[X] My Assistant

[djellison]

I'm not really asking a question really - just posing an issue




Mars Pathfinder was about 2.2km from 'Big Crater' which was about 1.5km wide.

Now - Victoria is only half that size - but it says something about local topography that we cant see it from where we are now - about 3-4km from it.

Doug

[deglr6328]

Sadly, I think Victoria crater will be somewhat disappointing.... not asthetically (it will doubtless be beautiful perched on the rim), but scientifically. Endurance crater was ~20 m deep and Victoria crater appears to be ~20-30 m deep, but we've climbed about 10 m or so since leaving endurance, so we'll be seeing the exact same stratigraphy as we saw in endurance! Oh well, maybe "etched terrain" will reveal some surprises.

[ElkGroveDan]

  Sadly, I think Victoria crater will be somewhat disappointing.... not asthetically (it will doubtless be beautiful perched on the rim), but scientifically. Endurance crater was ~20 m deep  and Victoria crater appears to be ~20-30 m deep, but we've climbed about 10 m or so since leaving endurance, so we'll be seeing the exact same stratigraphy as we saw in endurance! Oh well, maybe "etched terrain" will reveal some surprises. 

I don't believe that is a safe assumption. Rarely is depositional bedding so uniform as to preclude the need for studies over a wide area. Endurance told a wonderful stratigraphic story, but by no means was it a complete story.

Travel through the American Southwest and you will discover the same layers as you find in the Grand Canyon hundreds of miles away, but in varying thicknesses and at different elevations. Where there are disconformoties in one place, a geologic record exists to fill those gaps in other places.

Victoria is far enough away from Endurance to provide a necessary glimpse into a broader sample of the depositional history of the region. Moreover, since it is larger (did someone say five times?) then it will provide more opportunities for more nice clean exposed layers like Burns Cliff at varyious depths. At five times the diameter, Victoria will offer 20-30 times the circumference, and hence miles of new geologic observing that wasn't available at Endurance. You can bet the geologists won't be planning any summer vacations this year.

[dvandorn]

Victoria is far enough away from Endurance to provide a necessary glimpse into a broader sample of the depositional history of the region.  Moreover, since it is larger (did someone say five times?) then it will provide more opportunities for more nice clean exposed layers like Burns Cliff at varyious depths.  At five times the diameter, Victoria will offer 20-30 times the circumference, and hence miles of new geologic observing that wasn't available at Endurance.  You can bet the geologists won't be planning any summer vacations this year.

More like fall and winter vacations. Considering how much larger the dunes become between here and Victoria, and considering how much of the evaporite layer is exposed (and just begging to be analyzed) within the etched terrain, my guess is that it will be September or October before we actually reach Victoria.

-the other Doug