Martian Fluvial Conglomerates at Gale Crater
Open accessAbstract
Observations by the Mars Science Laboratory Mast Camera (Mastcam) in Gale crater reveal isolated outcrops of cemented pebbles (2 to 40 millimeters in diameter) and sand grains with textures typical of fluvial sedimentary conglomerates. Rounded pebbles in the conglomerates indicate substantial fluvial abrasion. ChemCam emission spectra at one outcrop show a predominantly feldspathic composition, consistent with minimal aqueous alteration of sediments. Sediment was mobilized in ancient water flows that likely exceeded the threshold conditions (depth 0.03 to 0.9 meter, average velocity 0.20 to 0.75 meter per second) required to transport the pebbles. Climate conditions at the time sediment was transported must have differed substantially from the cold, hyper-arid modern environment to permit aqueous flows across several kilometers.
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NASA's Curiosity rover found conglomerate outcrops at Gale Crater that are morphologically remarkably similar to sediment deposits found on Earth.
“Striking evidence of in situ fluvial erosion was found by NASA's Curiosity rover in the form of conglomerate outcrops at Gale Crater (Williams et al. 2013). Morphologically, the conglomerates are remarkably similar to sediment deposits found on Earth (see Fig. 1).”
From The Climate of Early Mars (2016) · cites this paper as Williams et al. 2013
Chemical analysis of the Gale Crater conglomerate outcrops suggested low chemical alteration of the material by water.
“However, chemical analysis of the outcrops suggested low chemical alteration of the material by water (Williams et al. 2013).”
From The Climate of Early Mars (2016) · cites this paper as Williams et al. 2013
The flows responsible for eroding the late Noachian and Hesperian surface were relatively short-lived.
“This suggests that the flows responsible for eroding the late Noachian and Hesperian surface were relatively short-lived.”
From The Climate of Early Mars (2016) · cites this paper as Williams et al. 2013
Cited by
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A Habitable Fluvio-Lacustrine Environment at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars
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Self-citationWordsworth, R. D. (2016) · Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences · doi:10.1146/annurev-earth-060115-012355 · Cited by 416 · see citing works
Redox stratification of an ancient lake in Gale crater, Mars
Hurowitz, J. A., Grotzinger, J. P., Fischer, W. W., McLennan, S. M., Milliken, R. E., Stein, N., Vasavada, A. R., Blake, D. F., Dehouck, E., Eigenbrode, J. L., et al. (2017) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aah6849 · Cited by 292 · see citing works
Self-citationSoil Diversity and Hydration as Observed by ChemCam at Gale Crater, Mars
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Self-citationHomann, M., Heubeck, C., Airo, A., & Tice, M. M. (2015) · Precambrian Research · doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2015.04.018 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
Domagal-Goldman, S. D., Wright, K. E., Domagal-Goldman, S. D., Wright, K. E., Adamala, K., Arina de la Rubia, L., Bond, J., Dartnell, L. R., Goldman, A. D., Lynch, K., et al. (2016) · Astrobiology · doi:10.1089/ast.2015.1460 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
“Analyses of the geochemistry and sedimentology of martian rocks indicate an ancient lake bed that persisted for millions of years (Grotzinger et al., 2014), as well as flowing water (Williams et al., 2013).”
Self-citationGuo, J., Zeitlin, C., Wimmer-Schweingruber, R. F., Hassler, D. M., Ehresmann, B., Rafkin, S., Freiherr von Forstner, J. L., Khaksarighiri, S., Liu, W., & Wang, Y. (2021) · The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review · doi:10.1007/s00159-021-00136-5 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
“Mount Sharp forms the central peak within Gale Crater and is dry and sandy today, but it may have had surface liquid water such as rivers and lakes more than 3.5 billion years ago (e.g., Williams et al. 2013; Horvath and Andrews-Hanna 2017).”
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- Authors
- Williams, R. M. E., Grotzinger, J. P., Dietrich, W. E., Gupta, S., Sumner, D. Y., Wiens, R. C., Mangold, N., Malin, M. C., Edgett, K. S., Maurice, S., Forni, O., Gasnault, O., Ollila, A., Newsom, H. E., Dromart, G., Palucis, M. C., Yingst, R. A., Anderson, R. B., Herkenhoff, K. E., Le Mouélic, S., Goetz, W., Madsen, M. B., Koefoed, A., Jensen, J. K., Bridges, J. C., Schwenzer, S. P., Lewis, K. W., Stack, K. M., Rubin, D., Kah, L. C., Bell, J. F., Farmer, J. D., Sullivan, R., Van Beek, T., Blaney, D. L., Pariser, O., Deen, R. G., MSL Science Team, Kemppinen, O., Bridges, N., Johnson, J. R., Minitti, M., Cremers, D., Edgar, L., Godber, A., Wadhwa, M., Wellington, D., McEwan, I., Newman, C., Richardson, M., Charpentier, A., Peret, L., King, P., Blank, J., Weigle, G., Schmidt, M., Li, S., Milliken, R., Robertson, K., Sun, V., Baker, M., Edwards, C., Ehlmann, B., Farley, K., Griffes, J., Miller, H., Newcombe, M., Pilorget, C., Rice, M., Siebach, K., Stolper, E., Brunet, C., Hipkin, V., Léveillé, R., Marchand, G., Sobrón Sánchez, P., Favot, L., Cody, G., Steele, A., Flückiger, L., Lees, D., Nefian, A., Martin, M., Gailhanou, M., Westall, F., Israël, G., Agard, C., Baroukh, J., Donny, C., Gaboriaud, A., Guillemot, P., Lafaille, V., Lorigny, E., Paillet, A., Pérez, R., Saccoccio, M., Yana, C., Aparicio, C. A., Caride Rodríguez, J., Carrasco Blázquez, I., Gómez Gómez, F., Elvira, J. G., Hettrich, S., Lepinette Malvitte, A., Marín Jiménez, M., Frías, J. M., Soler, J. M., Torres, F. J. M., Molina Jurado, A., Sotomayor, L. M., Muñoz Caro, G., Navarro López, S., González, V. P., García, J. P., Rodriguez Manfredi, J. A., Planelló, J. J. R., Alejandra Sans Fuentes, S., Sebastian Martinez, E., Torres Redondo, J., O'Callaghan, R. U., Zorzano Mier, M.-P., Chipera, S., Lacour, J.-L., Mauchien, P., Sirven, J.-B., Manning, H., Fairén, A., Hayes, A., Joseph, J., Squyres, S., Thomas, P., Dupont, A., Lundberg, A., Melikechi, N., Mezzacappa, A., DeMarines, J., Grinspoon, D., Reitz, G., Prats, B., Atlaskin, E., Genzer, M., Harri, A.-M., Haukka, H., Kahanpää, H., Kauhanen, J., Paton, M., Polkko, J., Schmidt, W., Siili, T., Fabre, C., Wray, J., Wilhelm, M. B., Poitrasson, F., Patel, K., Gorevan, S., Indyk, S., Paulsen, G., Bish, D., Schieber, J., Gondet, B., Langevin, Y., Geffroy, C., Baratoux, D., Berger, G., Cros, A., Uston, C. D., Lasue, J., Lee, Q.-M., Meslin, P.-Y., Pallier, E., Parot, Y., Pinet, P., Schröder, S., Toplis, M., Lewin, É., Brunner, W., Heydari, E., Achilles, C., Oehler, D., Sutter, B., Cabane, M., Coscia, D., Szopa, C., Robert, F., Sautter, V., Nachon, M., Buch, A., Stalport, F., Coll, P., François, P., Raulin, F., Teinturier, S., Cameron, J., Clegg, S., Cousin, A., DeLapp, D., Dingler, R., Jackson, R. S., Johnstone, S., Lanza, N., Little, C., Nelson, T., Williams, R. B., Jones, A., Kirkland, L., Treiman, A., Baker, B., Cantor, B., Caplinger, M., Davis, S., Duston, B., Fay, D., Hardgrove, C., Harker, D., Herrera, P., Jensen, E., Kennedy, M. R., Krezoski, G., Krysak, D., Lipkaman, L., McCartney, E., McNair, S., Nixon, B., Posiolova, L., Ravine, M., Salamon, A., Saper, L., Stoiber, K., Supulver, K., Van Beek, J., Zimdar, R., French, K. L., Iagnemma, K., Miller, K., Summons, R., Goesmann, F., Hviid, S., Johnson, M., Lefavor, M., Lyness, E., Breves, E., Dyar, M. D., Fassett, C., Blake, D. F., Bristow, T., DesMarais, D., Edwards, L., Haberle, R., Hoehler, T., Hollingsworth, J., Kahre, M., Keely, L., McKay, C., Bleacher, L., Brinckerhoff, W., Choi, D., Conrad, P., Dworkin, J. P., Eigenbrode, J., Floyd, M., Freissinet, C., Garvin, J., Glavin, D., Harpold, D., Mahaffy, P., Martin, D. K., McAdam, A., Pavlov, A., Raaen, E., Smith, M. D., Stern, J., Tan, F., Trainer, M., Meyer, M., Posner, A., Voytek, M., Anderson, R. C., Aubrey, A., Beegle, L. W., Behar, A., Brinza, D., Calef, F., Christensen, L., Crisp, J. A., DeFlores, L., Feldman, J., Feldman, S., Flesch, G., Hurowitz, J., Jun, I., Keymeulen, D., Maki, J., Mischna, M., Morookian, J. M., Parker, T., Pavri, B., Schoppers, M., Sengstacken, A., Simmonds, J. J., Spanovich, N., de la Torre Juarez, M., Vasavada, A. R., Webster, C. R., Yen, A., Archer, P. D., Cucinotta, F., Jones, J. H., Ming, D., Morris, R. V., Niles, P., Rampe, E., Nolan, T., Fisk, M., Radziemski, L., Barraclough, B., Bender, S., Berman, D., Dobrea, E. N., Tokar, R., Vaniman, D., Leshin, L., Cleghorn, T., Huntress, W., Manhès, G., Hudgins, J., Olson, T., Stewart, N., Sarrazin, P., Grant, J., Vicenzi, E., Wilson, S. A., Bullock, M., Ehresmann, B., Hamilton, V., Hassler, D., Peterson, J., Rafkin, S., Zeitlin, C., Fedosov, F., Golovin, D., Karpushkina, N., Kozyrev, A., Litvak, M., Malakhov, A., Mitrofanov, I., Mokrousov, M., Nikiforov, S., Prokhorov, V., Sanin, A., Tretyakov, V., Varenikov, A., Vostrukhin, A., Kuzmin, R., Clark, B., Wolff, M., McLennan, S., Botta, O., Drake, D., Bean, K., Lemmon, M., Lee, E. M., Sucharski, R., Hernández, M. Á. D. P., Blanco Ávalos, J. J., Ramos, M., Kim, M.-H., Malespin, C., Plante, I., Muller, J.-P., González, R. N., Ewing, R., Boynton, W., Downs, R., Fitzgibbon, M., Harshman, K., Morrison, S., Kortmann, O., Williams, A., Lugmair, G., Wilson, M. A., Jakosky, B., Zunic, T. B., Frydenvang, J., Kinch, K., Stipp, S. L. S., Boyd, N., Campbell, J. L., Gellert, R., Perrett, G., Pradler, I., VanBommel, S., Jacob, S., Owen, T., Rowland, S., Savijärvi, H., Boehm, E., Böttcher, S., Burmeister, S., Guo, J., Köhler, J., García, C. M., Mellin, R. M., Schweingruber, R. W., McConnochie, T., Benna, M., Franz, H., Bower, H., Brunner, A., Blau, H., Boucher, T., Carmosino, M., Atreya, S., Elliott, H., Halleaux, D., Rennó, N., Wong, M., Pepin, R., Elliott, B., Spray, J., Thompson, L., Gordon, S., Williams, J., Vasconcelos, P., Bentz, J., Nealson, K., Popa, R., Moersch, J., Tate, C., Day, M., Kocurek, G., Hallet, B., Sletten, R., Francis, R., McCullough, E., Cloutis, E., ten Kate, I. L., Arvidson, R., Fraeman, A., Scholes, D., Slavney, S., Stein, T., Ward, J., Berger, J., & Moores, J. E.
- Affiliations
- Planetary Science Institute (US)
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- Imperial College London (GB)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (US)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Malin Space Science Systems (United States) (US)
- University of New Mexico (US)
- Université de Lyon (FR)
- United States Geological Survey (US)
- Laboratoire Planétologie et Géodynamique de Nantes, LPGN/CNRS UMR6112 and Université de Nantes, 44322 Nantes, France.
- Max Planck Society (DE)
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- University of Leicester (GB)
- The Open University (GB)
- Princeton University (US)
- University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US)
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
- Arizona State University (US)
- Cornell University (US)
- Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, CA 92121, USA.
- GeoRessources (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Williams, R. M. E.
- Williams, Richard B.
- ORCID
- Williams, R. M. E.
- Grotzinger, J. P.
- Dietrich, W. E.
- Sumner, D. Y.
- Wiens, R. C.
- Mangold, N.
- Malin, M. C.
- Edgett, K. S.
- Maurice, S.
- Forni, O.
- Gasnault, O.
- Ollila, A.
- Newsom, H. E.
- Palucis, M. C.
- Herkenhoff, K. E.
- Goetz, W.
- Koefoed, A.
- Bridges, J. C.
- Schwenzer, S. P.
- Kah, L. C.
- Minitti, Michelle
- Edgar, Lauren
- Wadhwa, Meenakshi
- Wellington, Danika
- Newman, Claire
- Schmidt, Mariek
- Li, Shuai
- Sun, Vivian
- Ehlmann, Bethany
- Farley, Kenneth
- Newcombe, Megan
- Pilorget, Cedric
- Léveillé, Richard
- Flückiger, Lorenzo
- Gailhanou, Marc
- Donny, Christophe
- Paillet, Alexis
- Pérez, René
- Yana, Charles
- Hettrich, Sebastian
- Chipera, Steve
- Sirven, Jean-Baptiste
- Fairén, Alberto
- Hayes, Alexander
- Thomas, Peter
- Melikechi, Noureddine
- Grinspoon, David
- Prats, Benito
- Kahanpää, Henrik
- Kauhanen, Janne
- Polkko, Jouni
- Fabre, Cécile
- Wray, James
- Wilhelm, Mary Beth
- Poitrasson, Franck
- Bish, David
- Gondet, Brigitte
- Langevin, Yves
- Baratoux, David
- Berger, Gilles
- Meslin, Pierre-Yves
- Pinet, Patrick
- Schröder, Susanne
- Achilles, Cherie
- Szopa, Cyril
- Sautter, Violaine
- Nachon, Marion
- Buch, Arnaud
- Stalport, Fabien
- Coll, Patrice
- Raulin, François
- Teinturier, Samuel
- Cousin, Agnès
- Johnstone, Stephen
- Lanza, Nina
- Treiman, Allan
- Cantor, Bruce
- Caplinger, Michael
- Hardgrove, Craig
- Kennedy, Megan R.
- Krysak, Daniel
- Lipkaman, Leslie
- McNair, Sean
- Nixon, Brian
- Saper, Lee
- French, Katherine Louise
- Summons, Roger
- Hviid, Stubbe
- Dyar, M. Darby
- Fassett, Caleb
- Haberle, Robert
- Hoehler, Tori
- McKay, Christopher
- Brinckerhoff, William
- Dworkin, Jason P.
- Freissinet, Caroline
- Garvin, James
- Glavin, Daniel
- McAdam, Amy
- Trainer, Melissa
- Posner, Arik
- Beegle, Luther W.
- Calef, Fred
- Crisp, Joy A.
- Flesch, Gregory
- Hurowitz, Joel
- Maki, Justin
- Mischna, Michael
- Pavri, Betina
- Spanovich, Nicole
- Vasavada, Ashwin R.
- Webster, Christopher R.
- Archer, Paul Douglas
- Niles, Paul
- Rampe, Elizabeth
- Vaniman, David
- Sarrazin, Philippe
- Vicenzi, Edward
- Wilson, Sharon A.
- Ehresmann, Bent
- Hassler, Donald
- Rafkin, Scot
- Zeitlin, Cary
- Malakhov, Alexey
- Mitrofanov, Igor
- Nikiforov, Sergey
- Wolff, Michael
- Lemmon, Mark
- Plante, Ianik
- Ewing, Ryan
- Boynton, William
- Harshman, Karl
- Williams, Amy
- Jakosky, Bruce
- Frydenvang, Jens
- Kinch, Kjartan
- Stipp, Susan Louise Svane
- Gellert, Ralf
- Perrett, Glynis
- Jacob, Samantha
- Savijärvi, Hannu
- Burmeister, Sönke
- Guo, Jingnan
- Benna, Mehdi
- Boucher, Thomas
- Carmosino, Marco
- Atreya, Sushil
- Elliott, Harvey
- Vasconcelos, Paulo
- Moersch, Jeffrey
- Tate, Christopher
- Hallet, Bernard
- Francis, Raymond
- Arvidson, Raymond
- Fraeman, Abigail
- Stein, Thomas
- Moores, John E.
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2013-05-31
- Volume
- 340
- Issue
- 6136
- Pages
- 1068-1072
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2100451067
- Cited by
- 381
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 36 · 2019: 27 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 34 · 2016: 35 · 2015: 44 · 2014: 45 · 2013: 14
- FWCI
- 24.84
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (publishedVersion)
- elib (German Aerospace Center) (acceptedVersion)
- Open Research Online (The Open University) (acceptedVersion)
- CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion)
- elib (German Aerospace Center) (submittedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion)
- Leicester Research Archive (University of Leicester) (submittedVersion)
- GoeScholar The Publication Server of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- Smithsonian Digital Repository (Smithsonian Institution) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Science and Technology Facilities Council (1195655)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Planetary Science and Exploration
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astro and Planetary Science
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Earth-Surface Processes › Geological formations and processes
- Keywords
- Gale Crater, Mars Science Laboratory, fluvial sediment transport, aqueous alteration, Mars paleoclimate
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