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Science 8 September 2006:
Vol. 313. no. 5792, pp. 1403 - 1407
DOI: 10.1126/science.1130890
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Research Articles

Two Years at Meridiani Planum: Results from the Opportunity Rover

S. W. Squyres,1 A. H. Knoll,2 R. E. Arvidson,3 B. C. Clark,4 J. P. Grotzinger,5 B. L. Jolliff,3 S. M. McLennan,6 N. Tosca,6 J. F. Bell, III,1 W. M. Calvin,7 W. H. Farrand,8 T. D. Glotch,9 M. P. Golombek,9 K. E. Herkenhoff,10 J. R. Johnson,10 G. Klingelhöfer,11 H. Y. McSween,12 A. S. Yen9

The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has spent more than 2 years exploring Meridiani Planum, traveling ~8 kilometers and detecting features that reveal ancient environmental conditions. These include well-developed festoon (trough) cross-lamination formed in flowing liquid water, strata with smaller and more abundant hematite-rich concretions than those seen previously, possible relict "hopper crystals" that might reflect the formation of halite, thick weathering rinds on rock surfaces, resistant fracture fills, and networks of polygonal fractures likely caused by dehydration of sulfate salts. Chemical variations with depth show that the siliciclastic fraction of outcrop rock has undergone substantial chemical alteration from a precursor basaltic composition. Observations from microscopic to orbital scales indicate that ancient Meridiani once had abundant acidic groundwater, arid and oxidizing surface conditions, and occasional liquid flow on the surface.

1 Department of Astronomy, Space Sciences Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
2 Botanical Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
3 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63031, USA.
4 Lockheed Martin Corporation, Littleton, CO 80127, USA.
5 Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
6 Department of Geosciences, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
7 Geological Science, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA.
8 Space Science Institute, Boulder, CO 80301, USA.
9 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
10 U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA.
11 Institut für Anorganische und Analytische Chemie, Johannes Gutenberg Universität, 55099 Mainz, Germany.
12 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Exploration of Victoria Crater by the Mars Rover Opportunity.
S. W. Squyres, A. H. Knoll, R. E. Arvidson, J. W. Ashley, J. F. Bell III, W. M. Calvin, P. R. Christensen, B. C. Clark, B. A. Cohen, P. A. de Souza Jr., et al. (2009)
Science 324, 1058-1061
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sulfate-Rich Eolian and Wet Interdune Deposits, Erebus Crater, Meridiani Planum, Mars.
J. M. Metz, J. P. Grotzinger, D. M. Rubin, K. W. Lewis, S. W. Squyres, and J. F. Bell III (2009)
Journal of Sedimentary Research 79, 247-264
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Deformation band clusters on Mars and implications for subsurface fluid flow.
C. H. Okubo, R. A. Schultz, M. A. Chan, G. Komatsu, and High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE (2009)
Geological Society of America Bulletin 121, 474-482
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Using a mineral lifetime diagram to evaluate the persistence of olivine on Mars.
A. A. Olsen and J. D. Rimstidt (2007)
American Mineralogist 92, 598-602
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)