The Potential of Manganese Oxides on Mars

On Earth, the most important oxidant that forms these red beds, or hematite, is oxygen. On Mars, we don't have the problem of UV rays penetrating our atmosphere because we have a thick atmosphere. The iron on the surface of Mars could have been oxidized by oxygen or any other oxidant like UV to give this red color. But if we see manganese based on our understanding on Earth, manganese showed that it was produced by oxygen. That's what gave us the understanding of the atmosphere of early Earth.