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Bristow TF, Grotzinger JP, Rampe EB, Cuadros J, Chipera SJ, Downs GW, Fedo CM, Frydenvang J, McAdam AC, Morris RV, Achilles CN, Blake DF, Castle N, Craig P, Des Marais DJ, Downs RT, Hazen RM, Ming DW, Morrison SM, Thorpe MT, Treiman AH, Tu V, Vaniman DT, Yen AS, Gellert R, Mahaffy PR, Wiens RC, Bryk AB, Bennett KA, Fox VK, Millken RE, Fraeman AA, Vasavada AR. Brine-driven destruction of clay minerals in Gale crater, Mars. Science 2021; 373:198-204. [PMID: 34244410 DOI: 10.1126/science.abg5449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Mars' sedimentary rock record preserves information on geological (and potential astrobiological) processes that occurred on the planet billions of years ago. The Curiosity rover is exploring the lower reaches of Mount Sharp, in Gale crater on Mars. A traverse from Vera Rubin ridge to Glen Torridon has allowed Curiosity to examine a lateral transect of rock strata laid down in a martian lake ~3.5 billion years ago. We report spatial differences in the mineralogy of time-equivalent sedimentary rocks <400 meters apart. These differences indicate localized infiltration of silica-poor brines, generated during deposition of overlying magnesium sulfate-bearing strata. We propose that destabilization of silicate minerals driven by silica-poor brines (rarely observed on Earth) was widespread on ancient Mars, because sulfate deposits are globally distributed.
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Affiliation(s)
- T F Bristow
- Eobiology Branch, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
| | - J P Grotzinger
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - E B Rampe
- Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA
| | - J Cuadros
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
| | - S J Chipera
- Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
| | - G W Downs
- Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
| | - C M Fedo
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
| | - J Frydenvang
- Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - A C McAdam
- Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
| | - R V Morris
- Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA
| | - C N Achilles
- Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
| | - D F Blake
- Eobiology Branch, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
| | - N Castle
- Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
| | - P Craig
- Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
| | - D J Des Marais
- Eobiology Branch, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA
| | - R T Downs
- Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
| | - R M Hazen
- Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC 20015, USA
| | - D W Ming
- Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA
| | - S M Morrison
- Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC 20015, USA
| | - M T Thorpe
- Jacobs Technology-Jacobs JETS Contract, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, at NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA
| | - A H Treiman
- Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association, Houston, TX 77058, USA
| | - V Tu
- Jacobs Technology-Jacobs JETS Contract, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, at NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA
| | - D T Vaniman
- Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
| | - A S Yen
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - R Gellert
- Department of Physics, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada
| | - P R Mahaffy
- Solar System Exploration Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
| | - R C Wiens
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
| | - A B Bryk
- Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - K A Bennett
- U.S. Geological Survey, Astrogeology Science Center, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
| | - V K Fox
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - R E Millken
- Department of Earth, Environmental Sciences and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
| | - A A Fraeman
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
| | - A R Vasavada
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
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Vaniman DT, Bish DL, Ming DW, Bristow TF, Morris RV, Blake DF, Chipera SJ, Morrison SM, Treiman AH, Rampe EB, Rice M, Achilles CN, Grotzinger JP, McLennan SM, Williams J, Bell JF, Newsom HE, Downs RT, Maurice S, Sarrazin P, Yen AS, Morookian JM, Farmer JD, Stack K, Milliken RE, Ehlmann BL, Sumner DY, Berger G, Crisp JA, Hurowitz JA, Anderson R, Des Marais DJ, Stolper EM, Edgett KS, Gupta S, Spanovich N, Agard C, Alves Verdasca JA, Anderson R, Archer D, Armiens-Aparicio C, Arvidson R, Atlaskin E, Atreya S, Aubrey A, Baker B, Baker M, Balic-Zunic T, Baratoux D, Baroukh J, Barraclough B, Bean K, Beegle L, Behar A, Bender S, Benna M, Bentz J, Berger J, Berman D, Blanco Avalos JJ, Blaney D, Blank J, Blau H, Bleacher L, Boehm E, Botta O, Bottcher S, Boucher T, Bower H, Boyd N, Boynton B, Breves E, Bridges J, Bridges N, Brinckerhoff W, Brinza D, Brunet C, Brunner A, Brunner W, Buch A, Bullock M, Burmeister S, Cabane M, Calef F, Cameron J, Campbell JI, Cantor B, Caplinger M, Caride Rodriguez J, Carmosino M, Carrasco Blazquez I, Charpentier A, Choi D, Clark B, Clegg S, Cleghorn T, Cloutis E, Cody G, Coll P, Conrad P, Coscia D, Cousin A, Cremers D, Cros A, Cucinotta F, d'Uston C, Davis S, Day MK, de la Torre Juarez M, DeFlores L, DeLapp D, DeMarines J, Dietrich W, Dingler R, Donny C, Drake D, Dromart G, Dupont A, Duston B, Dworkin J, Dyar MD, Edgar L, Edwards C, Edwards L, Ehresmann B, Eigenbrode J, Elliott B, Elliott H, Ewing R, Fabre C, Fairen A, Farley K, Fassett C, Favot L, Fay D, Fedosov F, Feldman J, Feldman S, Fisk M, Fitzgibbon M, Flesch G, Floyd M, Fluckiger L, Forni O, Fraeman A, Francis R, Francois P, Franz H, Freissinet C, French KL, Frydenvang J, Gaboriaud A, Gailhanou M, Garvin J, Gasnault O, Geffroy C, Gellert R, Genzer M, Glavin D, Godber A, Goesmann F, Goetz W, Golovin D, Gomez Gomez F, Gomez-Elvira J, Gondet B, Gordon S, Gorevan S, Grant J, Griffes J, Grinspoon D, Guillemot P, Guo J, Guzewich S, Haberle R, Halleaux D, Hallet B, Hamilton V, Hardgrove C, Harker D, Harpold D, Harri AM, Harshman K, Hassler D, Haukka H, Hayes A, Herkenhoff K, Herrera P, Hettrich S, Heydari E, Hipkin V, Hoehler T, Hollingsworth J, Hudgins J, Huntress W, Hviid S, Iagnemma K, Indyk S, Israel G, Jackson R, Jacob S, Jakosky B, Jensen E, Jensen JK, Johnson J, Johnson M, Johnstone S, Jones A, Jones J, Joseph J, Jun I, Kah L, Kahanpaa H, Kahre M, Karpushkina N, Kasprzak W, Kauhanen J, Keely L, Kemppinen O, Keymeulen D, Kim MH, Kinch K, King P, Kirkland L, Kocurek G, Koefoed A, Kohler J, Kortmann O, Kozyrev A, Krezoski J, Krysak D, Kuzmin R, Lacour JL, Lafaille V, Langevin Y, Lanza N, Lasue J, Le Mouelic S, Lee EM, Lee QM, Lees D, Lefavor M, Lemmon M, Malvitte AL, Leshin L, Leveille R, Lewin-Carpintier E, Lewis K, Li S, Lipkaman L, Little C, Litvak M, Lorigny E, Lugmair G, Lundberg A, Lyness E, Madsen M, Mahaffy P, Maki J, Malakhov A, Malespin C, Malin M, Mangold N, Manhes G, Manning H, Marchand G, Marin Jimenez M, Martin Garcia C, Martin D, Martin M, Martinez-Frias J, Martin-Soler J, Martin-Torres FJ, Mauchien P, McAdam A, McCartney E, McConnochie T, McCullough E, McEwan I, McKay C, McNair S, Melikechi N, Meslin PY, Meyer M, Mezzacappa A, Miller H, Miller K, Minitti M, Mischna M, Mitrofanov I, Moersch J, Mokrousov M, Molina Jurado A, Moores J, Mora-Sotomayor L, Mueller-Mellin R, Muller JP, Munoz Caro G, Nachon M, Navarro Lopez S, Navarro-Gonzalez R, Nealson K, Nefian A, Nelson T, Newcombe M, Newman C, Nikiforov S, Niles P, Nixon B, Noe Dobrea E, Nolan T, Oehler D, Ollila A, Olson T, Owen T, de Pablo Hernandez MA, Paillet A, Pallier E, Palucis M, Parker T, Parot Y, Patel K, Paton M, Paulsen G, Pavlov A, Pavri B, Peinado-Gonzalez V, Pepin R, Peret L, Perez R, Perrett G, Peterson J, Pilorget C, Pinet P, Pla-Garcia J, Plante I, Poitrasson F, Polkko J, Popa R, Posiolova L, Posner A, Pradler I, Prats B, Prokhorov V, Purdy SW, Raaen E, Radziemski L, Rafkin S, Ramos M, Raulin F, Ravine M, Reitz G, Renno N, Richardson M, Robert F, Robertson K, Rodriguez Manfredi JA, Romeral-Planello JJ, Rowland S, Rubin D, Saccoccio M, Salamon A, Sandoval J, Sanin A, Sans Fuentes SA, Saper L, Sautter V, Savijarvi H, Schieber J, Schmidt M, Schmidt W, Scholes DD, Schoppers M, Schroder S, Schwenzer S, Sebastian Martinez E, Sengstacken A, Shterts R, Siebach K, Siili T, Simmonds J, Sirven JB, Slavney S, Sletten R, Smith M, Sobron Sanchez P, Spray J, Squyres S, Stalport F, Steele A, Stein T, Stern J, Stewart N, Stipp SLS, Stoiber K, Sucharski B, Sullivan R, Summons R, Sun V, Supulver K, Sutter B, Szopa C, Tan F, Tate C, Teinturier S, ten Kate I, Thomas P, Thompson L, Tokar R, Toplis M, Torres Redondo J, Trainer M, Tretyakov V, Urqui-O'Callaghan R, Van Beek J, Van Beek T, VanBommel S, Varenikov A, Vasavada A, Vasconcelos P, Vicenzi E, Vostrukhin A, Voytek M, Wadhwa M, Ward J, Webster C, Weigle E, Wellington D, Westall F, Wiens RC, Wilhelm MB, Williams A, Williams R, Williams RBM, Wilson M, Wimmer-Schweingruber R, Wolff M, Wong M, Wray J, Wu M, Yana C, Yingst A, Zeitlin C, Zimdar R, Zorzano Mier MP. Mineralogy of a Mudstone at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars. Science 2013; 343:1243480. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1243480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 433] [Impact Index Per Article: 39.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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