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

Title: Mineral-Filled Fractures as Indicators of Multigenerational Fluid Flow in the Pahrump Hills Member of the Murray Formation, Gale Crater, Mars

Journal Article · · Earth and Space Science
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2018ea000482· OSTI ID:1734722

Mineral-filled fractures (veins) are valuable indicators of deformation and fluid flow within a sedimentary package. Information obtained from vein morphology, texture, and chemistry may elucidate the sequence and nature of postdepositional fluid events. Additional information from vein patterns and interactions between veins and host rock provides insight into fracture formation mechanism(s). The widespread occurrence of veins and other diagenetic features in the sedimentary rock record preserved in Gale crater, Mars, indicates that postdepositional fluids were regionally active considerably later in time than the primary fluviolacustrine environments responsible for the deposition of Mount Sharp strata. Here we report a suite of veins within the Murray formation at the Pahrump Hills locality that were investigated using the scientific payload of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover. Based on an analysis of vein color, morphology, and texture, and corroborated by vein chemistry, we interpret three distinct vein types at Pahrump Hills: gray veins, white veins, and dark-toned veins. These veins represent distinct, separate episodes of postdepositional fluid flow, suggesting a protracted history of fluid stability in Gale crater. Additionally, we utilize vein patterns across multiple lithologies at the Pahrump Hills field site to suggest hydrofracture as the primary mechanism of fracture formation.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Grant/Contract Number:
89233218CNA000001
OSTI ID:
1734722
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-19-32325
Journal Information:
Earth and Space Science, Vol. 6, Issue 2; ISSN 2333-5084
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (74)

The relevance of vein texture in understanding the past hydraulic behaviour of a crystalline rock mass: reconstruction of the palaeohydrology of the Mecsekalja Zone, south Hungary: The relevance of vein texture in palaeohydrogeologic reconstructions journal August 2011
Modeling and mitigation of sample relief effects applied to chemistry measurements by the Mars Science Laboratory Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer: Target relief effect mitigation and modeling for the MSL APXS journal March 2017
Natural Fractures in shale: A review and new observations journal November 2014
Preservation of Devonian Chemotrophic Filamentous Bacteria in Calcite Veins journal June 1999
Encounters with an unearthly mudstone: Understanding the first mudstone found on Mars journal November 2016
Polygonal ridge networks on Mars: Diversity of morphologies and the special case of the Eastern Medusae Fossae Formation journal January 2017
Chemistry of diagenetic features analyzed by ChemCam at Pahrump Hills, Gale crater, Mars journal January 2017
Cracks in Martian boulders exhibit preferred orientations that point to solar-induced thermal stress journal March 2015
A Habitable Fluvio-Lacustrine Environment at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars journal December 2013
Design and fabrication of lenses for the color science cameras aboard the Mars Science Laboratory rover journal October 2009
ChemCam: Chemostratigraphy by the First Mars Microprobe journal February 2015
Microchemical evidence for episodic growth of antitaxial veins during fracture-controlled fluid flow journal October 2006
A review of the formation of tectonic veins and their microstructures journal October 2012
Bedding-parallel fibrous veins (beef and cone-in-cone): Worldwide occurrence and possible significance in terms of fluid overpressure, hydrocarbon generation and mineralization journal May 2013
How hydrofractures become arrested journal December 2001
Volatile and Organic Compositions of Sedimentary Rocks in Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars journal December 2013
Filamentous fabrics in low-temperature mineral assemblages: are they fossil biomarkers? Implications for the search for a subsurface fossil record on the early Earth and Mars journal September 2000
Constraints on the origin and evolution of the layered mound in Gale Crater, Mars using Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter data journal August 2011
Small-scale polygonal features on Mars: Seasonal thermal contraction cracks in permafrost journal November 1997
Theoretical Soil Mechanics book January 1943
Effects of overpressure variations on fracture apertures and fluid transport journal December 2012
Weathering, erosion and landscape processes on Mars identified from recent rover imagery, and possible Earth analogues journal June 2005
Ancient Martian aeolian processes and palaeomorphology reconstructed from the Stimson formation on the lower slope of Aeolis Mons, Gale crater, Mars journal April 2018
Mineralogy of the Martian Surface journal May 2014
Hydration state of calcium sulfates in Gale crater, Mars: Identification of bassanite veins journal October 2016
Desiccation cracks provide evidence of lake drying on Mars, Sutton Island member, Murray formation, Gale Crater journal April 2018
Mechanisms of fluid flow and fluid-rock interaction in fossil metamorphic hydrothermal systems inferred from vein-wallrock patterns, geometry and microstructure journal May 2001
Multiple stages of aqueous alteration along fractures in mudstone and sandstone strata in Gale Crater, Mars journal August 2017
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
The origin of fibrous veins: constraints from geochemistry journal January 2002
Biogenicity of Earth's earliest fossils: A resolution of the controversy journal November 2012
Assessment of Aeolis Palus stratigraphic relationships based on bench-forming strata in the Kylie and the Kimberley regions of Gale crater, Mars journal July 2018
The structure and evolution of ancient impact basins on Mars journal January 1982
Late-stage diagenetic concretions in the Murray formation, Gale crater, Mars journal March 2019
Geometry and formation of gypsum veins in mudstones at Watchet, Somerset, SW England journal August 2008
Calibration of the Mars Science Laboratory Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer journal April 2012
Fluid overpressure estimates from the aspect ratios of mineral veins journal December 2012
Evidence for hydraulic fracturing at Gale crater, Mars: Implications for burial depth of the Yellowknife Bay formation journal June 2017
Alternative origins for nannobacteria-like objects in calcite journal January 1999
In situ stress measurements by hydraulic fracturing for a rock mass with many planes of weakness journal January 1997
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
The stopping of a rising, liquid-filled crack in the Earth's crust by a freely slipping horizontal joint journal January 1980
Models of quartz overgrowth and vein formation: Deformation and episodic fluid flow in an ancient subduction zone journal January 1992
Wind-blown sandstones cemented by sulfate and clay minerals in Gale Crater, Mars journal February 2014
ChemCam activities and discoveries during the nominal mission of the Mars Science Laboratory in Gale crater, Mars journal January 2016
Polygonal cracks in bedrock on Earth and Mars: Implications for weathering journal March 2008
Paleoclimate of Mars as captured by the stratigraphic record in Gale Crater: STRATIGRAPHY OF GALE CRATER journal February 2010
Shaler: in situ analysis of a fluvial sedimentary deposit on Mars journal June 2017
Provenance and diagenesis of the evaporite-bearing Burns formation, Meridiani Planum, Mars journal November 2005
Gale crater: the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity Rover Landing Site journal September 2012
Microstructural observations on natural syntectonic fibrous veins: implications for the growth process journal August 2002
Porosity and pressure: Role of compaction disequilibrium in the development of geopressures in a Gulf Coast Pleistocene basin journal January 1995
Redox stratification of an ancient lake in Gale crater, Mars journal June 2017
Deconvolution of distinct lithology chemistry through oversampling with the Mars Science Laboratory Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer: Deconvolution of distinct lithology chemistry with the MSL APXS journal February 2016
The ChemCam Instrument Suite on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Rover: Body Unit and Combined System Tests journal June 2012
Propagation pathways and fluid transport of hydrofractures in jointed and layered rocks in geothermal fields journal August 2002
The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover Mastcam instruments: Preflight and in-flight calibration, validation, and data archiving : MSL/Mastcam Calibration journal July 2017
The formation of antitaxial calcite veins with well-developed fibres, Oppaminda Creek, South Australia journal February 2005
Crystallization pressure versus “crack seal” as the mechanism for banded veins journal January 2001
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
Antitaxial crack-seal vein microstructures and their relationship to displacement paths journal January 1987
First detection of fluorine on Mars: Implications for Gale Crater's geochemistry: First detection of fluorine on Mars journal February 2015
Biogenic Iron-Rich Filaments in the Quartz Veins in the Uppermost Ediacaran Qigebulake Formation, Aksu Area, Northwestern Tarim Basin, China: Implications for Iron Oxidizers in Subseafloor Hydrothermal Systems journal July 2015
Evidence of ancient life at 207 m depth in a granitic aquife journal January 1997
The crack–seal mechanism of rock deformation journal March 1980
Phase-field modeling of epitaxial growth of polycrystalline quartz veins in hydrothermal experiments journal August 2015
Rock fractures in geological processes text January 2013
Phase-field modeling of epitaxial growth of polycrystalline quartz veins in hydrothermal experiments text January 2016
Geometry and formation of gypsum veins in mudstones at Watchet, Somerset, SW England text January 2008
Geological Analysis of Martian Rover-Derived Digital Outcrop Models Using the 3-D Visualization Tool, Planetary Robotics 3-D Viewer—PRo3D text January 2018
Rock Fractures in Geological Processes journal October 2013