Sedimentary textures formed by aqueous processes, Erebus crater, Meridiani Planum, Mars

  1. J. Grotzinger1,
  2. J. Bell III2,
  3. K. Herkenhoff3,
  4. J. Johnson3,
  5. A. Knoll4,
  6. E. McCartney5,
  7. S. McLennan6,
  8. J. Metz7,
  9. J. Moore8,
  10. S. Squyres9,
  11. R. Sullivan9,
  12. O. Ahronson10,
  13. R. Arvidson11,
  14. B. Joliff11,
  15. M. Golombek12,
  16. K. Lewis13,
  17. T. Parker14 and
  18. J. Soderblom15
  1. 1Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
  2. 2Department of Astronomy, Space Sciences Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
  3. 3United States Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001, USA
  4. 4Botanical Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
  5. 5Department of Astronomy, Space Sciences Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
  6. 6Department of Geosciences, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11794-2100, USA
  7. 7Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
  8. 8National Aeronautics and Space Administration Ames, Space Science Division, Moffett Field, California 94035, USA
  9. 9Department of Astronomy, Space Sciences Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
  10. 10Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
  11. 11Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
  12. 12Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109, USA
  13. 13Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
  14. 14Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109, USA
  15. 15Department of Astronomy, Space Sciences Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA

    Abstract

    New observations at Erebus crater (Olympia outcrop) by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity between sols 671 and 735 (a sol is a martian day) indicate that a diverse suite of primary and penecontemporaneous sedimentary structures is preserved in sulfate-rich bedrock. Centimeter-scale trough (festoon) cross-lamination is abundant, and is better expressed and thicker than previously described examples. Postdepositional shrinkage cracks in the same outcrop are interpreted to have formed in response to desiccation. Considered collectively, this suite of sedimentary structures provides strong support for the involvement of liquid water during accumulation of sedimentary rocks at Meridiani Planum.

    Footnotes

      • Accepted 3 August 2006.
      • Received 18 May 2006.
      • Revision received 1 August 2006.
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    This Article

    1. doi: 10.1130/G22985A.1 Geology December 2006 v. 34 no. 12 p. 1085-1088
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