We thank the CRISM “Fandango” data analysis working group for helping to verify our hydrated silica detections, especially Frank Seelos and Raymond Arvidson. We thank Ralph Milliken for many useful discussions. We thank Vivian Sun for comments and discussion that improved the quality of this manuscript. We thank Steve Ruff and David Des Marais for thorough and thoughtful reviews that significantly improved the quality of the manuscript. Received Accepted Accepted article online Published online. Also reported are possible detections of hydrated silica in the Nili Fossae basement and olivine‐rich units, as well as Al‐phyllosilicate within Jezero crater. We assess the likelihood of silica to preserve biosignatures in these different scenarios based on habitability considerations and biosignature preservation in Earth analog environments and materials. All are testable via in situ investigation. Several hypotheses are presented for the formation environment of hydrated silica. The morphology of geologic units associated with silica was characterized with high‐resolution imaging. Hydrated silica detections with Dynamic Aperture Factor Analysis/Target Transformation were verified using commonly accepted Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars analysis methods. We detected hydrated silica in Jezero crater, the landing site of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Mars 2020 rover mission, by applying Dynamic Aperture Factor Analysis/Target Transformation to images from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars. Silica has the highest demonstrated potential of any phase to preserve microfossils on Earth and therefore may host potential biosignatures on Mars.
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