Cape York - The "Lakelands", Starting sol 2703 |
Cape York - The "Lakelands", Starting sol 2703 |
Sep 1 2011, 04:30 PM
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 4279 Joined: 19-April 05 From: .br at .es Member No.: 253 |
Bye bye, Tisdale. It's time to move on.
Next target? Philosilicates. ----- Edited on Sep 16 2011. This thread is dedicated to the exploration of Cape York, starting on sol 2703 when Opportunity left the "rocky garden" and started moving towards Chester Lake. |
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Oct 5 2011, 01:42 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2998 Joined: 30-October 04 Member No.: 105 |
QUOTE (Serpens) If not then possibly a cold seep or basaltic weathering (plagioclase?). Does anyone have any idea of the Cu level? I've not seen any of the details of the chemistry, but this will likely be a hot topic at the next LPSC. The top of Tisdale which was APXS'd is either a weathered zone and/or has a inherent different chemistry or is a bedding plane/fracture which has a zone of Zn-rich material deposited in it (cold-water hydrothermal). That "weathered" unit has a distinctive light-ochre color is evident in other exposures along Shoemaker Ridge and should be examined further on the traverse to the "summit crater". I intuitively think of this yellowish colour as generally "limonitic", which could include almost anything, actually. Remember, the original, deep crust here is from not only a warmer and wetter Mars, but a Mars with a hotter amd more mobile/active crust/mantle. The mantle of that era had more hotspots and plumes and there was extensive tectonic activity. This primeval crust (Ur-crust) has since been pounded, mixed and blended into an impact breccia by countless impacts, and it has, among other things, has a much higher surface:volume ratio than rock and can be much more reactive to chemical weathering, weathering in the presence of water. In a way, this is a glimpse at what the Earth may have been like in Hadean times, with tectonic cycles starting and bio-processes just beginning. Exciting times, then and now. --Bill corrected (strikethrough) -------------------- |
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