Fluidized-sediment pipes in Gale crater, Mars, and possible Earth analogs

Creators: Rubin, David M.; Fairén, A. G.; Martínez-Frías, J.; Frydenvang, J.; Gasnault, O.; Gelfenbaum, G.; Goetz, W.; Grotzinger, J. P.; Le Mouélic, S.; Mangold, N.; Newsom, H.; Oehler, D. Z.; Rapin, W.; Schieber, J.; Wiens, R. C.

Abstract

Since landing in Gale crater, the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity has traversed fluvial, lacustrine, and eolian sedimentary rocks that were deposited within the crater ∼3.6 to 3.2 b.y. ago. Here we describe structures interpreted to be pipes formed by vertical movement of fluidized sediment. Like many pipes on Earth, those in Gale crater are more resistant to erosion than the host rock; they form near other pipes, dikes, or deformed sediment; and some contain internal concentric or eccentric layering. These structures provide new evidence of the importance of subsurface aqueous processes in shaping the near-surface geology of Mars.

Additional Information

© 2016 Geological Society of America. Manuscript received 8 July 2016; Revised manuscript received 3 October 2016; Manuscript accepted 4 October 2016; First Published on November 03, 2016. This work could not have been completed without the NASA Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) engineering, management, and operations teams, supported by the NASA Mars Exploration Program. Support for Rubin, Goetz, and Oehler was provided by the NASA MSL Participating Scientist Program. Fairén was supported by the Project icyMARS, European Research Council Starting grant 307496. We thank Margie Chan, Andrew Hurst, David Loope, Massimo Moretti, Jeff Peakall, and James Schmitt for constructive reviews.

	All versions	This version
Views	0	0
Downloads	0	0
Data volume	0 Bytes	0 Bytes

Fluidized-sediment pipes in Gale crater, Mars, and possible Earth analogs

Abstract

Additional Information

Additional details