Encounters with an unearthly mudstone: Understanding the first mudstone found on Mars

Organic molecules in the Sheepbed Mudstone, Gale Crater, Mars

The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on board the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover is designed to conduct inorganic and organic chemical analyses of the atmosphere and the surface regolith and rocks to help evaluate the past and present habitability potential of Mars at Gale Crater. Central to this task is the development of an inventory of any organic molecules present to elucid...

Mineralogy of a mudstone at Yellowknife Bay, Gale crater, Mars.

Sedimentary rocks at Yellowknife Bay (Gale crater) on Mars include mudstone sampled by the Curiosity rover. The samples, John Klein and Cumberland, contain detrital basaltic minerals, calcium sulfates, iron oxide or hydroxides, iron sulfides, amorphous material, and trioctahedral smectites. The John Klein smectite has basal spacing of ~10 angstroms, indicating little interlayer hydration. The C...

First in Situ Wet Chemistry Experiment on Mars Using the Sam Instrument: Mtbstfa Derivatization on a Martian Mudstone

MTBSTFA DERIVATIZATION ON A MARTIAN MUDSTONE. C. Freissinet, D. P. Glavin, A. Buch, C. Szopa, M. Millan, S. Kashyap, H. B. Franz, J. L. Eigenbrode, W. B. Brinckerhoff, R. Navarro-González, S. Teinturier, C. A. Malespin, B. D. Prats, P. R. Mahaffy and the SAM and MSL science teams. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, [email protected], NASA Postdoctoral Program, Oak Ridge...

Electromotive Force in Electrochemical Modification of Mudstone

Subaqueous shrinkage cracks in the Sheepbed mudstone: Implications for early fluid diagenesis, Gale crater, Mars

The Sheepbed mudstone, Yellowknife Bay formation, Gale crater, represents an ancient lakebed now exhumed and exposed on the Martian surface. The mudstone has four diagenetic textures, including a suite of early diagenetic nodules, hollow nodules, and raised ridges and later diagenetic light-toned veins that crosscut those features. In this study, we describe the distribution and characteristics...