Journal article
The potassic sedimentary rocks in Gale Crater, Mars, as seen by ChemCam on board Curiosity
Journal of geophysical research. Planets, Vol.121(5), pp.784-804
05/2016
DOI: 10.1002/2015JE004987
Abstract
The Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity encountered potassium-rich clastic sedimentary rocks at two sites in Gale Crater, the waypoints Cooperstown and Kimberley. These rocks include several distinct meters thick sedimentary outcrops ranging from fine sandstone to conglomerate, interpreted to record an ancient fluvial or fluvio-deltaic depositional system. From ChemCam Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) chemical analyses, this suite of sedimentary rocks has an overall mean K2O abundance that is more than 5 times higher than that of the average Martian crust. The combined analysis of ChemCam data with stratigraphic and geographic locations reveals that the mean K2O abundance increases upward through the stratigraphic section. Chemical analyses across each unit can be represented as mixtures of several distinct chemical components, i.e., mineral phases, including K-bearing minerals, mafic silicates, Fe-oxides, and Fe-hydroxide/oxyhydroxides. Possible K-bearing minerals include alkali feldspar (including anorthoclase and sanidine) and K-bearing phyllosilicate such as illite. Mixtures of different source rocks, including a potassium-rich rock located on the rim and walls of Gale Crater, are the likely origin of observed chemical variations within each unit. Physical sorting may have also played a role in the enrichment in K in the Kimberley formation. The occurrence of these potassic sedimentary rocks provides additional evidence for the chemical diversity of the crust exposed at Gale Crater.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The potassic sedimentary rocks in Gale Crater, Mars, as seen by ChemCam on board Curiosity
- Creators
- L. Le Deit - Laboratoire de Planétologie et GéosciencesN. Mangold - Laboratoire de Planétologie et GéosciencesO. Forni - Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et PlanétologieA. Cousin - Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et PlanétologieJ. Lasue - Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et PlanétologieS. Schröder - Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR)R. Wiens - Los Alamos National LaboratoryD. Sumner - Earth and Planetary Sciences; University of California; Davis California USAC. Fabre - Université de LorraineK. Stack - Jet Propulsion LaboratoryR. Anderson - Astrogeology Science CenterD. Blaney - Jet Propulsion LaboratoryS. Clegg - Los Alamos National LaboratoryG. Dromart - Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon : Terre, Planètes et EnvironnementM. Fisk - Oregon State UniversityO. Gasnault - Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et PlanétologieJ. Grotzinger - California Institute of TechnologyS. Gupta - Imperial College LondonN. Lanza - Los Alamos National LaboratoryStéphane Le Mouélic - Laboratoire de Planétologie et GéosciencesS. Maurice - Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et PlanétologieS. Mclennan - Stony Brook UniversityP.-Y. Meslin - Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et PlanétologieM. Nachon - Laboratoire de Planétologie et GéosciencesH. Newsom - University of New MexicoV. Payré - Université de LorraineW. Rapin - Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et PlanétologieM. Rice - Western Washington UniversityV. Sautter - Laboratoire de Minéralogie & Cosmochimie du MuséumA. Treiman - Lunar and Planetary Institute
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of geophysical research. Planets, Vol.121(5), pp.784-804
- DOI
- 10.1002/2015JE004987
- ISSN
- 2169-9097
- eISSN
- 2169-9100
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Grant note
- name: Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES), France; name: NASA Mars Program Office
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 05/2016
- Academic Unit
- Earth and Environmental Sciences
- Record Identifier
- 9984294924302771
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