There appears to be a volcano near Jezero crater on Mars and the Perseverance rover might already have samples from it that we could use to precisely date the activity of another planet’s volcano for the first time
By Jonathan O’Callaghan
13 June 2025
A suspected volcano (circled) is close to the large Jezero crater on Mars
NASA/JPL/MSSS/JHUAPL/ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/Aster Cowart
A volcano seems to have been identified near the rim of Jezero crater on Mars, which is being explored by NASA’s Perseverance rover. The vehicle may have already sampled material spewed out by ancient eruptions.
Perseverance landed in Jezero crater in 2021 and has gradually made its way to the western rim, driving up a dried-up river, which is thought to have flowed about 3 to 4 billion years ago.
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The rover has been collecting samples that were intended to be returned to Earth as part of the Mars Sample Return mission in the 2030s, although that is now threatened by the Trump administration’s proposed sweeping cuts at NASA.
Some of the material in the samples was thought to have been volcanic, including signs of lava flows. Now, James Wray at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta and his colleagues have found a possible source – a dormant volcano on the south-eastern rim of Jezero named Jezero Mons.
High-resolution imagery from Mars orbiters have revealed fine-grained material on the mountain, consistent with ash from a volcano. The size and shape of Jezero Mons – 21 kilometres wide and two kilometres tall – also matches similar volcanoes on Earth.