The red colour that we usually see in images of Mars is actually the result of iron rusting. Rocks and soil on the surface of Mars contained a dust composed mostly of iron and small amounts of other elements such as chlorine and sulphur. The rocks and soil were then eroded by wind and the resulting dust was blown across the planet’s surface by the activity of ancient volcanoes. Recent evidence suggests dust was also spread across Mars by water, a theory backed up by the presence of channels and ducts across the planet’s surface.
The iron contained within the dust then reacted with the oxygen in the atmosphere, producing the distinctive red rust colour, while the sky appears red because storms carried the red dust high up into the planet’s atmosphere. This dusty surface, which is between a few millimetres and two metres deep, also sits above a layer of hardened lava which is mostly composed of basalt. The concentration of iron that is found in this basalt is much higher than it is in basalt on Earth, and this also contributes to the red appearance of Mars.
