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Potential Cement Phases in Sedimentary Rocks Drilled by Curiosity at Gale Crater, MarsThe Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity has encountered a variety of sedimentary rocks in Gale crater with different grain sizes, diagenetic features, sedimentary structures, and varying degrees of resistance to erosion. Curiosity has drilled three rocks to date and has analyzed the mineralogy, chemical composition, and textures of the samples with the science payload. The drilled rocks are the Sheepbed mudstone at Yellowknife Bay on the plains of Gale crater (John Klein and Cumberland targets), the Dillinger sandstone at the Kimberley on the plains of Gale crater (Windjana target), and a sedimentary unit in the Pahrump Hills in the lowermost rocks at the base of Mt. Sharp (Confidence Hills target). CheMin is the Xray diffractometer on Curiosity, and its data are used to identify and determine the abundance of mineral phases. Secondary phases can tell us about aqueous alteration processes and, thus, can help to elucidate past aqueous environments. Here, we present the secondary mineralogy of the rocks drilled to date as seen by CheMin and discuss past aqueous environments in Gale crater, the potential cementing agents in each rock, and how amorphous materials may play a role in cementing the sediments.
Document ID
20150001954
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Rampe, E. B. (Jacobs Technology, Inc. Houston, TX, United States)
Morris, R. V. (NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Bish, D. L. (Indiana Univ. Indianapolis, IN, United States)
Chipera, S. J. (Chesapeake Energy Corp. Oklahoma City, OK, United States)
Ming, D. W. (NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Blake, D. F. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Vaniman, D. T. (Physical Sciences, Inc. Andover, MA, United States)
Bristow, T. F. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Cavanagh, P. (Indiana Univ. Indianapolis, IN, United States)
Farmer, J. D. (Arizona State Univ. Tempe, AZ, United States)
Morrison, S. M. (Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Siebach, K. (California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Treiman, A. H. (Lunar and Planetary Inst. Houston, TX, United States)
Achilles, C. N. (Indiana Univ. Indianapolis, IN, United States)
Blaney, D. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Crisp, J. A. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Des Marais, D. J. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Downs, R. T. (Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Fendrich, K. (Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Martin-Torres, J. (Granada Univ. Spain)
Morookian, J. M. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Zorzano, M.-P. (Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeronautica Madrid, Spain)
Sarrazin, P. (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Inst. Mountain View, CA, United States)
Spanovich, N. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Yen, A. S. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
February 23, 2015
Publication Date
March 16, 2015
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Report/Patent Number
JSC-CN-32841
Meeting Information
Meeting: Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
Location: The Woodlands, TX
Country: United States
Start Date: March 16, 2015
End Date: March 20, 2015
Sponsors: Universities Space Research Association, Lunar and Planetary Inst.
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

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