geology of Gale Crater and Mount Sharp |
geology of Gale Crater and Mount Sharp |
Jun 21 2014, 01:49 PM
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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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Jul 3 2014, 05:09 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1044 Joined: 17-February 09 Member No.: 4605 |
Apply Kite's model to the massive, upper stage of Mount Sharps formation and it fits very well indeed. It would probably be best if you couched your statements as beliefs as opposed to facts. For example you may believe that "the entire Gale/Mt. Sharp complex (the mountain, the crater floor, and the crater rim) shows unmistakable signs of repeated aqueous events (as well as glacial and periglacial activity) over a very long time". There is no wide agreement on that, nor definitive evidence, so the statement is your interpretation, not a fact. You have a deep belief in your high pressure aquifer release hypothesis as the cause of the channels but again, that is a personal belief rather than a fact. If you want to explain Gale topography as the product of a wide area, high pressure aquifer then you need to marshal some defensible arguments in the context of the region. Try considering the possibility that the volcanic activity /uplift involved an ambulatory process and think about the flooding effect and ocean rise if the volcanic activity was coincident with an existing ocean. Pointing to Cerberus Fossae and saying here be the aquifer is drawing an exceedingly long bow. Explain why the release occurred in the central mountain and not the equally fractured crater walls or the low terrain to the North.
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