Initial Pancam Visible/Near-infrared Observations of Materials near Endeavour Crater's Western Rim

Details Initial Pancam Visible/Near-infrared Observations of Materials near Endeavour Crater's Western Rim Initial Pancam Visible/Near-infrared Observations of Materials near Endeavour Crater's Western Rim

Dec 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufm.p22a..01j&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #P22A-01

Physics

[3934] Mineral Physics / Optical, Infrared, And Raman Spectroscopy, [5464] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Remote Sensing, [6225] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Mars

Scientific paper

The Pancam multispectral stereo camera on the Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover began acquiring visible/near-infrared (443-1009 nm) images of materials along the western edge of Endeavour Crater in August, 2011. Preliminary observations documented changes in the color and textures of rocks and soils during the transition from typical Meridiani plains to the Endeavour rim area. As the rover approached Cape York and Spirit Point, Pancam observations (along with those from the Microscopic Imager) documented changes in size distributions of the ubiquitous hematite-rich spherules. For example, preliminary observations near the outcrop "Gibraltar" (north of the sand-filled 35 m diameter crater "Pathfinder") showed spherules embedded in the outcrop to be <1.5 mm, whereas those scattered about the surface were bimodal in distribution with size ranges typically <1.5 mm and >5 mm (Figure 1). At the time of this writing, not all Pancam images of the Gibraltar area had been transmitted to the ground, but reflectance spectra from these observations will be presented at the meeting. Comparison of Pancam reflectance spectra to CRISM observations of the region also demonstrate the utility of orbital imaging spectroscopy as a means to guide rover traverses around Spirit Point during investigations of phyllosilicates-bearing materials. While Fe-bearing oxides and oxyhydroxides can exhibit distinctive spectral features in the visible/near-infrared, most diagnostic spectral features of phyllosilicate minerals are outside the spectral range of Pancam. Nonetheless, the potential exists for using Pancam for phyllosilicate-bearing rock detections, although they will be non-unique. For example, different classes of phyllosilicates (e.g., nontronite, montmorillonite) can be grouped to first order based on spectral parameters such as 900 nm band depth or reflectance maximum position vs. 535 nm band depth. Pancam observations relevant to these detections will be presented at the meeting.

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