Wet to Dry Depositional Environments Recorded in the Clay-Sulfate Transition Region in Gale Crater, Mars: Overview and Stratigraphic Context for Curiosity's Exploration Campaign
Résumé
One of the key factors in selecting Gale crater as the landing site for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission was the ability to observe environmental transitions recorded in Aeolis Mons (informally known as Mt. Sharp). Orbital observations had revealed a vertical succession from strata that have abundant clay minerals to strata containing Mg sulfates [1], hypothesized to be tied to a shift from wetter to drier conditions. More recently, the Decadal Survey identified this question as central to Mars exploration: Did habitability persist through dramatic changes in the ancient climate? This work focuses on addressing the environments in which the clay-bearing and sulfatebearing units were deposited, and what that implies about the evolution of the Martian climate. Here we provide an overview of Curiosity’s exploration campaign through the clay-sulfate transition region and into the Mg sulfate-bearing unit (~Sols 3081-3755, elevation from -4072 m to -3850 m, investigated by the MSL science team from April 2021 to February 2023), and provide a summary of the sedimentological and stratigraphic context for the region.
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