Jarosite
More than a year ago, in January 2021, scientists working in Antarctica drilled into the center of a melting glacier. Recent hikes in global temperatures allow researchers to access previously inaccessible parts of the vast ice continent. They uncovered a rare mineral known as jarosite during one of these expeditions.
The mineral jarosite forms when a glacier moves over organic material, such as destroying ancient forests. The discovery was monumental because it proved that jarosite formed on Earth and Mars. Beforehand, scientists didn’t know whether the mineral existed anywhere else in the solar system, and the discovery confirmed beliefs that glaciers formed the current surface of Mars.