Calcium sulfate veins characterized by ChemCam/Curiosity at Gale crater, Mars

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
• Main Authors: Nachon, M., Clegg, S. M., Mangold, N., Schroeder, S., Kah, L. C., Dromart, G., Ollila, A., Johnson, J. R., Oehler, D. Z., Bridges, J. C., Le Mouélic, Stéphane, Forni, O., Wiens, R. C., Anderson, R. B., Blaney, D. L., Bell, J. F., Clark, B., Cousin, A., Dyar, M. D., Ehlmann, B., Fabre, C., Gasnault, O., Grotzinger, J., Lasue, J., Lewin, E., Leveille, R., Mclennan, S., Maurice, S., Meslin, P. -Y., Rapin, W., Rice, M., Squyres, S. W., Stack, K., Sumner, D. Y., Vaniman, D., Wellington, D.
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique UMR 6112 (LPG), Université d'Angers (UA)-Université de Nantes - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques (UN UFR ST), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Institut de recherche en astrophysique et planétologie (IRAP), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), The University of Tennessee Knoxville, Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon - Terre, Planètes, Environnement (LGL-TPE), École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS de Lyon)-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne (UJM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Laurel, MD (APL), NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), NASA, Space Research Centre Leicester, University of Leicester, United States Geological Survey Reston (USGS), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), ASU School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE), Arizona State University Tempe (ASU), Department of Astronomy of the Mount Holyoke College, Mount Holyoke College, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences Pasadena, California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), GeoRessources, Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre de recherches sur la géologie des matières premières minérales et énergétiques (CREGU)-Université de Lorraine (UL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut des Sciences de la Terre (ISTerre), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut Français des Sciences et Technologies des Transports, de l'Aménagement et des Réseaux (IFSTTAR)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut de recherche pour le développement IRD : UR219-PRES Université de Grenoble-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Stony Brook University SUNY (SBU), State University of New York (SUNY), Department of Astronomy Ithaca, Cornell University New York, Department of Earth and Planetary Science UC Berkeley (EPS), University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley), University of California (UC)-University of California (UC), Planetary Science Institute Tucson (PSI)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2014
• Subjects: [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences; Yellowknife
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01301703; https://hal.science/hal-01301703/document; https://hal.science/hal-01301703/file/JGR%20Planets%20-%202014%20-%20Nachon%20-%20Calcium%20sulfate%20veins%20characterized%20by%20ChemCam%20Curiosity%20at%20Gale%20crater%20Mars.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JE004588

International audience The Curiosity rover has analyzed abundant light-toned fracture-fill material within the Yellowknife Bay sedimentary deposits. The ChemCam instrument, coupled with Mastcam and ChemCam/Remote Micro Imager images, was able to demonstrate that these fracture fills consist of calcium sulfate veins, many of which appear to be hydrated at a level expected for gypsum and bassanite. Anhydrite is locally present and is found in a location characterized by a nodular texture. An intricate assemblage of veins crosses the sediments, which were likely formed by precipitation from fluids circulating through fractures. The presence of veins throughout the entire similar to 5 m thick Yellowknife Bay sediments suggests that this process occurred well after sedimentation and cementation/lithification of those sediments. The sulfur-rich fluids may have originated in previously precipitated sulfate-rich layers, either before the deposition of the Sheepbed mudstones or from unrelated units such as the sulfates at the base of Mount Sharp. The occurrence of these veins after the episodes of deposition of fluvial sediments at the surface suggests persistent aqueous activity in relatively nonacidic conditions.