Kathryn M. Stack and the MSL Team

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Presentation transcript:

Kathryn M. Stack and the MSL Team An overview of past depositional environments explored by the Curiosity rover at Bradbury Landing and Yellowknife Bay Gale Crater, Mars Kathryn M. Stack and the MSL Team GSA October 27, 2013 NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Curiosity’s Science Payload ChemCam (Chemistry) APXS Mastcam (Imaging) MAHLI CheMin (Mineralogy) NASA/JPL-Caltech Curiosity’s Science Payload

Fred Calef, Dawn Sumner, and the MSL Mapping Group

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona Hummocky Plains Cratered Surface Bedded Fractured unit 40 m Yellowknife Bay NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Dawn Sumner and Fred Calef Yellowknife Bay A’ A Dawn Sumner and Fred Calef A’ A ’

Yellowknife Bay formation Detrital siliciclastic sedimentary assemblage Fine, medium, and coarse-grained sandstones Bulk basaltic composition

Sheepbed member GL Sb The “snake” 10 cm 40 cm Mcam00819 (lower image) Mcam00817 (upper image) 10 cm Sheepbed member 40 cm Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ames 2 cm Sheepbed member Phyllosilicate-bearing, gray mudstone Provenance of Sheepbed mudstone is similar in composition to average martian crust NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ames NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Sheepbed Depositional Environment Suspension settling from water column or atmosphere Volcanic ash, eolian dust, distal impact fallout, extensive overbank flood deposits are possibilities Interpretation: deposition in distal alluvial fan or proximal lacustrine setting

Diagenesis of the Sheepbed member Hollow nodules Diagenesis of the Sheepbed member See talk by Josh Williams, this session “Mapping of light-toned veins and nodules of the John Klein borehole wall in Gale Crater, Mars” And poster by Katie Stack, Curiosity poster session “The distribution of nodules within the Sheepbed member” mcam00811 NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Sulfate-filled veins Raised ridges NASA/JPLCaltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP/LPGNantes/CNRS 2 cm NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Gillespie Lake member GL Sb NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS 10 cm

5 cm 2 cm Mcam00856 (left image) Mcam00886 (right image) Amalgamated sheet-like sandstones Coarse cross-bedding Medium to very coarse sand Variable rounding and angularity Bulk basaltic composition Interpretation: Fluvial transport and deposition, perhaps as distal fan lobe Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Glenelg member Lateral facies variations: Platy, coarse-grained, cross-bedded sandstone and pebble beds Recessive fine-grained intervals containing cracks Dark rocks of unknown grain size with pervasive mm to cm-scale voids

Point Lake outcrop Glenelg member Proposed origins: Vesicular lava flow Pebbly debris flow Gas-charged intrusive sedimentary sill Sandstone with leached evaporites Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Shaler outcrop Glenelg member Fluvial environment characterized by bedload and suspended load transport Pinstripe laminae suggest minor eolian bedload transport Recessive beds may represent overbank deposits, slack-water deposits, or proximal lacustrine facies Transport direction is variable, but consistent with origin at the Gale crater rim Mcam00752 (bottom image) Mcam00756 mcam00757 NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS 2 cm 1 m Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Rocknest and Bathurst Inlet outcrops Glenelg member Rocknest _3 and Peg Bathurst Inlet and Cowles Mcam00240 Mcam00270 Mcam00571 5 cm Rocknest Crest 2 cm 1 cm Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Outcrop and member ChemCam compositions See talk by Suzanne Gordon, this session “Stratigraphy of Yellowknife Bay, Mars: ChemCam observations of chemical variability between members” 85 points 126 points Composition ratio’d to average Sheepbed 269 points 130 points 5 points Nicolas Mangold

Yellowknife Bay formation: a fluvio-lacustrine sedimentary assemblage of bulk basaltic composition

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Fred Calef NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Interpretion: ancient streambed likely originating at crater rim Link Sol 27 Hottah Sol 39 The conglomerates “Link” and “Hottah” contain rounded pebbles and very course sand-sized matrix Interpretion: ancient streambed likely originating at crater rim Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

M100 Mosaic Sol 37 Hoyle Elsie Mountain Sol 356 Sol 349 Hardrock Mcam01451 Mcam01420 Mcam01401 mcam00157 10 cm Hardrock Sol 345 50 cm 5 cm Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Relationship of Yellowknife Bay section to Bradbury Rise (Hummocky Plains) Younger Older

? Strata in the lower section of the Gale Crater mound vary in mineralogy and texture, suggesting that they may have recorded environmental changes over time. Relationship between Yellowknife Bay and Bradbury Rise rocks to lower Mt. Sharp is still uncertain. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/MSSS NASA/JPL-Caltech

Summary Since landing in Gale Crater in August of 2012, the Curiosity rover has been exploring rocks consistent with fluvio-lacustrine depositional environments In situ rover observations of these facies are consistent with orbital mapping which places the rover at the distal end of an alluvial fan system Understanding and interpreting the rock record is key to helping Curiosity achieve its mission goal of exploring habitable environments

On to Mount Sharp!