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Published June 2018 | Published + Supplemental Material
Journal Article Open

Ancient Martian aeolian processes and palaeomorphology reconstructed from the Stimson formation on the lower slope of Aeolis Mons, Gale crater, Mars

Abstract

Reconstruction of the palaeoenvironmental context of Martian sedimentary rocks is central to studies of ancient Martian habitability and regional palaeoclimate history. This paper reports the analysis of a distinct aeolian deposit preserved in Gale crater, Mars, and evaluates its palaeomorphology, the processes responsible for its deposition, and its implications for Gale crater geological history and regional palaeoclimate. Whilst exploring the sedimentary succession cropping out on the northern flank of Aeolis Mons, Gale crater, the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity encountered a decametre‐thick sandstone succession, named the Stimson formation, unconformably overlying lacustrine deposits of the Murray formation. The sandstone contains sand grains characterized by high roundness and sphericity, and cross‐bedding on the order of 1 m in thickness, separated by sub‐horizontal bounding surfaces traceable for tens of metres across outcrops. The cross‐beds are composed of uniform thickness cross‐laminations interpreted as wind‐ripple strata. Cross‐sets are separated by sub‐horizontal bounding surfaces traceable for tens of metres across outcrops that are interpreted as dune migration surfaces. Grain characteristics and presence of wind‐ripple strata indicate deposition of the Stimson formation by aeolian processes. The absence of features characteristic of damp or wet aeolian sediment accumulation indicate deposition in a dry aeolian system. Reconstruction of the palaeogeomorphology suggests that the Stimson dune field was composed largely of simple sinuous crescentic dunes with a height of ca 10 m, and wavelengths of ca 150 m, with local development of complex dunes. Analysis of cross‐strata dip azimuths indicates that the general dune migration direction and hence net sediment transport was towards the north‐east. The juxtaposition of a dry aeolian system unconformably above the lacustrine Murray formation represents starkly contrasting palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic conditions. Stratigraphic relationships indicate that this transition records a significant break in time, with the Stimson formation being deposited after the Murray formation and stratigraphically higher Mount Sharp group rocks had been buried, lithified and subsequently eroded.

Additional Information

© 2018 The Authors. Sedimentology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Association of Sedimentologists. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Issue Online 18 May 2018; Version of Record online: 12 April 2018; Accepted manuscript online: 26 February 2018; Manuscript accepted: 19 February 2018; Manuscript received: 28 July 2017. The authors wish to acknowledge the enormous efforts made by the NASA MSL Mission project's engineering, science and management teams in making this work possible. They are also grateful to the many MSL team members who participated in tactical and strategic operations during the Stimson campaign. Special thanks go to the Malin Space Science Systems operations team for their hard work in acquiring the extensive image data that made this research possible. Sanjeev Gupta, Steven Banham and Robert Barnes acknowledge funding from the UK Space Agency (UKSA) (Grants: ST/J005169/1, ST/P002064/1 and ST/N000579/1). Data presented in this paper are archived in the Planetary Data System (pds.nasa.gov). Joanneum Research are thanked for use of PRoViP software for processing of 3D Mastcam data, and to VRVis for use of the PRo3D visualization software tool for analysis of the 3D Mastcam data. Finally, the authors wish to thank Gary Kocurek and Juan Pedro Rodriguez‐Lopez for their constructive reviews.

Attached Files

Published - Banham_et_al-2018-Sedimentology.pdf

Supplemental Material - sed12469-sup-0001-data_s0banham.pptx

Supplemental Material - sed12469-sup-0002-data_s1images.pdf

Supplemental Material - sed12469-sup-0003-s2agisdata.pdf

Supplemental Material - sed12469-sup-0004-data_s2b.zip

Supplemental Material - sed12469-sup-0005-data_s3supporting.docx

Supplemental Material - sed12469-sup-0006-data_s4arawgrain.pdf

Supplemental Material - sed12469-sup-0007-data_s4ballgrain.eps

Supplemental Material - sed12469-sup-0008-data_s4civanhoe.eps

Supplemental Material - sed12469-sup-0009-data_s5lamination.docx

Supplemental Material - sed12469-sup-0009-data_s6stimson.pdf

Supplemental Material - sed12469-sup-0011-data_s7additional.docx

Supplemental Material - sed12469-sup-0012-data_s8pro3dpc.pdf

Supplemental Material - sed12469-sup-0013-data_s9map.tif

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Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 18, 2023