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Article Dans Une Revue Geology Année : 2021

Alternating wet and dry depositional environments recorded in the stratigraphy of Mount Sharp at Gale crater, Mars

L.A. Edgar
  • Fonction : Auteur
V. Fox
  • Fonction : Auteur
J.L. Dickson
  • Fonction : Auteur

Résumé

The Curiosity rover is exploring Hesperian-aged stratigraphy in Gale crater, Mars, where a transition from clay-bearing units to a layered sulfate-bearing unit has been interpreted to represent a major environmental transition of unknown character. We present the first description of key facies in the sulfate-bearing unit, recently observed in the distance by the rover, and propose a model for changes in depositional environments. Our results indicate a transition from lacustrine mudstones into thick aeolian deposits, topped by a major deflation surface, above which strata show architectures likely diagnostic of a subaqueous environment. This model offers a reference example of a depositional sequence for layered sulfate-bearing strata, which have been identified from orbit in other locations globally. It differs from the idea of a monotonic Hesperian climate change into long-term aridity on Mars and instead implies a period characterized by multiple transitions between sustained drier and wetter climates.
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Dates et versions

insu-03198811 , version 1 (15-04-2021)

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Paternité - Pas de modifications

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W. Rapin, G. Dromart, D. Rubin, Laetitia Le Deit, Nicolas Mangold, et al.. Alternating wet and dry depositional environments recorded in the stratigraphy of Mount Sharp at Gale crater, Mars. Geology, 2021, ⟨10.1130/G48519.1⟩. ⟨insu-03198811⟩
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