1
|
Hayes AG, Grotzinger JP, Edgar LA, Squyres SW, Watters WA, Sohl-Dickstein J. Reconstruction of eolian bed forms and paleocurrents from cross-bedded strata at Victoria Crater, Meridiani Planum, Mars. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2011. [DOI: 10.1029/2010je003688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
|
2
|
Andrews-Hanna JC, Zuber MT, Arvidson RE, Wiseman SM. Early Mars hydrology: Meridiani playa deposits and the sedimentary record of Arabia Terra. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2010. [DOI: 10.1029/2009je003485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 129] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
|
3
|
Rizzo V, Cantasano N. Possible organosedimentary structures on Mars. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ASTROBIOLOGY 2009; 8:267-280. [DOI: 10.1017/s1473550409990152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/23/2023]
Abstract
AbstractThis study, using the Microscopic Imager (MI) of NASA Rover Exploration Mission's (REM) ‘Opportunity’, aims to explain the origin of laminated sediments lying at Meridiani Planum of Mars, and of the strange spherules, known as blueberries, about which several hypotheses have been formulated. To this purpose, images of the sedimentary textures of layers and fragments captured by REM have been analysed; sediments that NASA has already established as ‘pertinent to water presence’. Our study shows that such laminated sediments and the spherules they contain could be organosedimentary structures, probably produced by microorganisms. The laminated structures are characterized by a sequence of a thin pair of layers, which have the features of skeletal/agglutinated laminae and whose basic constituents are made by a partition of septa and vacuoles radially arranged around a central one. The growth of these supposed organosedimentary masses is based on the ‘built flexibility’ of such a basal element; it may be a coalescing microfossil formed by progressive film accretion (calcimicrobe), in a variety of geometrical gross forms, such as a repeated couplet sequence of laminae or domal mass and large composite polycentric spherule, both in elevation. The acquired structural and textural data seem to be consistent with the existence of life on Mars and could explain an origin of sediments at Meridiani Planum similar to that of terrestrial stromatolites. The Martian deposits, probably produced by cyanobacterial activity, and the embedded blueberries could represent a recurrent and multiform product of colonies with sheath forms, resembling in shape those of the fossil genus Archaeosphaeroides (stromatolites of Fig Tree, South Africa).
Collapse
|
4
|
Karunatillake S, Keller JM, Squyres SW, Boynton WV, Brückner J, Janes DM, Gasnault O, Newsom HE. Chemical compositions at Mars landing sites subject to Mars Odyssey Gamma Ray Spectrometer constraints. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2007. [DOI: 10.1029/2006je002859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - John M. Keller
- Physics Department; California Polytechnic State University; San Luis Obispo California USA
| | | | - William V. Boynton
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory; University of Arizona; Tucson Arizona USA
| | | | - Daniel M. Janes
- Lunar and Planetary Laboratory; University of Arizona; Tucson Arizona USA
| | - Olivier Gasnault
- Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements/Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse; Toulouse France
| | - Horton E. Newsom
- Institute of Meteoritics and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences; University of New Mexico; Albuquerque New Mexico USA
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
|