skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Grain Size Variations in the Murray Formation: Stratigraphic Evidence for Changing Depositional Environments in Gale Crater, Mars

Abstract

The lowermost exposure of the Murray formation in Gale crater, Mars, was interpreted as sediment deposited in an ancient lake based on data collected by the Curiosity rover. Constraining the stratigraphic extent and duration of this environment has important implications for the paleohydrology of Gale. Insights into early Martian environments and paleofluid flow velocity can be obtained from grain size in rocks. Visual inspection of grain size is not always available for rocks investigated at field sites on Mars due to limited image coverage. But grain sizes can also be estimated from the Gini Index Mean Score, a grain-size proxy that uses point-to-point chemical variations in ChemCam Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy data. Here, new Gini Index Mean Score results indicate that the Murray formation is dominated by mudstones with grains smaller than the spatial resolution of all rover cameras. Intervals of fine to coarse sandstone also are present, some of which are verified using observations of grain size and sedimentary structures in associated images. Overall, results demonstrate that most of the Murray consists of mudstone, suggesting settling of grains from suspension in low energy depositional environments such as lakes. Some of the mudstones contain desiccation cracks indicating periods of dryingmore » with a lowering of lake water level. However, beds and lenses of cross-bedded sandstones are common at specific intervals, suggesting episodes of fluvial and possibly eolian deposition. The persistence of lacustrine deposits interspersed with fluvial deposits suggests that liquid water was sustained on the Martian surface for tens of thousands to millions of years.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [6];  [4];  [6];  [7];  [8]; ORCiD logo [9]; ORCiD logo [10];  [11];  [12]; ORCiD logo [13]; ORCiD logo [14]
  1. Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (United States). Dept. of Earth Sciences; Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States). Earth and Planetary Sciences Dept.
  2. Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States). Earth and Planetary Sciences Dept.
  3. Univ. de Nantes (France). Lab. de Planétologie et Géophysique de Nantes
  4. Imperial College, London (United Kingdom). Dept. of Earth Science & Engineering
  5. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, CA (United States)
  6. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences
  7. Jackson State Univ., Jackson, MS (United States). Dept. of Physics, Atmospheric Sciences, and Geoscience
  8. Univ. de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CNES (France). Inst. de Recherche en Astrophysique & Planétologie
  9. Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States). Earth and Planetary Sciences Dept.; Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States). Dept. of Geology and Geophysics
  10. Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States). Inst. of Meteoritics
  11. Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States). Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
  12. California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Jet Propulsion Lab. (JPL)
  13. California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
  14. Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos NM USA
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
OSTI Identifier:
1650635
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-19-32323
Journal ID: ISSN 2169-9097
Grant/Contract Number:  
89233218CNA000001
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 125; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 2169-9097
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
58 GEOSCIENCES; planetary sciences

Citation Formats

Rivera‐Hernández, Frances, Sumner, Dawn Y., Mangold, Nicolas, Banham, Steven G., Edgett, Kenneth S., Fedo, Christopher M., Gupta, Sanjeev, Gwizd, Samantha, Heydari, Ezat, Maurice, Sylvestre, Nachon, Marion, Newsom, Horton, Schieber, Juergen, Stack‐Morgan, Katie, Stein, Nathan, and Wiens, Roger C. Grain Size Variations in the Murray Formation: Stratigraphic Evidence for Changing Depositional Environments in Gale Crater, Mars. United States: N. p., 2020. Web. doi:10.1029/2019je006230.
Rivera‐Hernández, Frances, Sumner, Dawn Y., Mangold, Nicolas, Banham, Steven G., Edgett, Kenneth S., Fedo, Christopher M., Gupta, Sanjeev, Gwizd, Samantha, Heydari, Ezat, Maurice, Sylvestre, Nachon, Marion, Newsom, Horton, Schieber, Juergen, Stack‐Morgan, Katie, Stein, Nathan, & Wiens, Roger C. Grain Size Variations in the Murray Formation: Stratigraphic Evidence for Changing Depositional Environments in Gale Crater, Mars. United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019je006230
Rivera‐Hernández, Frances, Sumner, Dawn Y., Mangold, Nicolas, Banham, Steven G., Edgett, Kenneth S., Fedo, Christopher M., Gupta, Sanjeev, Gwizd, Samantha, Heydari, Ezat, Maurice, Sylvestre, Nachon, Marion, Newsom, Horton, Schieber, Juergen, Stack‐Morgan, Katie, Stein, Nathan, and Wiens, Roger C. 2020. "Grain Size Variations in the Murray Formation: Stratigraphic Evidence for Changing Depositional Environments in Gale Crater, Mars". United States. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019je006230. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1650635.
@article{osti_1650635,
title = {Grain Size Variations in the Murray Formation: Stratigraphic Evidence for Changing Depositional Environments in Gale Crater, Mars},
author = {Rivera‐Hernández, Frances and Sumner, Dawn Y. and Mangold, Nicolas and Banham, Steven G. and Edgett, Kenneth S. and Fedo, Christopher M. and Gupta, Sanjeev and Gwizd, Samantha and Heydari, Ezat and Maurice, Sylvestre and Nachon, Marion and Newsom, Horton and Schieber, Juergen and Stack‐Morgan, Katie and Stein, Nathan and Wiens, Roger C.},
abstractNote = {The lowermost exposure of the Murray formation in Gale crater, Mars, was interpreted as sediment deposited in an ancient lake based on data collected by the Curiosity rover. Constraining the stratigraphic extent and duration of this environment has important implications for the paleohydrology of Gale. Insights into early Martian environments and paleofluid flow velocity can be obtained from grain size in rocks. Visual inspection of grain size is not always available for rocks investigated at field sites on Mars due to limited image coverage. But grain sizes can also be estimated from the Gini Index Mean Score, a grain-size proxy that uses point-to-point chemical variations in ChemCam Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy data. Here, new Gini Index Mean Score results indicate that the Murray formation is dominated by mudstones with grains smaller than the spatial resolution of all rover cameras. Intervals of fine to coarse sandstone also are present, some of which are verified using observations of grain size and sedimentary structures in associated images. Overall, results demonstrate that most of the Murray consists of mudstone, suggesting settling of grains from suspension in low energy depositional environments such as lakes. Some of the mudstones contain desiccation cracks indicating periods of drying with a lowering of lake water level. However, beds and lenses of cross-bedded sandstones are common at specific intervals, suggesting episodes of fluvial and possibly eolian deposition. The persistence of lacustrine deposits interspersed with fluvial deposits suggests that liquid water was sustained on the Martian surface for tens of thousands to millions of years.},
doi = {10.1029/2019je006230},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1650635}, journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets},
issn = {2169-9097},
number = 2,
volume = 125,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Feb 10 00:00:00 EST 2020},
month = {Mon Feb 10 00:00:00 EST 2020}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 26 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Save / Share:

Works referenced in this record:

ChemCam results from the Shaler outcrop in Gale crater, Mars
journal, March 2015


Classification scheme for sedimentary and igneous rocks in Gale crater, Mars
journal, March 2017


Measurement of Inequality of Incomes
journal, March 1921


MAHLI on Mars: lessons learned operating a geoscience camera on a landed payload robotic arm
journal, January 2016


Clay mineral diversity and abundance in sedimentary rocks of Gale crater, Mars
journal, June 2018


A hematite-bearing layer in Gale Crater, Mars: Mapping and implications for past aqueous conditions
journal, July 2013


Mineralogy of an ancient lacustrine mudstone succession from the Murray formation, Gale crater, Mars
journal, August 2017


A Habitable Fluvio-Lacustrine Environment at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars
journal, December 2013


Late Quaternary Lakes in the McMurdo Sound Region of Antarctica
journal, October 2000


Sequence of infilling events in Gale Crater, Mars: Results from morphology, stratigraphy, and mineralogy: SEDIMENTARY INFILLING IN GALE CRATER
journal, December 2013


Syndepositional precipitation of calcium sulfate in Gale Crater, Mars
journal, September 2018


Preservation of Martian Organic and Environmental Records: Final Report of the Mars Biosignature Working Group
journal, March 2011


Recalibration of the Mars Science Laboratory ChemCam instrument with an expanded geochemical database
journal, March 2017


The origin and evolution of the Peace Vallis fan system that drains to the Curiosity landing area, Gale Crater, Mars : Origin and evolution of Peace Vallis fan
journal, April 2014


Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter: Experiment summary after the first year of global mapping of Mars
journal, October 2001


Multiple stages of aqueous alteration along fractures in mudstone and sandstone strata in Gale Crater, Mars
journal, August 2017


The stratigraphy and evolution of lower Mount Sharp from spectral, morphological, and thermophysical orbital data sets: Stratigraphy and Evolution of Mount Sharp
journal, September 2016


Deposition, exhumation, and paleoclimate of an ancient lake deposit, Gale crater, Mars
journal, October 2015


Mars Science Laboratory Mission and Science Investigation
journal, July 2012


Calcium sulfate veins characterized by ChemCam/Curiosity at Gale crater, Mars: CALCIUM SULFATE VEINS AT GALE CRATER
journal, September 2014


Late-stage diagenetic concretions in the Murray formation, Gale crater, Mars
journal, March 2019


Silicic volcanism on Mars evidenced by tridymite in high-SiO 2 sedimentary rock at Gale crater
journal, June 2016


A Scale of Grade and Class Terms for Clastic Sediments
journal, July 1922


Curiosity’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) Investigation
journal, July 2012


The ChemCam Instrument Suite on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Rover: Science Objectives and Mast Unit Description
journal, July 2012


Air temperature, snow cover, creep of frozen ground, and the time of ice-wedge cracking, western Arctic coast
journal, August 1993


Shaler: in situ analysis of a fluvial sedimentary deposit on Mars
journal, June 2017


Composite Particles in Mudstones: Examples from the Late Cretaceous Tununk Shale Member of the Mancos Shale Formation
journal, December 2018


Paleolimnology of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica
journal, January 1994


Multivariate analysis of remote laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy spectra using partial least squares, principal component analysis, and related techniques
journal, January 2009


The ChemCam Instrument Suite on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Rover: Body Unit and Combined System Tests
journal, June 2012


Testing the veracity of LIBS analyses on Mars using the LIBSSIM program
journal, June 2013


The timing of alluvial activity in Gale crater, Mars
journal, February 2014


An interval of high salinity in ancient Gale crater lake on Mars
journal, October 2019


Sediment Accumulation Rates and the Completeness of Stratigraphic Sections
journal, September 1981


The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mast cameras and Descent imager: Investigation and instrument descriptions: MSL Mastcam/MARDI Descriptions
journal, August 2017


Diagenetic silica enrichment and late-stage groundwater activity in Gale crater, Mars: Silica Enriching Diagenesis, Gale, Mars
journal, May 2017


Packing density effects on the fluctuations of the emission lines in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy
journal, February 2014


Chemical alteration of fine-grained sedimentary rocks at Gale crater
journal, March 2019