Lacustrine sedimentation by powerful storm waves in Gale crater and its implications for a warming episode on Mars.

ABSTRACT: This investigation documents that the Rugged Terrain Unit, the Stimson formation, and the Greenheugh sandstone were deposited in a 1200 m-deep lake that formed after the emergence of Mt. Sharp in Gale crater, Mars, nearly 4 billion years ago. In fact, the Curiosity rover traversed on a surface that once was the bottom of this lake and systematically examined the strata that were deposited in its deepest waters on the crater floor to layers that formed along its shoreline on Mt. Sharp. This provided a rare opportunity to document the evolution of one aqueous episode from its inception to its desiccation and to determine the warming mechanism that caused it. Deep water lacustrine siltstones directly overlie conglomerates that were deposited by mega floods on the crater floor. This indicates

SUBMITTER: Heydari E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10618461 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature