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Full-Text Articles in Other Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Reading The Martian Surface: Impact Crater Distributions And Geochemical Signatures In Gale Crater As Recorded By The Curiosity Rover, Megan E. Hoffman
Reading The Martian Surface: Impact Crater Distributions And Geochemical Signatures In Gale Crater As Recorded By The Curiosity Rover, Megan E. Hoffman
Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs
The Curiosity rover has been exploring Gale crater, a large impact basin near the Mars equator since 2012. This mission has greatly improved our ability to explore the surface of Mars with a suite of geologic tools and cameras and has revealed that Mars likely once resembled present-day Earth. In this dissertation, I utilize measurements and data taken by Curiosity to analyze the distribution and preservation of small impact craters at meter scales, I quantify the formation characteristics of a small impact crater cluster, and I examine the presence of barium in a geologic unit with high-Si to constrain sediment …
Mineralogy Of Aeolian Deposits In Gale Crater, Mars: The Bagnold Dunes To Glen Torridon, Eleanor Moreland
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 …
Fracture Networks On Mars: Preservation Of Surface And Subsurface Environments At Mawrth Vallis, Phoebe Kinzelman
Fracture Networks On Mars: Preservation Of Surface And Subsurface Environments At Mawrth Vallis, Phoebe Kinzelman
The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research
Mawrth Vallis is an outflow channel on Mars that cuts through some of the planet’s most ancient terrains, which contain many different types of fractures. The ExoMars rover mission will search for biosignatures on Mars, and this site was proposed as one of the two final candidate landing sites for the rover. A biosignature is any object that shows evidence of past or present life. Fracture networks are a high priority for the mission because they might contain minerals precipitated by fluid interaction, and these minerals could trap and preserve biosignatures, critical for our understanding of ancient processes. In this …
Boulder Distribution Analysis Of Impact Craters In The Tharsis Region And Elysium Planitia, Mars, Nicole Button
Boulder Distribution Analysis Of Impact Craters In The Tharsis Region And Elysium Planitia, Mars, Nicole Button
LSU Master's Theses
Crater counting is an accepted method for dating the surface of a planetary body. An older landscape will have a higher areal density of craters due to exposure of impacts occurring over a longer time period. Since each initial impact only forms one primary crater, secondary craters need to be excluded in the crater counting method to appropriately catalog only distinct impact events. However, small primary craters may be difficult to distinguish from secondary craters. Understanding physical features of impact craters, such as the ejecta blanket, would improve the planetary community’s ability to differentiate between the two types of craters. …