Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 3 December 2004:
Vol. 306. no. 5702, pp. 1727 - 1730
DOI: 10.1126/science.1105286
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Evidence from Opportunity's Microscopic Imager for Water on Meridiani Planum

K. E. Herkenhoff,1* S. W. Squyres,2 R. Arvidson,3 D. S. Bass,4 J. F. Bell, III,2 P. Bertelsen,5 B. L. Ehlmann,3 W. Farrand,6 L. Gaddis,1 R. Greeley,7 J. Grotzinger,8 A. G. Hayes,2 S. F. Hviid,9 J. R. Johnson,1 B. Jolliff,3 K. M. Kinch,10 A. H. Knoll,11 M. B. Madsen,5 J. N. Maki,4 S. M. McLennan,12 H. Y. McSween,13 D. W. Ming,14 J. W. Rice, Jr.,7 L. Richter,15 M. Sims,16 P. H. Smith,17 L. A. Soderblom,1 N. Spanovich,17 R. Sullivan,2 S. Thompson,7 T. Wdowiak,18 C. Weitz,19 P. Whelley7

The Microscopic Imager on the Opportunity rover analyzed textures of soils and rocks at Meridiani Planum at a scale of 31 micrometers per pixel. The uppermost millimeter of some soils is weakly cemented, whereas other soils show little evidence of cohesion. Rock outcrops are laminated on a millimeter scale; image mosaics of cross-stratification suggest that some sediments were deposited by flowing water. Vugs in some outcrop faces are probably molds formed by dissolution of relatively soluble minerals during diagenesis. Microscopic images support the hypothesis that hematite-rich spherules observed in outcrops and soils also formed diagenetically as concretions.

1 U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Team, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA.
2 Department of Astronomy, Space Sciences Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
3 Department of Earth and Space Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
4 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
5 Center for Planetary Science, Danish Space Research Institute and Niels Bohr Institute for Astronomy, Physics and Geophysics, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
6 Space Science Institute, Boulder, CO 80301, USA.
7 Department of Geological Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
8 Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
9 Max Planck Institut für Aeronomie, Katlenburg-Lindau, D-37191, Germany.
10 Institute of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
11 Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
12 State University of New York, Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
13 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
14 Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Office, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
15 DLR Institut fur Raumsimulation, Linder Hoehe, Koln, Germany.
16 NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
17 Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
18 Department of Physics, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
19 Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: kherkenhoff{at}usgs.gov

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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 »
Basalt weathering rates on Earth and the duration of liquid water on the plains of Gusev Crater, Mars.
E. M. Hausrath, A. K. Navarre-Sitchler, P. B. Sak, C. I. Steefel, and S. L. Brantley (2008)
Geology 36, 67-70
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Planetary science: Multiple data sets, multiple scales, and unlocking the third dimension.
P. Martin and E. R. Stofan (2007)
Geosphere 3, 435-455
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Meridianiite: A new mineral species observed on Earth and predicted to exist on Mars.
R.C. Peterson, W. Nelson, B. Madu, and H.F. Shurvell (2007)
American Mineralogist 92, 1756-1759
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Iron isotopes constrain the pathways and formation mechanisms of terrestrial oxide concretions: A tool for tracing iron cycling on Mars?.
M. A. Chan, C. M. Johnson, B. L. Beard, J. R. Bowman, and W.T. Parry (2006)
Geosphere 2, 324-332
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Crystal molds on Mars: Melting of a possible new mineral species to create Martian chaotic terrain.
R. C. Peterson and R. Wang (2006)
Geology 34, 957-960
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Orbicular oxides in carbonatitic kimberlites.
S. E. Haggerty and A. Fung (2006)
American Mineralogist 91, 1461-1472
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A Martian analog in Kansas: Comparing Martian strata with Permian acid saline lake deposits.
K. C. Benison (2006)
Geology 34, 385-388
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Opportunity Rover's Athena Science Investigation at Meridiani Planum, Mars.
S. W. Squyres, R. E. Arvidson, J. F. Bell III, J. Bruckner, N. A. Cabrol, W. Calvin, M. H. Carr, P. R. Christensen, B. C. Clark, L. Crumpler, et al. (2004)
Science 306, 1698-1703
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Pancam Multispectral Imaging Results from the Opportunity Rover at Meridiani Planum.
J. F. Bell III, S. W. Squyres, R. E. Arvidson, H. M. Arneson, D. Bass, W. Calvin, W. H. Farrand, W. Goetz, M. Golombek, R. Greeley, et al. (2004)
Science 306, 1703-1709
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
In Situ Evidence for an Ancient Aqueous Environment at Meridiani Planum, Mars.
S. W. Squyres, J. P. Grotzinger, R. E. Arvidson, J. F. Bell III, W. Calvin, P. R. Christensen, B. C. Clark, J. A. Crisp, W. H. Farrand, K. E. Herkenhoff, et al. (2004)
Science 306, 1709-1714
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Soils of Eagle Crater and Meridiani Planum at the Opportunity Rover Landing Site.
L. A. Soderblom, R. C. Anderson, R. E. Arvidson, J. F. Bell III, N. A. Cabrol, W. Calvin, P. R. Christensen, B. C. Clark, T. Economou, B. L. Ehlmann, et al. (2004)
Science 306, 1723-1726
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Localization and Physical Property Experiments Conducted by Opportunity at Meridiani Planum.
R. E. Arvidson, R. C. Anderson, P. Bartlett, J. F. Bell III, P. R. Christensen, P. Chu, K. Davis, B. L. Ehlmann, M. P. Golombek, S. Gorevan, et al. (2004)
Science 306, 1730-1733
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Mineralogy at Meridiani Planum from the Mini-TES Experiment on the Opportunity Rover.
P. R. Christensen, M. B. Wyatt, T. D. Glotch, A. D. Rogers, S. Anwar, R. E. Arvidson, J. L. Bandfield, D. L. Blaney, C. Budney, W. M. Calvin, et al. (2004)
Science 306, 1733-1739
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Jarosite and Hematite at Meridiani Planum from Opportunity's Mossbauer Spectrometer.
G. Klingelhofer, R. V. Morris, B. Bernhardt, C. Schroder, D. S. Rodionov, P. A. de Souza Jr., A. Yen, R. Gellert, E. N. Evlanov, B. Zubkov, et al. (2004)
Science 306, 1740-1745
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)