Reef Chert rocks record the lowest diagenetic temperatures and were formed in equilibrium with waters below approximately 40 degrees C. Geochemical and sedimentary evidence suggests that the Buck Reef Chert was formed in shallow to deep marine conditions, so our results indicate that the Palaeoarchaean ocean was isotopically depleted relative to the modern ocean and far cooler (