Lauren Edgar, Ph.D.
Science and Products
Alternating wet and dry depositional environments recorded in the stratigraphy of Mt Sharp at Gale Crater, Mars
The Curiosity rover is exploring Hesperian-aged stratigraphy in Gale crater, Mars, where a transition from clay-bearing units to a layered sulfate-bearing unit has been interpreted to represent a major environmental transition of unknown character. We present the first description of key facies in the sulfate-bearing unit, recently observed in the...
Rapin, William; Dromart, Gilles; Rubin, Dave; Le Deit, Laticia; Mangold, Nicolas; Edgar, Lauren A.; Gasnault, Olivier; Herkenhoff, Kenneth E.; Lemouelic, S.; Anderson, Ryan; Maurice, S.; Fox, V.; Ehlmann, B. L.; Dickson, J. L.; Wiens, R. C. A rock record of complex aeolian bedforms in a Hesperian desert landscape: The Stimson formation as exposed in the Murray Buttes, Gale Crater, Mars
Lithified aeolian strata encode information about ancient planetary surface processes and the climate during deposition. Decoding these strata provides insight regarding past sediment transport processes, bedform kinematics, depositional landscape, and the prevailing climate. Deciphering these signatures requires a detailed analysis of sedimentary...
Banham, Steve G.; Gupta, Sanjeev; Rubin, David M.; Edgett, Kenneth S.; Barnes, Robert; Van Beek, Jason K.; Watkins, Jessica A.; Edgar, Lauren A.; Fedo, Christopher M.; Williams, Rebecca M. E.; Stack, Kathryn M.; Grotzinger, John P.; Lewis, Kevin; Ewing, Ryan C.; Day, Mackenzie D.; Vasavada, Ashwin R. Ancient Martian aeolian sand dune deposits recorded in the stratigraphy of Valles Marineris and implications for past climates
Aeolian sediment transport, deposition, and erosion have been ongoing throughout Mars's history. This record of widespread aeolian processes is preserved in landforms and geologic units that retain important clues about past environmental conditions including wind patterns. In this study we describe landforms within Melas Chasma, Valles Marineris...
Chojnacki, Matthew; Fenton, Lori K.; Weintraub, Aaron R; Edgar, Lauren A.; Jodhpurkar, Mohini Jeetendra; Edwards, Christopher S. Evidence for a diagenetic origin of Vera Rubin Ridge, Gale Crater, Mars: Summary and synthesis of Curiosity's exploration campaign
This paper provides an overview of the Curiosity rover's exploration at Vera Rubin ridge (VRR) and summarizes the science results. VRR is a distinct geomorphic feature on lower Aeolis Mons (informally known as Mount Sharp) that was identified in orbital data based on its distinct texture, topographic expression, and association with a...
Fraeman, Abigail A.; Edgar, Lauren A.; Rampe, Elizabeth B.; Thompson, Lucy M.; Frydenvang, Jens; Fedo, Christopher M.; Catalano, Jeff G.; Dietrich, William E.; Gabriel, Travis S. J.; Grotzinger, John P.; L'Haridon, Jonas; Mangold, Nicholas; Sun, Vivian Z.; House, Christopher H; Bryk, Alexander; Hardgrove, Craig; Czarnecki, Sean; Stack, Kathryn M.; Morris, Richard V.; Arvidson, Ray E.; Banham, Steve G.; Bennett, Kristen Alicia; Bridges, Jon C.; Edwards, Christopher S.; Fischer, Woodward W.; Fox, Valerie K.; Gupta, Sanjeev; Horgan, Briony H. N.; Jacob, Sammantha R.; Johnson, Jeffrey R.; Johnson, Sarah S.; Rubin, David R.; Salvatore, Mark R; Schwenzer, Susanne P.; Siebach, Kirsten L.; Stein, Nathan T.; Turner, Stuart; Wellington, Danika F.; Wiens, Roger C.; Williams, Amy J.; Davidson, G.A.; Wong, Gregory M. The chemostratigraphy of the Murray formation and role of diagenesis at Vera Rubin ridge in Gale crater, Mars, as observed by the ChemCam instrument
Geochemical results are presented from Curiosity’s exploration of the Vera Rubin ridge (VRR), in addition to the full chemostratigraphy of the predominantly lacustrine mudstone Murray formation up to and including VRR. VRR is a prominent ridge flanking Aeolis Mons (informally Mt. Sharp), the central mound in Gale crater, Mars, and was a key area...
Frydenvang, Jens; Mangold, Nicholas; Wiens, Roger C.; Fraeman, Abigail A.; Edgar, Lauren A.; Fedo, Christopher M.; L'Haridon, Jonas; Bedford, Candice C.; Gupta, Sanjeev; Grotzinger, John P.; Bridges, Jon C.; Clark, Ben C.; Rampe, Elizabeth B.; Gasnaut, Olivier; Maurice, Sylvestre; Gasda, Patrick J.; Lanza, Nina L.; Olilla, Ann M.; Meslin, Pierre-Yves; Payre, Valerie; Calef, Fred J.; Salvatore, Mark R; House, Christopher H Evidence for plunging river plume deposits in the Pahrump Hills member of the Murray formation, Gale crater, Mars
Recent robotic missions to Mars have offered new insights into the extent, diversity and habitability of the Martian sedimentary rock record. Since the Curiosity rover landed in Gale crater in August 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory Science Team has explored the origins and habitability of ancient fluvial, deltaic, lacustrine and...
Stack, Kathryn M.; Grotzinger, John P.; Lamb, Michael P.; Gupta, Sanjeev; Rubin, David M.; Kah, Linda C.; Edgar, Lauren A.; Fey, Deirdra M.; Hurowitz, Joel A.; McBride, Marie J.; Rivera-Hernández, Frances; Sumner, Dawn Y.; Van Beek, Jason K.; Williams, Rebecca M. E.; Yingst, R. Aileen Overview of spirit microscopic imager results
This paper provides an overview of Mars Exploration Rover Spirit Microscopic Imager (MI) operations and the calibration, processing, and analysis of MI data. The focus of this overview is on the last five Earth years (2005–2010) of Spirit's mission in Gusev crater, supplementing the previous overview of the first 450 sols of the...
Herkenhoff, Kenneth E.; Squyres, Steve W; Arvidson, Raymond E.; Cole, Shoshanna B; Sullivan, Rob; Yingst, Aileen; Cabrol, Nathalie; Lee, Ella (Contractor); Richie, Janet; Sucharski, Robert M.; Calef, Fred J.; Bell, James F. ; Chapman, Mary; Geissler, Paul; Edgar, Lauren A.; Franklin, Brenda; Hurowitz, Joel A.; Jensen, Elsa; Johnson, Jeffrey R.; Kirk, Randolph L.; Lanagan, Peter; Mullins, Kevin; Leff, Craig; Maki, Justin; Redding, Bonnie L.; Rice, Melissa; Sims, Michael H.; Springer, Richard; Sunda, Annette; Spanovich, Nicole; Soderblom, Laurence A.; Vaughan, Alicia Complex bedding geometry in the upper portion of Aeolis Mons, Gale crater, Mars
The Upper formation of Aeolis Mons in Gale crater exhibits curvilinear bedding patterns on the surfaces of several erosional benches that have been interpreted as cross-bedding. We use High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) stereo topography to test this hypothesis by measuring the bedding geometry within these benches. The bedding...
Anderson, Ryan; Edgar, Lauren A.; Rubin, David M.; Lewis, Kevin W.; Newman, Claire Ancient Martian aeolian processes and palaeomorphology reconstructed from the Stimson formation on the lower slope of Aeolis Mons, Gale crater, Mars
Reconstruction of the palaeoenvironmental context of Martian sedimentary rocks is central to studies of ancient Martian habitability and regional palaeoclimate history. This paper reports the analysis of a distinct aeolian deposit preserved in Gale crater, Mars, and evaluates its palaeomorphology, the processes responsible for its deposition, and...
Banham, Steve G.; Gupta, Sanjeev; Rubin, David M.; Watkins, Jessica A.; Sumner, Dawn Y.; Edgett, Kenneth S.; Grotzinger, John P.; Lewis, Kevin W.; Edgar, Lauren A.; Stack, Kathryn M.; Barnes, Robert; Bell, James F.; Day, Mackenzie D.; Ewing, Ryan C.; Lapotre, Mathieu G.A.; Stein, Nathan T.; Rivera-Hernández, Frances; Vasavada, Ashwin R. Shaler: in situ analysis of a fluvial sedimentary deposit on Mars
This paper characterizes the detailed sedimentology of a fluvial sandbody on Mars for the first time, and interprets its depositional processes and palaeoenvironmental setting. Despite numerous orbital observations of fluvial landforms on the surface of Mars, ground-based characterization of the sedimentology of such fluvial deposits has not...
Edgar, Lauren A.; Gupta, Sanjeev; Rubin, David M.; Lewis, Kevin W.; Kocurek, Gary A.; Anderson, Ryan; Bell, James F. ; Dromart, Gilles; Edgett, Kenneth S.; Grotzinger, John P.; Hardgrove, Craig; Kah, Linda C.; LeVeille, Richard A.; Malin, Michael C.; Mangold, Nicholas; Milliken, Ralph E.; Minitti, Michelle; Palucis, Marisa C.; Rice, Melissa; Rowland, Scott K.; Schieber, Juergen; Stack, Kathryn M.; Sumner, Dawn Y.; Wiens, Roger C.; Williams, Rebecca M.E.; Williams, Amy J. Geologic overview of the Mars Science Laboratory rover mission at the Kimberley, Gale crater, Mars
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover completed a detailed investigation at the Kimberley waypoint within Gale crater from sols 571-634 using its full science instrument payload. From orbital images examined early in the Curiosity mission, the Kimberley region had been identified as a high-priority science target based on its clear...
Rice, Melissa; Gupta, Sanjeev; Treiman, Allan H.; Stack, Kathryn M.; Calef, Fred J.; Edgar, Lauren A.; Grotzinger, John P.; Lanza, Nina L.; Le Deit, Laetitia; Lasue, Jeremie; Siebach, Kirsten L.; Vasavada, Ashwin R.; Wiens, Roger C.; Williams, Josh Comparing orbiter and rover image-based mapping of an ancient sedimentary environment, Aeolis Palus, Gale crater, Mars
This study provides the first systematic comparison of orbital facies maps with detailed ground-based geology observations from the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover to examine the validity of geologic interpretations derived from orbital image data. Orbital facies maps were constructed for the Darwin, Cooperstown, and Kimberley...
Stack, Kathryn M.; Edwards, Christopher; Grotzinger, J. P.; Gupta, S.; Sumner, D.; Edgar, Lauren A.; Fraeman, A.; Jacob, S.; LeDeit, L.; Lewis, K.W.; Rice, M.S.; Rubin, D.; Calef, F.; Edgett, K.; Williams, R.M.E.; Williford, K.H.