Curiosity Shows Martian Soil to be Volcanic in Origin

Curiosity has shown that Martian soil to be volcanic in origin in support of the Catastrophic Model of Martian Geology. One of the main predictions of the theory that Martian Geology is largely the result catastrophic processes is that Martian soil would be largely volcanic in nature since  catastrophic volcanic is a major part of the model.

X-ray diffraction patter from  Curiosity
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ames

This discovery was a result Curiosity performing the first X-ray diffraction analysis ever performed on Mars. The analysis was done on soil scooped up by the rover. The material analysis by Curiosity is consistent with Gale Crater having a wet environment at some time in the past despite its dry environment today. This is also expected with Catastrophic Model of Martian Geology since the volcanic activity and asteroid impacts described in the mode would have filled the Martian atmosphere with dust increasing the temperature and pressure above the point here water could exist on the surface. One main difference in between this model the uniformitarian model promoted by JPL is that the events in the catastrophic model could have occurred much more recently in fact possibly with in the last few thousand years.

References

Catastrophic Model of Martian Geology

Mars, a Testament to Catastrophe

NASA Rover's First Soil Studies Help Fingerprint Martian Minerals