MRO Imaging of the Candidate Landing Sites for the Mars Science Laboratory

Details MRO Imaging of the Candidate Landing Sites for the Mars Science Laboratory MRO Imaging of the Candidate Landing Sites for the Mars Science Laboratory

Dec 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.p32b..01g&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #P32B-01

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5400 Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets, 5410 Composition (1060, 3672), 5415 Erosion And Weathering, 5470 Surface Materials And Properties, 5494 Instruments And Techniques

Scientific paper

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft has obtained more than 110 HiRISE images and comparable numbers of CRISM and CTX images of the more than 50 landing sites proposed for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). Many of these images targeted the 20 km by 25 km landing ellipses proposed for the final seven sites under consideration that include Holden crater (26.4S, 325.1E), Eberswalde crater (23.9S, 326.7E), Gale crater (4.5S, 137.4E), Mawrth Vallis (24.7N, 340.1E), Miyamoto crater (3.3S, 352.3E), Nili Fossae trough (21.0N, 74.5E), and South Meridiani (3.3S, 354.4E). MRO data reveal unprecedented morphologic and compositional detail at each site that helps constrain past depositional environments. For example, HiRISE, CRISM, and CTX images reveal laterally extensive, sub- meter and phyllosilicate-bearing stratigraphy in Holden crater indicative of emplacement in a distal alluvial and/or lacustrine setting. In Eberswalde, the distribution and orientation of phyllosilicate-bearing beds appears consistent with past presence of a long-lived fluvial-deltaic system. Gale crater exposes a thick sequence of finely-bedded deposits with phyllosilicate-bearing rocks beneath sulfate-bearing rocks that may incorporate eolian bedforms and displays evidence for local fluvial modification. Mawrth displays an especially diverse stratigraphy of Mg-Fe smectites and Al-rich phyllosilicates whose orientation and extent reflects responsible depositional process. The floor of Miyamoto crater reveals a stripped surface exposing ancient phyllosilicate-bearing materials that were possibly emplaced in an ancient fluvial setting. Nili Fossae trough preserves Noachian stratigraphy, with unaltered basement in contact with diverse phyllosilicate- bearing rocks that may correspond to aqueously altered ejecta from nearby Isidis basin or other altered crustal materials. Finally, South Meridiani includes hematite-bearing, sulfate-rich evaporite sediments that unconformably overlie ancient polygonally fractured, phyllosilicate-bearing and incised bedrock. These seven sites highlight the capabilities of the MRO instruments to detail diverse mineralogy and geomorphologic attributes that characterized ancient Mars and represent compelling aqueous and possibly habitable environments for in situ exploration by MSL.

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