Publications
Filter Total Items: 910
Sedimentary organics in Glen Torridon, Gale Crater, Mars: Results from the SAM instrument suite and supporting laboratory analyses
The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) suite instrument on board NASA's Curiosity rover has characterized the inorganic and organic chemical composition of seven samples from the Glen Torridon (GT) clay-bearing unit. A variety of organic molecules were detected with SAM using pyrolysis (up to ∼850°C) and wet chemistry experiments coupled with evolved gas analysis (EGA) and gas chromatography-mass spect
Authors
Maeva Millan, Amy Williams, Amy McAdam, Jennifer Eigenbrode, A. Steele, C Freissinet, D. P. Glavin, C. Szopa, A. Buch, Roger E. Summons, J. M. T. Lewis, G. M. Wong, C. H. House, B. Sutter, O. McIntosh, A. B. Bryk, H. B. Franz, C. Pozarycki, J. C. Stern, R. Navarro-Gonzalez, R. H. Williams, D. P. Archer, V. Fox, Kristen A. Bennett, S. Teinturier, C. Malespin, S. S. Johnson, P. R. Mahaffy
Geology and stratigraphic correlation of the Murray and Carolyn Shoemaker formations across the Glen Torridon region, Gale crater, Mars
The Glen Torridon (GT) region within Gale crater, Mars, occurs in contact with the southern side of Vera Rubin ridge (VRR), a well-defined geomorphic feature that is comparatively resistant to erosion. Prior to detailed ground-based investigation of GT, its geologic relationship with VRR was unknown. Distinct lithologic subunits within the Jura member (Murray formation), which forms the upper part
Authors
Christopher M. Fedo, Alexander Bryk, Lauren A. Edgar, Kristen A. Bennett, Valerie K. Fox, William E. Dietrich, Steve G. Banham, Sanjeev Gupta, Kathryn M. Stack, Rebecca Williams, John P. Grotzinger, Nathan Stein, Dave Rubin, Gwenael Caravaca, Ray E. Arvidson, Madison N Hughes, Abigail A. Fraeman, Ashwin R. Vasavada, Juergen Schieber, Brad Sutter
Aqueously altered igneous rocks sampled on the floor of Jezero crater, Mars
The Perseverance rover landed in Jezero crater, Mars, to investigate ancient lake and river deposits. We report observations of the crater floor, below the crater’s sedimentary delta, finding the floor consists of igneous rocks altered by water. The lowest exposed unit, informally named Séítah, is a coarsely crystalline olivine-rich rock, which accumulated at the base of a magma body. Fe-Mg carbon
Authors
K.A. Farley, K.M. Stack, D.L. Shuster, B.H.N. Horgan, J.A. Hurowitz, J. D. Tarnas, J.I. Simon, V.Z. Sun, E.L. Scheller, K.R. Moore, S.M. McLennan, P.M. Vasconcelos, R. C. Wiens, A.H. Treiman, L.E. Mayhew, O. Beyssac, T.V. Kizovski, N. J. Tosca, K.H. Williford, L.S. Crumpler, L.W. Beegle, J.F. Bell III, B.L. Ehlmann, Y. Liu, J.N. Maki, M. E. Schmidt, A.C. Allwood, H.E.F. Amundsen, R. Ghartia, T. Bosak, A.J. Brown, B. C. Clark, A. Cousin, O. Forni, Travis S. J. Gabriel, Y. Goreva, S. Gupta, S.-E. Hamran, C.D.K. Herd, K. Hickman-Lewis, J.R. Johnson, L.C. Kah, P. B. Kelemen, K.B. Kinch, L. Mandon, N. Mangold, C. Quantun-Nataf, M.S. Rice, P.S. Russell, S. Sharma, S. Siljestroem, A. Steele, R. Sullivan, M. Wadhwa, B. P. Weiss, A.J. Williams, B.V. Wogsland, P.A. Willis, T.A. Acosta-Maeda, B. Peck, K. Benzerara, S. Bernard, A.S. Burton, E. L. Cardarelli, B. Chide, E. Clave, E.A. Cloutis, A.D. Czaja, V. Debaille, E. Dehouck, A.G. Fairen, D.T. Flannery, S.Z. Fleron, T. Fouchet, J. Frydenvang, B.J. Garczynski, E.F. Gibbons, E. M. Hausrath, A.G. Hayes, J. Henneke, J.L. Jorgensen, E.M. Kelly, J. Lasue, S. Le Mouelic, J. M. Madariaga, S. Maurice, M. Merusi, P. -Y. Meslin, S.M. Milkovich, C.C. Million, R.C. Moeller, J.I. Nunez, A.M. Ollila, G. Paar, D.A. Paige, D.A.K. Pedersen, P. Pilleri, C. Pilorget, P.C. Pinet, J.W. Rice Jr., C. Royer, V. Sautter, M. Schulte, M. A. Sephton, S.K. Sharma, S.F. Sholes, N. Spanovich, M. St. Clair, C.D. Tate, K. Uckert, S.J. VanBommel, A.G. Yanchilina, M. -P. Zorzano
The distribution of clay minerals and their impact on diagenesis in Glen Torridon, Gale crater, Mars
Glen Torridon (GT) is a recessive-trough feature on the northwestern slope of “Mt. Sharp” in Gale crater, Mars with the highest Fe-/Mg-phyllosilicates abundances detected by the Curiosity rover to date. Understanding the origin of these clay minerals and their relationship with diagenetic processes is critical for reconstructing the nature and habitability of past surface and subsurface environmen
Authors
Amanda Rudolph, Briony H. N. Horgan, Jeffrey B. Johnson, Kristen A. Bennett, James Haber, James F. Bell, V. F. Fox, Samantha Jacob, S. Maurice, Elizabeth B. Rampe, Melissa Rice, Christina Seeger, Roger C. Wiens
Sedimentological and geochemical perspectives on a marginal lake environment recorded in the Hartmann’s Valley and Karasburg members of the Murray formation, Gale crater, Mars
This study utilizes instruments from the Curiosity rover payload to develop an integrated paleoenvironmental and compositional reconstruction for the 65-m thick interval of stratigraphy comprising the Hartmann's Valley and Karasburg members of the Murray formation, Gale crater, Mars. The stratigraphy consists of cross-stratified sandstone (Facies 1), planar-laminated sandstone (Facies 2), and plan
Authors
Samantha Gwizd, Christopher M. Fedo, John P. Grotzinger, Steven G. Banham, Frances Rivera-Hernandez, Kathryn M. Stack, Kirsten L. Siebach, Michael T. Thorpe, Lucy Thompson, Catherine O'Connell-Cooper, Nathan Stein, Lauren A. Edgar, Sanjeev Gupta, David M. Rubin, Dawn Sumner, Ashwin R. Vasavada
Thermophysical and compositional properties of paleobedforms on Mars
Bedforms on Earth and Mars are often preserved in the rock record in the form of sedimentary rock with distinct cross-bedding. On rare occasions, the full-surface geometry of a bedform can be preserved through burial and lithification. These features, known as paleobedforms, are found in a variety of geographic locations on Mars. Evidence in the morphology of paleobedforms, such as the retention o
Authors
Aaron R. Weintraub, Christopher S. Edwards, Matthew Chojnacki, Lauren A. Edgar, Lori K. Fenton, Sylvain Piqueux, Amber Gullikson
The formation mechanisms for mid-latitude ice scarps on Mars
Mid-latitude exposed ice scarps have recently been identified on Mars (Dundas et al., 2018; 2021). The presence of such surface ice exposures at relatively low latitudes was itself a mystery, and the formation dynamics of such scarps have also not been explained. In this work we model the ice ablation rates of several identified mid-latitude scarps. We find that, given certain characteristics of t
Authors
Kaj E. Williams, Colin M. Dundas, Melinda A. Kahre
Martian gully activity and the gully sediment transport system
The formation process for Martian gullies is a critical unknown for understanding recent climate conditions. Leading hypotheses include formation by snowmelt in a past climate, or formation via currently active CO2 frost processes. This paper presents an expanded catalog of >300 recent flows in gullies. The results indicate that sediment transport in current gully flows moves the full range of mat
Authors
Colin M. Dundas, Susan J. Conway, Glen E. Cushing
Can we accurately estimate sediment budgets on Mars?
Sediment budgets are fundamentally important for planetary science. However, only one primary method, based on remote sensing, is currently available for determining extraterrestrial sediment budgets. For determining sediment budgets on Earth, both in-situ and remote sensing methods are available. Despite the widespread use of the two methods, there has been surprisingly little research on how wel
Authors
Joel B. Sankey, Alan Kasprak, Matthew Chojnacki, Timothy N. Titus, Joshua Caster, Geoffrey DeBenedetto
Evidence for fluctuating wind in shaping an ancient Martian dune field: The Stimson formation at the Greenheugh pediment, Gale crater
Temporal fluctuations of wind strength and direction can influence aeolian bedform morphology and orientation, which can be encoded into the architecture of aeolian deposits. These strata represent a direct record of atmospheric processes and can be used to understand ancient Martian atmospheric processes as well as those on Earth. The strata can: give insight to ancient atmospheric circulation, h
Authors
Steven G. Banham, Sanjeev Gupta, David M. Rubin, Candice C. Bedford, Lauren A. Edgar, Alexander Bryk, Williiam E. Dietrich, Christopher M. Fedo, Rebecca M. E. Williams, Gwenael Caravaca, Robert Barnes, Gerhard Paar, Thomas Ortner, Ashwin R. Vasavada
New craters on Mars: An updated catalog
We present a catalog of new impacts on Mars. These craters formed in the last few decades, constrained with repeat orbital imaging. Crater diameters range from 58 m down to <1 m. For each impact, we report whether it formed a single crater or a cluster (58% clusters); albedo features of the blast zone (88% halos; 64% linear rays; 10% arcuate rays; majority dark-toned; 4% light-toned; 14% dual-tone
Authors
Ingrid J. Daubar, Colin M. Dundas, Alfred S. McEwen, Annabelle Gao, D. Wexler, Sylvain Piqueux, Gareth S. Collins, Katarina Miljkovic, T. Neidhart, J. Eschenfelder, Gwen D. Bart, Kiri L. Wagstaff, Gary Doran, Liliya Posiolova, Michael C. Malin, Gunnar Speth, David Susko, A. Werynski
The Curiosity Rover’s exploration of Glen Torridon, Gale crater, Mars: An overview of the campaign and scientific results
The Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, explored the clay mineral-bearing Glen Torridon region for one martian year between January 2019 and January 2021, including a short campaign onto the Greenheugh pediment. The Glen Torridon campaign sought to characterize the geology of the area, seek evidence of habitable environments, and document the onset of a potentially global climatic transition
Authors
Kristen A. Bennett, Valerie K. Fox, Alexander Bryk, William E. Dietrich, Christopher M. Fedo, Lauren A. Edgar, Michael T. Thorpe, Amy Williams, Gregory M. Wong, Erwin Dehouck, Amy McAdam, Brad Sutter, Maeva Millan, Steven Banham, Candice C. Bedford, Thomas F. Bristow, Abigail A. Fraeman, Ashwin R. Vasavada, John P. Grotzinger, Lucy Thompson, Catherine O'Connell-Cooper, Patrick J. Gasda, Amanda Rudolph, Robert Sullivan, Ray E. Arvidson, Agnes Cousin, Briony H. N. Horgan, Kathryn M. Stack, Allan H. Treiman, Jennifer Eigenbrode, Gwenael Caravaca