Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Mineralogy Of Aeolian Deposits In Gale Crater, Mars: The Bagnold Dunes To Glen Torridon, Eleanor Moreland

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

We select four sand deposits along the traverse of the Curiosity rover to evaluate the spatial distribution of mineralogy and grain size. While extensive work has focused on characterizing the Bagnold Dunes in-situ and from orbit, less attention has been given to deposits south of the Vera Rubin Ridge (VRR). Overall, our results illustrate a compositional dichotomy among aeolian deposits, separated by the VRR. Initial investigations of hyperspectral data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) show differences in the long wavelength spectral features and absolute reflectance measurements for the deposit south of the Bagnold Dunes. The southern …