Extraformational sediment recycling on Mars.

ABSTRACT: Extraformational sediment recycling (old sedimentary rock to new sedimentary rock) is a fundamental aspect of Earth's geological record; tectonism exposes sedimentary rock, whereupon it is weathered and eroded to form new sediment that later becomes lithified. On Mars, tectonism has been minor, but two decades of orbiter instrument-based studies show that some sedimentary rocks previously buried to depths of kilometers have been exposed, by erosion, at the surface. Four locations in Gale crater, explored using the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Curiosity rover, exhibit sedimentary lithoclasts in sedimentary rock: At Marias Pass, they are mudstone fragments in sandstone derived from strata below an erosional unconformity; at Bimbe, they are pebble-sized sandstone and

SUBMITTER: Edgett KS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7116455 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature