Deposition, exhumation, and paleoclimate of an ancient lake deposit, Gale crater, Mars

J P Grotzinger; S Gupta; M C Malin; D M Rubin; J Schieber; K Siebach; D Y Sumner; K M Stack; A R Vasavada; R E Arvidson; F Calef 3rd; L Edgar; W F Fischer; J A Grant; J Griffes; L C Kah; M P Lamb; K W Lewis; N Mangold; M E Minitti; M Palucis; M Rice; R M E Williams; R A Yingst; D Blake; D Blaney; P Conrad; J Crisp; W E Dietrich; G Dromart; K S Edgett; R C Ewing; R Gellert; J A Hurowitz; G Kocurek; P Mahaffy; M J McBride; S M McLennan; M Mischna; D Ming; R Milliken; H Newsom; D Oehler; T J Parker; D Vaniman; R C Wiens; S A Wilson

doi:10.1126/science.aac7575

Deposition, exhumation, and paleoclimate of an ancient lake deposit, Gale crater, Mars

Science. 2015 Oct 9;350(6257):aac7575. doi: 10.1126/science.aac7575.

Authors

J P Grotzinger¹, S Gupta², M C Malin³, D M Rubin⁴, J Schieber⁵, K Siebach¹, D Y Sumner⁶, K M Stack⁷, A R Vasavada⁷, R E Arvidson⁸, F Calef 3rd⁷, L Edgar⁹, W F Fischer¹, J A Grant¹⁰, J Griffes¹, L C Kah¹¹, M P Lamb¹, K W Lewis¹², N Mangold¹³, M E Minitti¹⁴, M Palucis¹, M Rice¹⁵, R M E Williams¹⁴, R A Yingst¹⁴, D Blake¹⁶, D Blaney⁷, P Conrad¹⁷, J Crisp⁷, W E Dietrich¹⁸, G Dromart¹⁹, K S Edgett³, R C Ewing²⁰, R Gellert²¹, J A Hurowitz²², G Kocurek²³, P Mahaffy¹⁷, M J McBride³, S M McLennan²², M Mischna⁷, D Ming²⁴, R Milliken²⁵, H Newsom²⁶, D Oehler²⁷, T J Parker⁷, D Vaniman¹⁴, R C Wiens²⁸, S A Wilson¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Division of Geologic and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
² Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
³ Malin Space Science Systems, Post Office Box 910148, San Diego, CA 92121, USA.
⁴ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
⁵ Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
⁶ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
⁷ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
⁸ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
⁹ Astrogeology Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA.
¹⁰ Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA.
¹¹ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
¹² Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
¹³ Laboratoire Planétologie et Géodynamique de Nantes-Le Centre National de la Recherche, Unité Mixte de Recherche 6112 and Université de Nantes, 44322 Nantes, France.
¹⁴ Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA.
¹⁵ Department of Geology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Space Sciences, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
¹⁷ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
¹⁹ Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon, Université de Lyon, 69364 Lyon, France.
²⁰ Department of Geology and Geophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
²¹ Department of Physics, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada.
²² Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-2100, USA.
²³ Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
²⁴ Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
²⁵ Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
²⁶ Institute of Meteoritics, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131 USA.
²⁷ LZ Technology, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
²⁸ Space Remote Sensing, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87544, USA.

PMID: 26450214
DOI: 10.1126/science.aac7575

Abstract

The landforms of northern Gale crater on Mars expose thick sequences of sedimentary rocks. Based on images obtained by the Curiosity rover, we interpret these outcrops as evidence for past fluvial, deltaic, and lacustrine environments. Degradation of the crater wall and rim probably supplied these sediments, which advanced inward from the wall, infilling both the crater and an internal lake basin to a thickness of at least 75 meters. This intracrater lake system probably existed intermittently for thousands to millions of years, implying a relatively wet climate that supplied moisture to the crater rim and transported sediment via streams into the lake basin. The deposits in Gale crater were then exhumed, probably by wind-driven erosion, creating Aeolis Mons (Mount Sharp).

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Climate
Exhumation
Lakes*
Mars*
Paleontology