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The Opportunity Rover's Athena science investigation at Meridiani Planum, MarsThe Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has investigated the landing site in Eagle crater and the nearby plains within Meridiani Planum. The soils consist of fine-grained basaltic sand and a surface lag of hematite-rich spherules, spherule fragments, and other granules. Wind ripples are common. Underlying the thin soil layer, and exposed within small impact craters and troughs, are flat-lying sedimentary rocks. These rocks are finely laminated, are rich in sulfur, and contain abundant sulfate salts. Small-scale cross-lamination in some locations provides evidence for deposition in flowing liquid water. We interpret the rocks to be a mixture of chemical and siliciclastic sediments formed by episodic inundation by shallow surface water, followed by evaporation, exposure, and desiccation. Hematite-rich spherules are embedded in the rock and eroding from them. We interpret these spherules to be concretions formed by postdepositional diagenesis, again involving liquid water.
Document ID
20050148621
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Squyres, S. W.
(Cornell Univ. Ithaca, NY, United States)
Arvidson, R. E.
(Washington Univ. Saint Louis, MO, United States)
Bell, J. F., III
(Cornell Univ. Ithaca, NY, United States)
Bruckner, J.
(Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Chemie Mainz, Germany)
Cabrol, N. A.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Calvin, W.
(Nevada Univ. Reno, NV, United States)
Carr, M. H.
(Geological Survey Menlo Park, CA, United States)
Christensen, P. R.
(Arizona State Univ. Tempe, AZ, United States)
Clark, B. C.
(Lockheed Martin Corp. Littleton, CO, United States)
Crumpler, L.
(New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Albuquerque, NM, United States)
DesMarais, D. J.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
d'Uston, C.
(Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements Toulouse, France)
Economou, T.
(Chicago Univ. Chicago, IL, United States)
Farmer, J.
(Arizona State Univ. Tempe, AZ, United States)
Farrand, W.
(Space Science Inst. Boulder, CO, United States)
Folkner, W.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Golombek, M.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Landis, G.
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Parker, T.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Sims, M.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Ming, D. W.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Morris, R. V.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Smith, M.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 23, 2013
Publication Date
December 3, 2004
Publication Information
Publication: Science
Volume: 306
Issue: 5702
ISSN: 0036-8075
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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