NASA’s Perseverance Rover Finds a Strange “Skull” Rock on Mars

NASA’s Perseverance rover continues its scientific journey across the surface of Mars, venturing into the lower region of ‘Witch Hazel Hill,’ located on the edge of Jezero Crater. During its trek last week, the exploratory vehicle paused at a notable geological boundary, visible even from orbit, where light and dark rocks meet.

This site, named ‘Port Anson’ by the science team, has revealed intriguing formations, including rocks that may have originated elsewhere and were transported to their current location—a phenomenon known as erratic rocks.

Among the most striking findings is a rock nicknamed Skull Hill, captured by the rover’s Mastcam-Z camera on April 11, 2025—sol 1472 of the Mars 2020 mission. The image, processed and released by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in collaboration with Arizona State University (ASU), shows a dark, angular formation that contrasts sharply with the lighter bedrock surrounding it.

A Geological Enigma

Skull Hill stands out not only because of its dark color, but also due to its eroded surface, marked by small holes and what appear to be spherules—tiny spherical particles—embedded in the surrounding regolith. According to scientists, these holes may have formed from the erosion of rock fragments or from the abrasive effect of Martian wind.

mars skull rock nasa — The dark, smooth-surfaced rock at the center of this Oct. 30, 2016, image from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover was examined with laser pulses and confirmed to be an iron-nickel meteorite. It is about the size of a golf ball. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

The mission team is particularly interested in determining the origin of these dark rocks, which appear scattered across the Port Anson region. One possibility under consideration is that Skull Hill is a meteorite, similar to those previously found by the Curiosity rover in Gale Crater, which contained high concentrations of iron and nickel. However, preliminary data from the SuperCam instrument aboard Perseverance suggest that its composition does not match that of a meteorite.

If it is not meteoritic in origin, another hypothesis is that it is an igneous rock, formed by the cooling of magma or lava, explained a member of the science team. On both Earth and Mars, iron- and magnesium-rich igneous rocks often contain dark minerals such as olivine, pyroxene, or biotite.

Perseverance is equipped with instruments capable of analyzing the chemical composition of rocks in situ, allowing scientists to determine with precision whether Skull Hill is volcanic in origin or comes from a distant impact. The results could shed light on the geological history of Jezero, an ancient Martian lake that may have harbored conditions suitable for microbial life billions of years ago.

Meanwhile, the rover continues its descent toward lower areas of Witch Hazel Hill, collecting images and data that will be essential for future missions, including the sample return campaign to Earth, led by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).