A Lacustrine Paleoenvironment Recorded at Vera RubinRidge, Gale Crater: Overview of the Sedimentology and Stratigraphy Observed by the Mars ScienceLaboratory Curiosity Rover

Edgar, Lauren A.; Fedo, C. M.; Gupta, Sanjeev; Banham, S. G.; Fraeman, A. A.; Grotzinger, J. P.; Morgan, Kathryn Stack; Stein, N.; Bennett, K. A.; Rivera‐Hernández, F.; Sun, V. Z.; Edgett, K. S.; Rubin, David M.; House, Christopher H.; Beek, Jason Van

doi:10.1029/2019je006307

Cited by 82 publications

(251 citation statements)

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“…Although VRR is topographically distinct from surrounding strata, the Jm, PPm, and BPm are all dominated by finely laminated mudstones and thus assigned to the Murray formation. While the BPm-PPm and PPm-Jm contacts occur with well-exposed outcrops and clear topographic expressions, they do not follow elevation contours (Edgar et al, 2020). The same is true for the SIm-BPm contact, which lies far below VRR.…”

Section: /2019je006298mentioning

confidence: 87%

“…Using 3σ error case. (Edgar et al, 2020). This characteristic "Flodigarry facies" sits at the PPm-Jm contact, which occurs at an elevation of −4,155 m at the easternmost part of the traverse (Sol 2013; Figures 11d and 11f).…”

Section: Constraints On Bedding Orientation From Regional Geologymentioning

confidence: 94%

“…The strata measured in this study are limited to three members: the Blunt's Point member (BPm), the Pettegrove Point member (PPm), and the Jura member (Jm), due to their superior exposure relative to other members. The BPm consists of finely laminated mudstone interpreted to result from low-energy deposition of suspended mud in a lacustrine environment (Fedo et al, 2018;Bennett et al, this issue;Edgar et al, 2020;Rivera-Hernandez et al, 2020). Strata of the PPm and Jm form VRR, a~200-m-wide,~6.5-km long erosion-resistant topographic rise on the northwest flank of Mount Sharp (Fraeman et al, 2013(Fraeman et al, , 2016this issue).…”

Section: /2019je006298mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The projections developed in section 4.2.1 can be extended to calculate the angle between the major member contacts and points throughout Glen Torridon. The BPm-PPm and PPm-Jm contacts on VRR were identified using a combination of ground-based and orbital mapping (Edgar et al, 2020) and traced in HiRISE images. For each point in a region of Glen Torridon, the angle between each point and the BPm-PPm and PPm-Jm contacts along an approximate NW striking (315°) dip angle was calculated ( Figure 12).…”

Section: Dip Constraints From the Projection Of Contact Elevationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The (up to 100°) different orientation of these beds is probably not primary due to their association with apparent secondary deformation processes but rather the result of weathering, gravity-driven motion or rotation of blocks, and localized postdepositional deformation that could result from multiple processes including impact cratering or differential compaction. Cross-beds deposited by some types of migrating bedforms could yield a wide range of primary dip azimuths including those in which the contacts bound an extreme of the field of observations (e.g., Rubin & Carter, 2006), although cross-beds were not positively identified on VRR (Edgar et al, 2020). In tandem with uncertainties stemming from the error structure of the traces, structural variation within VRR yields a murky picture of dips at a regional scale based on in situ bedding traces alone.…”

Section: /2019je006298mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Regional Structural Orientation of the Mount Sharp Group Revealed by In Situ Dip Measurements and Stratigraphic Correlations on the Vera Rubin Ridge

et al. 2020

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Ground-based bedding orientation measurements are critical to determine the geologic history and processes of sedimentation in Gale crater, Mars. We constrain the dip of lacustrine strata of the Blunts Point, Pettegrove Point, and Jura members of the Murray formation using a combination of regional stratigraphic correlations and bed attitude measurements from stereo Mastcam images taken by the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover. In situ bed attitude measurements using a principal component analysis-based regression method reveal a wide range of dips and dip azimuths owing to a combination of high stereo errors, postdepositional deformation of strata (e.g., fracturing, rotation, and impact cratering), and different primary depositional dips. These constrain regional dips to be within several degrees of horizontal on average. Stratigraphic correlations between targets observed in the Glen Torridon trough and at the Pettegrove Point-Jura member contact of Vera Rubin ridge (VRR) constrain dips to be between 3°SE and 2°NW, consistent with nearly flat strata deposited horizontally on an equipotential surface. The Jura member is determined to be stratigraphically equivalent to the northern portion of the Glen Torridon trough. Rover-based dip magnitudes are generally significantly shallower than the orientation of VRR member contacts measured from High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment-based traces, suggesting the sedimentary strata and VRR member contacts may be discordant.Plain Language Summary The orientation of sedimentary strata is one of the most fundamental measurements of structural geology because it records information about the processes of deposition and subsequent deformation of those strata. For the last 7 years, the Curiosity rover has traversed predominantly fluviolacustrine (river-and lake-deposited) strata. Recently, the rover traversed the Vera Rubin ridge (VRR), a topographic rise within a larger collection of strata with rock exposures whose orientation can be measured using overlapping (stereo) images taken by cameras aboard the rover. By measuring the orientation of beds in stereo rover images and comparing the elevation of similar rock lithologies found along the traverse, we constrain the strata that comprise the VRR to be horizontal or only shallowly dipping. This result is consistent with the sediment that formed the VRR being deposited on a nearly horizontal surface, suggesting that at least the strata that make up the lower portion of Mount Sharp, the large sedimentary mound in Gale crater that dips more steeply outward, may not have directly contributed to its primary formation. The near-flat orientation also indicates that some portion of the VRR occurs at the same elevation as the region south of the ridge called Glen Torridon.

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Section: /2019je006298mentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Constraints On Bedding Orientation From Regional Geologymentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: /2019je006298mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Dip Constraints From the Projection Of Contact Elevationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: /2019je006298mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Regional Structural Orientation of the Mount Sharp Group Revealed by In Situ Dip Measurements and Stratigraphic Correlations on the Vera Rubin Ridge

et al. 2020

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A spatiotemporal analysis of precipitation anomalies using rainfall Gini index between 1980 and 2022

Sahbeni

Pleynet

Jarocki

2023

Atmospheric Science Letters

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As a reaction to the expanding challenges associated with social susceptibility and their interconnection to diverse environmental threats, parametric insurance plays a key role as an innovation tool in the insurance sector to enhance social resilience to natural disasters and extreme climatic conditions, which can tremendously impact several economic sectors, including agriculture and as a result food security. In this context, this study investigates the association between rainfall Gini index and drought events in Northern Europe. For this purpose, we acquired ERA5 data for daily precipitation for five locations from 1980 to 2022. Gini Index (GI) values were calculated and analyzed for each location with the Mann-Kendall test at a 5% significance level. As expected, a minimal decreasing trend has been observed for daily precipitation, while an increasing trend was recorded for Gini Index. In addition, data on the Soil Moisture Index (SMI) and top drought events were extracted from the European Drought Observatory (EDO) to explore their potential association with the Gini index over time and space. Although a moderately low to negligible correlation, ranging between -0.27 and 0.02, was found between SMI and GI, a qualitative comparison between major drought episodes and Gini index anomaly showed that similar spatiotemporal patterns are present across the region, particularly for extreme drought events in 1996-1997 and 2003. The current study elucidates the rainfall Gini Index's efficiency as a drought indicator for qualitative analysis, yet more work must be conducted to quantitatively evaluate its association with drought magnitude.

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Manganese Mobility in Gale Crater, Mars: Leached Bedrock and Localized Enrichments

Berger

King

Gellert

et al. 2022

Preprint

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In Gale crater on Mars, the rover Curiosity has discovered evidence of fluid mobilization of the redox-sensitive element manganese. We present results for Mn from Curiosity's Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), which show that the average MnO concentration in mudstone-dominated sedimentary units (0.22 wt%) is about one-half of the concentration in the average Mars crust (0.44 wt%). Geochemical trends indicate that Mn in the sedimentary bedrock, most of which has a basaltic provenance, was leached by chemical alteration and dissolution. In >350 vertical meters of mudstone-dominated strata, the apparent leaching of Mn and retention of Fe in Fe-O-H phase(s) resulted in the fractionation of Fe and Mn, indicating relatively moderate Eh-pH fluid conditions that were not highly alkaline, reducing, or oxidizing. Exceptions are fracture-associated, silica-rich haloes where both Mn and Fe were leached by low pH fluids. The rover also discovered Mn-rich veins, nodules, and patchy, dark coatings on rock surfaces, which are variably associated with enrichments in Fe, P, Cl, and/or Zn. These Mn-rich features represent ˜1% of the 1,029 APXS measurements acquired over ˜25 km of rover traverse. A thermochemical model shows that dissolved Mn 2+ could have been concentrated via evaporation, sublimation, and/or freezing. Manganese was then likely precipitated in localized features when > 99.99% of the Mn 2+ -bearing water was removed from the system. These findings indicate that Mn was mobile in Gale crater and therefore bioavailable as a potential energy source for life.

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A Lacustrine Paleoenvironment Recorded at Vera RubinRidge, Gale Crater: Overview of the Sedimentology and Stratigraphy Observed by the Mars ScienceLaboratory Curiosity Rover

Cited by 82 publications

References 46 publications

Regional Structural Orientation of the Mount Sharp Group Revealed by In Situ Dip Measurements and Stratigraphic Correlations on the Vera Rubin Ridge

Regional Structural Orientation of the Mount Sharp Group Revealed by In Situ Dip Measurements and Stratigraphic Correlations on the Vera Rubin Ridge

A spatiotemporal analysis of precipitation anomalies using rainfall Gini index between 1980 and 2022

Manganese Mobility in Gale Crater, Mars: Leached Bedrock and Localized Enrichments

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