The Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, is using a comprehensive scientific payload to explore rocks and soils in Gale crater, Mars. Recent investigations of the Bagnold Dune Field provided the first in situ assessment of an active dune on Mars. The Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) X-ray diffraction instrument on Curiosity performed quantitative mineralogical analyses of the <150m size fraction of the Namib dune at a location called Gobabeb. Gobabeb is dominated by basaltic minerals. Plagioclase, Fo56 olivine, and two Ca-Mg-Fe pyroxenes account for the majority of crystalline phases along with minor magnetite, quartz, hematite, and anhydrite. In addition to the crystalline phases, a minimum similar to 42wt % of the Gobabeb sample is X-ray amorphous. Mineralogical analysis of the Gobabeb data set provides insights into the origin(s) and geologic history of the dune material and offers an important opportunity for ground truth of orbital observations. CheMin's analysis of the mineralogy and phase chemistry of modern and ancient Gale crater dune fields, together with other measurements by Curiosity's science payload, provides new insights into present and past eolian processes on Mars.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/626447 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Achilles, C. N., Downs, R. T., Ming, D. W., Rampe, E. B., Morris, R. V., Treiman, A. H., Morrison, S. M., Blake, D. F., Vaniman, D. T., Ewing, R. C., Chipera, S. J., Yen, A. S., Bristow, T. F., Ehlmann, B. L., Gellert, R., Hazen, R. M., Fendrich, K. V., Craig, P. I., Grotzinger, J. P., Des Marais, D. J., Farmer, J. D., Sarrazin, P. C., Morookian, J. M. |
| Contributors | Univ Arizona, Dept Geosci, Department of Geosciences; University of Arizona; Tucson Arizona USA, Department of Geosciences; University of Arizona; Tucson Arizona USA, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division; NASA Johnson Space Center; Houston Texas USA, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division; NASA Johnson Space Center; Houston Texas USA, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division; NASA Johnson Space Center; Houston Texas USA, Lunar and Planetary Institute; Houston Texas USA, Department of Geosciences; University of Arizona; Tucson Arizona USA, NASA Ames Research Center; Moffett Field California USA, Planetary Science Institute; Tucson Arizona USA, Department of Geology and Geophysics; Texas A&M University; College Station Texas USA, Chesapeake Energy; Oklahoma City Oklahoma USA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; California Institute of Technology; Pasadena California USA, NASA Ames Research Center; Moffett Field California USA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; California Institute of Technology; Pasadena California USA, Department of Physics; University of Guelph; Guelph Ontario Canada, Geophysical Laboratory; Carnegie Institution; Washington District of Columbia USA, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences; American Museum of Natural History; New York New York USA, Lunar and Planetary Institute; Houston Texas USA, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences; California Institute of Technology; Pasadena California USA, NASA Ames Research Center; Moffett Field California USA, School of Earth and Space Exploration; Arizona State University; Tempe Arizona USA, SETI Institute; Mountain View California USA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; California Institute of Technology; Pasadena California USA |
| Publisher | AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article |
| Rights | ©2017. The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License. |
| Relation | http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/2017JE005262 |
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