Abstract
AbstractAs part of the Phase 2 Bagnold Dune campaign at Gale Crater, Mars, constraints on the geochemistry, mineralogy, and oxidation state of pristine and disturbed linear sand ripples were made using visible/near‐infrared spectral observations for comparison to Phase 1 spectra of the barchan dunes to the north. Spectra acquired by the ChemCam and Mastcam instruments (400–1,000 nm) at four Phase 2 locations revealed similar overall spectral trends between the two regions, but most Phase 2 sands were redder in the visible wavelengths. The majority of targets exhibited lower red/infrared ratios, higher ~530‐nm band depths, and higher red/blue ratios than Phase 1 samples, suggesting a greater proportion of redder, fine‐grained, ferric sands in Phase 2 samples. This is consistent with the slightly greater proportion of hematite in Phase 2 samples as determined from CheMin analyses of the Ogunquit sands, which may reflect contamination from the surrounding hematite‐bearing Murray formation bedrock.
Highlights
Understanding the provenance and evolution of windblown sands on Mars requires a combination of regional and local analyses of their geochemical and mineralogical diversity
Spectra acquired by the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) and Mast Camera (Mastcam) instruments (400–1,000 nm) at four Phase 2 locations revealed similar overall spectral trends between the two regions, but most Phase 2 sands were redder in the visible wavelengths
We report here analyses of Mastcam and ChemCam reflectance data acquired during the Phase 2 campaign, which comprised four stops along the rover traverse (Figure 1)
Summary
Understanding the provenance and evolution of windblown sands on Mars requires a combination of regional and local analyses of their geochemical and mineralogical diversity. Phase 2 of the campaign (Sols 1,601–1,653) studied ripple fields and linear dunes in the Mount Desert Island and Nathan Bridges Dune regions 2 km to the south and ~100 m higher in elevation (Lapôtre & Rampe, 2018). Both campaigns acquired visible/near-infrared (400–1,000 nm) reflectance spectra of pristine, disturbed, and sieved sands using Mast Camera (Mastcam) multispectral imaging (445–1,013 nm) and Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) passive point spectroscopy (400–840 nm). The presieved (>150 μm) and postsieved (
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