Geologic map of Jezero crater and the Nili Planum region, Mars

Sun, V. Z.; Morgan, Kathryn Stack

doi:10.3133/sim3464

Cited by 31 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The ROB unit has a fractured, rubbly, and often ridged morphology outside of Jezero crater, which resembles margin fractured and CFF 2 unit rocks inside of Jezero crater (Figure 16). As described in Section 4.3.2, the ROB unit drapes into Jezero crater and transitions into the margin fractured unit with no clear contacts, implying that they are likely the same unit, as past photogeologic mapping has also indicated (Goudge et al., 2015; Sun & Stack, 2020). The thermal inertia values of carbonate‐bearing rocks in the ROB unit outside of Jezero crater cover a range that encompasses the thermal inertia values of carbonate‐bearing rocks inside of Jezero crater (Figure 17).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…Non‐deltaic carbonate‐bearing rocks within Jezero crater resemble the ROB unit in every metric that is observable from orbit, including VNIR spectral properties, morphology, thermal inertia, and thickness given observations of the ROB unit in Libya Montes. The ROB unit also drapes into Jezero crater, directly connecting to the margin fractured unit with no visible contacts (Sun & Stack, 2020). It is therefore unlikely that these practically identical rock units were deposited and altered by different mechanisms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Characteristics, Origins, and Biosignature Preservation Potential of Carbonate‐Bearing Rocks Within and Outside of Jezero Crater

Tarnas

Morgan

Parente³

et al. 2021

JGR Planets

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Carbonate minerals have been detected in Jezero crater, an ancient lake basin that is the landing site of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, and within the regional olivine‐bearing (ROB) unit in the Nili Fossae region surrounding this crater. It has been suggested that some carbonates in the margin fractured unit, a rock unit within Jezero crater, formed in a fluviolacustrine environment, which would be conducive to preservation of biosignatures from paleolake‐inhabiting lifeforms. Here, we show that carbonate‐bearing rocks within and outside of Jezero crater have the same range of visible‐to‐near‐infrared carbonate absorption strengths, carbonate absorption band positions, thermal inertias, and morphologies. Thicknesses of exposed carbonate‐bearing rock cross‐sections in Jezero crater are ∼75–90 m thicker than typical ROB unit cross‐sections in the Nili Fossae region, but have similar thicknesses to ROB unit exposures in Libya Montes. These similarities in carbonate properties within and outside of Jezero crater is consistent with a shared origin for all of the carbonates in the Nili Fossae region. Carbonate absorption minima positions indicate that both Mg‐ and more Fe‐rich carbonates are present in the Nili Fossae region, consistent with the expected products of olivine carbonation. These estimated carbonate chemistries are similar to those in martian meteorites and the Comanche carbonates investigated by the Spirit rover in Columbia Hills. Our results indicate that hydrothermal alteration is the most likely formation mechanism for non‐deltaic carbonates within and outside of Jezero crater.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics, Origins, and Biosignature Preservation Potential of Carbonate‐Bearing Rocks Within and Outside of Jezero Crater

Tarnas

Morgan

Parente³

et al. 2021

JGR Planets

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“…Studies to date include one early field study by a small team representing various instruments (Martin et al 2020), an exercise on a "mystery rock" within the SuperCam team (Ollila et al 2019), and several remote operations and science team training (ROASTT) events organized within the Mars 2020 project (Lawson et al, in preparation). All of these were much more limited in scope than is expected to be experienced with the Perseverance rover covering multiple outcrops over a large field area (Sun and Stack 2020). We expect the synergy experienced at both the human level, and with tools such as machine learning, will provide surprising discoveries that would not be possible without combining the results of the individual techniques.…”

Section: Conclusion and Prospectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The SuperCam Instrument Suite on the NASA Mars 2020 Rover: Body Unit and Combined System Tests

et al. 2020

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The SuperCam instrument suite provides the Mars 2020 rover, Perseverance, with a number of versatile remote-sensing techniques that can be used at long distance as well as within the robotic-arm workspace. These include laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), remote time-resolved Raman and luminescence spectroscopies, and visible and infrared (VISIR; separately referred to as VIS and IR) reflectance spectroscopy. A remote micro-imager (RMI) provides high-resolution color context imaging, and a microphone can be used as a stand-alone tool for environmental studies or to determine physical properties of rocks and soils from shock waves of laser-produced plasmas. SuperCam is built in three parts: The mast unit (MU), consisting of the laser, telescope, RMI, IR spectrometer, and associated electronics, is described in a companion paper. The on-board calibration targets are described in another companion paper. Here we describe SuperCam’s body unit (BU) and testing of the integrated instrument.The BU, mounted inside the rover body, receives light from the MU via a 5.8 m optical fiber. The light is split into three wavelength bands by a demultiplexer, and is routed via fiber bundles to three optical spectrometers, two of which (UV and violet; 245–340 and 385–465 nm) are crossed Czerny-Turner reflection spectrometers, nearly identical to their counterparts on ChemCam. The third is a high-efficiency transmission spectrometer containing an optical intensifier capable of gating exposures to 100 ns or longer, with variable delay times relative to the laser pulse. This spectrometer covers 535–853 nm ($105\text{--}7070~\text{cm}^{-1}$ 105 – 7070 cm − 1 Raman shift relative to the 532 nm green laser beam) with $12~\text{cm}^{-1}$ 12 cm − 1 full-width at half-maximum peak resolution in the Raman fingerprint region. The BU electronics boards interface with the rover and control the instrument, returning data to the rover. Thermal systems maintain a warm temperature during cruise to Mars to avoid contamination on the optics, and cool the detectors during operations on Mars.Results obtained with the integrated instrument demonstrate its capabilities for LIBS, for which a library of 332 standards was developed. Examples of Raman and VISIR spectroscopy are shown, demonstrating clear mineral identification with both techniques. Luminescence spectra demonstrate the utility of having both spectral and temporal dimensions. Finally, RMI and microphone tests on the rover demonstrate the capabilities of these subsystems as well.

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“…There are a variety of depositional mechanisms proposed for the Cf-fr unit; igneous (e.g., Goudge et al, 2012Goudge et al, , 2015Schon et al, 2012) as well as fluvial or aeolian sedimentary (Kah et al, 2020;Stack et al, 2020). Several authors (e.g., Goudge et al, 2015;Horgan et al, 2020;Sun & Stack, 2020b) have suggested a potential correlation between the crater floor unit and a unit mapped outside of the crater, the Sun and Stack (2020b) Nili plains 2 unit and Bramble et al's (2017) mafic capping unit. If the Cf-fr unit is related to the geographically widespread Nili Planum capping unit (see also Hundal et al, 2020;Sun & Stack, 2020a, 2020b, the unit spans too large a range in elevation for a volcanic flow to be a viable emplacement mechanism, whereas airfall deposition could explain the range in elevation (Sun & Stack, 2020a, 2020b.…”

Section: Crater Floor Fractured Roughmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Figure modified after Stack et al (2020). Us unit extent after Sun and Stack (2020b). (b-d) Surface expression of the Cf-f-1, Cf-fr, and Us units in Jezero crater.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stratigraphic Relationships in Jezero Crater, Mars: Constraints on the Timing of Fluvial‐Lacustrine Activity From Orbital Observations

et al. 2021

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On February 18, 2021 NASA's Perseverance rover landed in Jezero crater, located at the northwestern edge of the Isidis basin on Mars. The uppermost surface of the present-day crater floor is dominated by a distinct geologic assemblage previously referred to as the dark-toned floor. It consists of a smooth, dark-toned unit overlying and variably covering light-toned, roughly eroded deposits showing evidence of discrete layers. In this study, we investigated the stratigraphic relations between materials that comprise this assemblage, the main western delta deposit, as well as isolated mesas located east of the main delta body that potentially represent delta remnants. A more detailed classification and differentiation of crater floor units in Jezero and determination of their relative ages is vital for the understanding of the geologic evolution of the crater system, and determination of the potential timeline and environments of habitability. We have investigated unit contacts using topographic profiles and DEMs as well as the distribution of small craters and fractures on the youngest portions of the crater floor. Our results indicate that at least some of the deltaic deposition in Jezero postdates emplacement of the uppermost surface of the crater floor assemblage. The inferred age of the floor assemblage can therefore help to constrain the timing of the Jezero fluviolacustrine system, wherein at least some lake activity postdates the age of the uppermost crater floor. We present hypotheses that can be tested by Perseverance and can be used to advance our knowledge of the geologic evolution of the area.

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Geologic map of Jezero crater and the Nili Planum region, Mars

Cited by 31 publications

References 36 publications

Characteristics, Origins, and Biosignature Preservation Potential of Carbonate‐Bearing Rocks Within and Outside of Jezero Crater

Characteristics, Origins, and Biosignature Preservation Potential of Carbonate‐Bearing Rocks Within and Outside of Jezero Crater

The SuperCam Instrument Suite on the NASA Mars 2020 Rover: Body Unit and Combined System Tests

Stratigraphic Relationships in Jezero Crater, Mars: Constraints on the Timing of Fluvial‐Lacustrine Activity From Orbital Observations

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