geology of Gale Crater and Mount Sharp |
geology of Gale Crater and Mount Sharp |
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Junior Member ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 33 Joined: 16-June 14 From: Sweet Home, Oregon Member No.: 7202 ![]() |
The idea that the Lower Formation of Mt. Sharp is of lacustrine origin (lakebed sediments) has rather fallen out of favor recently, but I just finished my essay on Mars, "An Interpretation of the Geology of Gale Crater & Mount Sharp, with Implications for the History & Habitability of Mars," which I have spent over one year researching and writing, and the primary thrust of this paper is to offer a fresh defense of the lacustrine model, incorporating some fairly original ideas on my part. I'm not a professional scientist, but this is a labor of love that springs from a near-lifelong interest in Mars (since I was a young boy in the 1960s). And I'm trying to publicize it prior to Curiosity reaching Mt. Sharp, as that will be a test of my theories, and I'm hoping to get some recognition if I'm right. So here's the link for all interested readers: http://galecratergeology1.tumblr.com/post/...le-crater-mount
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#2
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Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 1045 Joined: 17-February 09 Member No.: 4605 ![]() |
I have a little difficulty with some of the assumptions on which you base your last post David. Taking your numbered points:
(1) Endeavour crater currently reflects the required topography so it is possible that so could Gale at the time the channels were formed. (2) To my eyes the channel is not pristine and the filled remnant wends towards the top right of the image, disappearing under the (Aeolian?) sediment without narrowing. (3) The extent of lithification of the various levels of mount Sharp can only be assessed if Curiosity gets up close and personal. But I submit that can assume that the lower (dark) beds will have been saturated (Curiosity's findings, the presence of boxwork and clays and the channels/delta deposits). The overlaying light (Aeolian) deposits evident in the layers above this level would almost certainly have much reduced cementation. So there would seem to be a reasonable probability of a significant difference in erosional vulnerability, particularly in light of the increasingly gentle environment of the past few billion years. Painstaking analysis of Curiosity's findings by the resident experts will narrow the field but as I mentioned previously, there will probably be a number of hypotheses as to the formation of Gale alive and well at the end of the mission. Consider how long it took to get a handle on Opportunity's small area of Meridiani. Anyway, as you are aware I threw the "overland-flow hypothesis" as you termed it in purely to point out that there are alternatives to an extremely high pressure aquifer to explain the Mount Sharp channel features. But it is merely wild arm waving from the depth of an armchair and not worth argument. |
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