Laser blasting uncovers a tiny Mars gem

Sometimes surprising discoveries on Mars come in tiny packages. While exploring a trench it made in a mega ripple, Perseverance recently exposed an interesting gem quality crystal using its laser blaster then promptly buried it on this episode of Mars Guy. In episode 81 I explained the features of a mega ripple including the very coarse sand grains and pebbles that distinguish it from a sand dune. Perseverance did a wheel scuff to expose the interior. Here's Mars Guy for scale. The trench provided an opportunity to do some high resolution measurements of its chemical composition using the SuperCam instrument. SuperCam is mounted on the mast of Perseverance. It shoots pulses of near-infrared laser light so powerful that they vaporize whatever is hit. This creates a plasma of atomic particles that can be observed with SuperCam's telescope and spectrometer. To identify what elements are present, the laser pulses produce a shock wave that actually excavates material, especially when shooting at loose stuff like in this ripple. SuperCam typically shoots at multiple points across a target to capture chemical variations and then images the holes with its color camera looking through the telescope. It shoots a few holes, takes a picture, then repeats, in this case working about halfway up the trench wall. Notice how the trail of holes got filled in by blasted material from above. Only four of probably ten holes are still visible. Four sols or Martian days passed before the rest of the trench wall was zapped. There's a slight offset from the trail of the previous shots and the start of the next set. This is fortuitous because one of the next shots nailed this chunky bit and blew away its sand cover, revealing a sparkling object, assuming that white spot is sun glint rather than a laser zap. The top surface is notably smooth, although with vaguely blotchy coloring. The edges are remarkably linear, coming to a rounded point toward the front. I wondered if it might be another piece of spacecraft detritus like a tiny version of the thermal blanket material I presented in episode 63, but in the bigger picture view before it was zapped, it sure looks like it's emerging from the trench wall, not falling down from above as would be expected for space junk landing on or blowing across the Martian surface. Its seemingly unnatural shape really could be completely natural as shown by crystallography, and no that's not a form of alternative medicine. The asymmetric shape of the pointy end is consistent with monoclinic crystal structure like in gypsum, a sulfate mineral, which also has what's called a perfect cleavage on one of its sides. Keep the jokes to yourself. Gypsum makes sense in the context of previous measurements of high sulfur in some of the sedimentary rocks in the area, so this might be more evidence for a Playa Lake phase of ancient Lake Jezero. The laser zapping continued up the trench wall. Toward the top, this action dislodged some overhanging sand, creating a mini avalanche that took out the crystal, filled in most of the holes, and left some trails from tumbling pebbles. There's no sign of it at the bottom, so the status of this tiny Mars gem is missing in action.