Geomorphic and Spectral Mapping of Northern Meridiani Planum

Details Geomorphic and Spectral Mapping of Northern Meridiani Planum Geomorphic and Spectral Mapping of Northern Meridiani Planum

May 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agusm.p21b..05g&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #P21B-05

Physics

5464 Remote Sensing, 5470 Surface Materials And Properties

Scientific paper

A several hundred meter vertical section of etched terrain and hematite-bearing plains materials that overlie cratered terrain surfaces was identified and mapped in the northern portion of Meridiani Planum using Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, Thermal Emission Imaging System, and Mars Orbiter Camera observations. Etched terrain materials were divided into a lower and an upper unit based on superposition relationships. Hematite- bearing plains overlie the upper unit. Cratered terrains were divided into an intercrater plains unit and a cratered terrain unit that has been thickly mantled by aeolian deposits. OMEGA hyper-spectral data (0.4 to 2.6 micrometers) for the region were found to be dominated by five dominant spectral types. A dust-like signature is found on the Mantled Cratered Terrain. The Lower Etched Plains unit exhibits kieserite-like and polyhydrated sulfate signatures, whereas the Hematite-Bearing Plains unit is interpreted to be basaltic sand and a lag of hematite concretions. The Upper Etched Plains unit is spectrally a mix of the lower etched and hematite- bearing plains signatures. The thick section of etched terrain materials with exposures of kieserite and polyhydrated sulfates shows that Opportunity's measurements (located ~390 km to the southwest) are at the top of a thick section of layered sedimentary materials formed in and/or altered in an aqueous environment.

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