SHERLOC Raman Mineral Detections of the Mars 2020 Crater Floor Campaign

During the first science campaign of the Mars 2020 mission, Perseverance rover's Scanning Habitiable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) deep UV Raman and fluorescence instrument collected microscale, two-dimensional Raman and fluorescence images on ten natural and abraded targets on two different Jezero crater floor units: Séítah and Máaz. SHERLOC Raman images collected during the Crater Floor Campaign indicate that Séítah and Máaz are mineralogically distinct igneous units with complex aqueous alteration histories. SHERLOC data show that Séítah is olivine-rich with evidence of olivine carbonation, while Máaz features widespread silicates, but lacks olivine. Both units feature salt deposits. In Séítah, the salts are predominantly sulfate. Where salts are observed in Máaz, they are a mixture of sodium perchlorate and sulfates. Taken together, SHERLOC data collected during the Crater Floor Campaign suggest that the Jezero crater floor once hosted an environment capable of supporting microbial life and preserving evidence of that life, if it existed.