6533b827fe1ef96bd128670b
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Soils of Eagle crater and Meridiani Planum at the Opportunity Rover landing site.
Jutta ZipfelRonald GreeleyMichael C. MalinJeffrey R. JohnsonR. V. MorrisScott M. MclennanBethany L. EhlmannPhilip R. ChristensenMatthew P. GolombekJ. W. RiceN. A. CabrolChristian SchröderZ. A. LearnerLutz RichterWesley A. WattersJason M. SoderblomSteven W. SquyresK. E. HerkenhoffD. W. MingRobert C. AndersonDavid A. FikeThanasis E. EconomouAndrew H. KnollWilliam H. FarrandRyan C. SullivanRalf GellertBenton C. ClarkDouglas J. JerolmackRaymond E. ArvidsonL. A. SoderblomGöstar KlingelhöferJohn P. GrotzingerFrank P. SeelosMichael B. WyattR. LiJames F. BellHarry Y. McsweenRudolf RiederB. L. JolliffDaniel RodionovCatherine M. WeitzAlbert S. YenTimothy D. GlotchWendy M. Calvinsubject
Meridiani PlanumRover Landing SiteGeologic SedimentsMineralsMultidisciplinaryExtraterrestrial EnvironmentOutcropSilicatesSpectrum AnalysisGeochemistryMineralogyMarsWaterHematiteFerric CompoundsImpact craterClastic rockvisual_artvisual_art.visual_art_mediumAeolian processesSedimentary rockMeridiani PlanumSpacecraftGraded beddingGeologydescription
The soils at the Opportunity site are fine-grained basaltic sands mixed with dust and sulfate-rich outcrop debris. Hematite is concentrated in spherules eroded from the strata. Ongoing saltation exhumes the spherules and their fragments, concentrating them at the surface. Spherules emerge from soils coated, perhaps from subsurface cementation, by salts. Two types of vesicular clasts may represent basaltic sand sources. Eolian ripples, armored by well-sorted hematite-rich grains, pervade Meridiani Planum. The thickness of the soil on the plain is estimated to be about a meter. The flatness and thin cover suggest that the plain may represent the original sedimentary surface.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-12-04 | Science (New York, N.Y.) |