One thing that I don't quite understand is where did all the eroded surface go?

Not only is evidence of the depositional processes not apparent, neither, in most cases, are the processes that exposed and eroded the layered and massive units (with the obvious exceptions of faulting in the Valles Marineris and the presence of yardangs that imply wind erosion). For example, Henry Crater contains 10,000 km3 of material in an isolated mound within the crater. This material is layered and stands nearly as high as the crater rim. This observation implies that some process or processes have removed 15,000 km3 of material from Henry Crater. Notwithstanding recognition of morphologies that suggest an apparent sequence illustrating removal of material from impact craters, the actual processes are unknown. The implication is that most of the exposure and erosion of the layered units must have occurred some time far in the martian past, when transport out of the craters (again, with no obvious transport pathways) could have occurred via processes not acting on the planet today.

The parent salts of the perchlorate on Mars are unknown, but geochemical models using WCL data support the possible dominance of Mg-perchlorate salts. Mg(ClO4)2•6H2O is the stable phase at ambient martian conditions, and breaks down at lower temperatures than carbonates giving off Cl2 and HCl gas. Devlin and Herley report two exotherms at 410-478°C and 473-533°C which correspond to the decomposition of Mg(ClO4)2. They support a two-stage process:
(1) 2Mg(ClO4)2 = [MgO•Mg(ClO4)2] + Cl2 + 3.5O2
(2) [MgO•Mg(ClO4)2] = 2MgO + Cl2 + 3.5O2
If the chlorine gas produced reacts with moisture in the system or if the magnesium perchlorate has not fully dehydrated, then HCl gas can form and react with a carbonate phase to evolve CO2:
(3) CaCO3 + 2HCl = CaCl2 + CO2 + H2O

Can we discuss SAM's stereochemistry capabilities? I believe that SAM can sort out chirality, but I have seen very little written about this.

All you have to do is wash the sample in water before pyrolyzing it...I was under the impression that Curiosity has this capability or something like it.

I have not seen any specific statements from the Curiosity science team regarding the ability of SAM to detect organics if perclorates are present in a soil/rock sample.

The presence of perchlorates and other oxidants, if present in the martian soil and
rocks at Gale crater, could have implications for the SAM search for organics as some of
these compounds could be transformed to CO2 in the oven. If perchlorates are present, a small amount of the organics may form chlorohydrocarbons that could be detected by the SAM GCMS experiment. The presence of perchlorates
may also be indicated by O2 , HCl, or Cl2 evolution in a SAM EGA experiment or these
compounds may be detected by the ChemCam instrument. Similarly,
the presence of high concentration H2 O2 in sediments could manifest itself in the form of
formaldehyde or methanol, species that are potentially detectable by SAM.

does this remove all discussion of compounds containing Carbon?

I noted the reminder about rule 1.3, so I reread it.

Are they not required to release it all to the PDS eventually ?

Although the IMUs used on MRO were the same as ODY (QA-2000 accelerometers and GG1320 Ring Laser Gyros)...

It seems to me this orange it is L3...

Very weak indeed, but wouldn't this, combined with the solar wind induced magnetosphere boundary provide for a large part of the observed RAD attenuation?

To me it is not clear why orange instead of red.

does anyone know if there is any residual magnetic field loop in the vicinity of Gale that would provide a localised magnetosphere effect?

What is it about the atmosphere that provides the shielding ? The gas or the dust?

Wow, beautiful job aligning the 84/85 portraits, Ed!

I just wanted the data so I could plug it in to the stitching programs (I am a beginner)...

Yes - please provide us with the metadata for MAHLI and both MastCams if possible.

But oh boy, what bear to render. Figuring out the right projection so that no part of the image is too stretched is pretty tricky. And anaglyphing from 2 mosaics that always seem to render slightly differently and aligning them for minimal eye strain even more of a headache.

still waiting on those few AWOL frames to complete the full anaglyph mosaic...

My guess is it true? I wonder, what was the "The contamination test"?

Can we assume that this is a best current cut of what the Gale environment near noon would look like with our own eyes, then?

I will be sure to hold off in the future...

Kinda like this?