scholarly journals Evidence for indigenous nitrogen in sedimentary and aeolian deposits from the Curiosity rover investigations at Gale crater, Mars

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (14) ◽  
pp. 4245-4250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer C. Stern ◽  
Brad Sutter ◽  
Caroline Freissinet ◽  
Rafael Navarro-González ◽  
Christopher P. McKay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Cycle ◽  
Volcanic Plume ◽  
Science Laboratory ◽  
Fixed Nitrogen ◽  
Total N ◽  
Gale Crater ◽  
Sedimentary Deposits ◽  
Aeolian Deposits ◽  
Aeolian Sediments ◽  
Curiosity Rover

The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) investigation on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover has detected oxidized nitrogen-bearing compounds during pyrolysis of scooped aeolian sediments and drilled sedimentary deposits within Gale crater. Total N concentrations ranged from 20 to 250 nmol N per sample. After subtraction of known N sources in SAM, our results support the equivalent of 110–300 ppm of nitrate in the Rocknest (RN) aeolian samples, and 70–260 and 330–1,100 ppm nitrate in John Klein (JK) and Cumberland (CB) mudstone deposits, respectively. Discovery of indigenous martian nitrogen in Mars surface materials has important implications for habitability and, specifically, for the potential evolution of a nitrogen cycle at some point in martian history. The detection of nitrate in both wind-drifted fines (RN) and in mudstone (JK, CB) is likely a result of N2 fixation to nitrate generated by thermal shock from impact or volcanic plume lightning on ancient Mars. Fixed nitrogen could have facilitated the development of a primitive nitrogen cycle on the surface of ancient Mars, potentially providing a biochemically accessible source of nitrogen.

scholarly journals A Review of the Phyllosilicates in Gale Crater as Detected by the CheMin Instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory, Curiosity Rover

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 847
Author(s):  
Valerie M. Tu ◽  
Elizabeth B. Rampe ◽  
Thomas F. Bristow ◽  
Michael T. Thorpe ◽  
Joanna V. Clark ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Science Laboratory ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Mars Science Laboratory ◽  
Microbial Life ◽  
Gale Crater ◽  
Sedimentary Deposits ◽  
Aqueous Environments ◽  
Key Indicators ◽  
Strategic Goal ◽  
Curiosity Rover

Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, landed on Mars in August 2012 to investigate the ~3.5-billion-year-old (Ga) fluvio-lacustrine sedimentary deposits of Aeolis Mons (informally known as Mount Sharp) and the surrounding plains (Aeolis Palus) in Gale crater. After nearly nine years, Curiosity has traversed over 25 km, and the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) X-ray diffraction instrument on-board Curiosity has analyzed 30 drilled rock and three scooped soil samples to date. The principal strategic goal of the mission is to assess the habitability of Mars in its ancient past. Phyllosilicates are common in ancient Martian terrains dating to ~3.5–4 Ga and were detected from orbit in some of the lower strata of Mount Sharp. Phyllosilicates on Earth are important for harboring and preserving organics. On Mars, phyllosilicates are significant for exploration as they are hypothesized to be a marker for potential habitable environments. CheMin data demonstrate that ancient fluvio-lacustrine rocks in Gale crater contain up to ~35 wt. % phyllosilicates. Phyllosilicates are key indicators of past fluid–rock interactions, and variation in the structure and composition of phyllosilicates in Gale crater suggest changes in past aqueous environments that may have been habitable to microbial life with a variety of possible energy sources.

scholarly journals Gale crater: the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity Rover Landing Site

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
James J. Wray
Keyword(s):  
Clay Minerals ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Spectral Properties ◽  
Landing Site ◽  
Science Laboratory ◽  
Deep Lakes ◽  
Mars Science Laboratory ◽  
Gale Crater ◽  
Diagenetic Processes ◽  
Curiosity Rover

AbstractGale crater formed from an impact on Mars ∼3.6 billion years ago. It hosts a central mound nearly 100 km wide and ∼5 km high, consisting of layered rocks with a variety of textures and spectral properties. The oldest exposed layers contain variably hydrated sulphates and smectite clay minerals, implying an aqueous origin, whereas the younger layers higher on the mound are covered by a mantle of dust. Fluvial channels carved into the crater walls and the lower mound indicate that surface liquids were present during and after deposition of the mound material. Numerous hypotheses have been advocated for the origin of some or all minerals and layers in the mound, ranging from deep lakes to playas to mostly dry dune fields to airfall dust or ash subjected to only minor alteration driven by snowmelt. The complexity of the mound suggests that multiple depositional and diagenetic processes are represented in the materials exposed today. Beginning in August 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity will explore Gale crater by ascending the mound's northwestern flank, providing unprecedented new detail on the evolution of environmental conditions and habitability over many millions of years during which the mound strata accumulated.

scholarly journals Alternating wet and dry depositional environments recorded in the stratigraphy of Mount Sharp at Gale crater, Mars

Geology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Rapin ◽  
G. Dromart ◽  
D. Rubin ◽  
L. Le Deit ◽  
N. Mangold ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Depositional Environments ◽  
Depositional Sequence ◽  
Gale Crater ◽  
Aeolian Deposits ◽  
Bearing Unit ◽  
Curiosity Rover

The Curiosity rover is exploring Hesperian-aged stratigraphy in Gale crater, Mars, where a transition from clay-bearing units to a layered sulfate-bearing unit has been interpreted to represent a major environmental transition of unknown character. We present the first description of key facies in the sulfate-bearing unit, recently observed in the distance by the rover, and propose a model for changes in depositional environments. Our results indicate a transition from lacustrine mudstones into thick aeolian deposits, topped by a major deflation surface, above which strata show architectures likely diagnostic of a subaqueous environment. This model offers a reference example of a depositional sequence for layered sulfate-bearing strata, which have been identified from orbit in other locations globally. It differs from the idea of a monotonic Hesperian climate change into long-term aridity on Mars and instead implies a period characterized by multiple transitions between sustained drier and wetter climates.

Testing correspondence between areas with hydrated minerals, as observed by CRISM onboard MRO, and spots of enhanced subsurface water content, as found by DAN along the traverse of Curiosity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maya Djachkova ◽  
Igor Mitrofanov ◽  
Maxim Litvak ◽  
Denis Lisov ◽  
Sergei Nikiforov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mineralogical Composition ◽  
Subsurface Water ◽  
Martian Surface ◽  
Imaging Spectrometer ◽  
Gale Crater ◽  
Sedimentary Deposits ◽  
Standard Value ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Hydrated Minerals ◽  
Curiosity Rover

<p>The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) instrument designed to detect neutrons in order to determine hydrogen abundance in the Martian subsurface (down to 1 m deep) is successfully working onboard Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover for more than seven years. The Curiosity rover covered more than 20 km on the Martian surface and crossed a range of terrain types and geological structures of different mineralogical composition.</p><p>We investigate the possible correlation between the water equivalent hydrogen (WEH) value, as measured by DAN along the Curiosity traverse, and the presence of hydrated minerals, as observed from the orbit by Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) onboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.  </p><p>Our analysis of the WEH value from DAN measurements in Gale crater and the CRISM data, reflecting the distribution of hydrated/hydroxylated minerals on the surface of this crater, shows a confident increase of the average WEH values for the surface elements, containing certain types of minerals, in comparison with surface elements, that do not contain any of them. This increase is shown to become higher for surface with more prominent spectral features of hydrated/ hydroxylated minerals on the surface. Thus, certain types of minerals being parts of the sedimentary deposits composing Gale crater, should have considerable thickness, which is sufficient for active neutron sensing in DAN measurements. To explain the correspondence, one may assume that large blocks of certain mineral composition are distributed over the traverse, the tops of which are observed by CRISM from the Martian orbit, and the volumes of which are detectable by DAN on the Martian surface.</p><p>The bottom of the crater is thought to be a composition of a uniform regolith and sedimentary blocks of minerals with different level of hydration. The fraction of the regolith contains a standard value of WEH, about 2.6 wt.%, and the  fraction of minerals, provided they are there, might contribute to some increase of the mean WEH values, up to 3.8 wt.%, as they are obtained at some spots from the DAN neutron sensing.</p>

scholarly journals Abiotic Input of Fixed Nitrogen by Bolide Impacts to Gale Crater During the Hesperian: Insights From the Mars Science Laboratory

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Navarro‐González ◽  
Karina F. Navarro ◽  
Patrice Coll ◽  
Christopher P. McKay ◽  
Jennifer C. Stern ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Science Laboratory ◽  
Fixed Nitrogen ◽  
Mars Science Laboratory ◽  
Gale Crater
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