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Science 6 August 2004:
Vol. 305. no. 5685, pp. 810 - 813
DOI: 10.1126/science.1100108
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Reports

Wind-Related Processes Detected by the Spirit Rover at Gusev Crater, Mars

R. Greeley,1 S. W. Squyres,2 R. E. Arvidson,3 P. Bartlett,4 J. F. Bell, III,2 D. Blaney,5 N. A. Cabrol,6 J. Farmer,1 B. Farrand,7 M. P. Golombek,5 S. P. Gorevan,4 J. A. Grant,8 A. F. C. Haldemann,5 K. E. Herkenhoff,9 J. Johnson,9 G. Landis,5 M. B. Madsen,10 S. M. McLennan,11 J. Moersch,12 J. W. Rice, Jr.,1 L. Richter,13 S. Ruff,1 R. J. Sullivan,2 S. D. Thompson,1 A. Wang,3 C. M. Weitz,14 P. Whelley1 Athena Science Team

Wind-abraded rocks, ripples, drifts, and other deposits of windblown sediments are seen at the Columbia Memorial Station where the Spirit rover landed. Orientations of these features suggest formative winds from the north-northwest, consistent with predictions from atmospheric models of afternoon winds in Gusev Crater. Cuttings from the rover Rock Abrasion Tool are asymmetrically distributed toward the south-southeast, suggesting active winds from the north-northwest at the time (midday) of the abrasion operations. Characteristics of some rocks, such as a two-toned appearance, suggest that they were possibly buried and exhumed on the order of 5 to 60 centimeters by wind deflation, depending on location.

1 Department of Geological Sciences, Arizona State University, Box 871404, Tempe, AZ 85287–1404, USA.
2 Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, 428 Space Sciences Building, Ithaca, NY 15853–1301, USA.
3 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63031–4899, USA.
4 Honeybee Robotics, 204 Elizabeth Street, New York, NY 10012, USA.
5 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109–8099, USA.
6 Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035–1000, USA.
7 Space Science Institute, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80301, USA.
8 Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560–0315, USA.
9 U.S. Geological Survey, 2255 North Gemini Drive, Flagstaff, AZ 86001–1698, USA.
10 Niels Bohr Institute for Astronomy, Physics, and Geophysics, Center for Planetary Science and Ørsted Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 5, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
11 Department of Geosciences, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794–2100, USA.
12 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, 1412 Circle Drive, Room 306, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
13 Deutches Zentrum für Luft-und Raumfart (German Aerospace Center)–Institute of Space Simulation, Linder Hoene, D-51170 Cologne, Germany.
14 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546–0001, USA.

*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: Greeley{at}asu.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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Pancam Multispectral Imaging Results from the Spirit Rover at Gusev Crater.
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Surficial Deposits at Gusev Crater Along Spirit Rover Traverses.
J. A. Grant, R. Arvidson, J. F. Bell III, N. A. Cabrol, M. H. Carr, P. Christensen, L. Crumpler, D. J. Des Marais, B. L. Ehlmann, J. Farmer, et al. (2004)
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Localization and Physical Properties Experiments Conducted by Spirit at Gusev Crater.
R. E. Arvidson, R. C. Anderson, P. Bartlett, J. F. Bell III, D. Blaney, P. R. Christensen, P. Chu, L. Crumpler, K. Davis, B. L. Ehlmann, et al. (2004)
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Textures of the Soils and Rocks at Gusev Crater from Spirit's Microscopic Imager.
K. E. Herkenhoff, S. W. Squyres, R. Arvidson, D. S. Bass, J. F. Bell III, P. Bertelsen, N. A. Cabrol, L. Gaddis, A. G. Hayes, S. F. Hviid, et al. (2004)
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Initial Results from the Mini-TES Experiment in Gusev Crater from the Spirit Rover.
P. R. Christensen, S. W. Ruff, R. L. Fergason, A. T. Knudson, S. Anwar, R. E. Arvidson, J. L. Bandfield, D. L. Blaney, C. Budney, W. M. Calvin, et al. (2004)
Science 305, 837-842
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