Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
May 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004agusm.u44a..04b&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2004, abstract #U44A-04
Mathematics
Logic
5410 Composition, 5415 Erosion And Weathering, 5470 Surface Materials And Properties
Scientific paper
The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Spirit landed in Gusev crater to begin investigating how water shaped the surface by using the Athena Payload. Two types of aqueous processes are being investigated at Gusev: recent processes involving transient liquid water and ancient processes of intermittent fluvial or lacustrine sedimentation. In addition to looking for direct mineralogical and morphological indicators of aqueous processes we are also looking at the abundance, distribution, mineralogy, and texture of sulfur compounds. An understanding of modern and ancient water at Gusev will help us develop a model for the timing, duration, and abundance of water. Preliminary results with Spirit found sulfur-rich "cemented" soils at Gusev, similar to the materials at the Viking I, II, and Pathfinder sites. The soils at Gusev have a honeycomb texture that in places look like tubes. This points toward a sulfate (perhaps with chloride) cement that formed in place. This is a relatively recent process where cement forms along capillaries. The source of water may either be from thin films associated with either atmospheric sources (top down model) or with subsurface sources (bottom up). Both models are being investigated by looking for trends in the sulfur (and other salt) concentration at a range of locations. Correlation of salt with depth or other soil characteristics such as grain size, texture, mineralogy, spectral properties, and mechanical strength of the apparent cemented material may permit the distinction between these models, estimate the ages of the crusts, and determine the amount of water needed to mobilize these salts. In addition to this relatively modern water-sulfate cycle, we are trying to determine if other older fluvial sedimentation processes have occurred and if they involved sulfates. A wide variety of processes may account for the sulfur-rich soils (e.g. salt rich ground waters, volcanic aerosols, or aeolian deposition of salt-rich fines). By comparing different types of materials at Gusev we may be able to identify any anomalous signature due to ancient fluvial processes. This work was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract to NASA.
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