Connotea
CiteULike
del.ico.us
BibSonomyAbstract
Meteorites on Mars observed with the Mars Exploration Rovers
Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, USA
Institut für Anorganische und Analytische Chemie, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, Germany
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C., USA
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Department of Physics, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D. C., USA
Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colorado, USA
U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, USA
U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
Institut für Anorganische und Analytische Chemie, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, Germany
ESA-ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Institut für Anorganische und Analytische Chemie, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Mainz, Germany
Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, USA
Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, USA
Vallourec Research Center, Aulnoye-Aymeries, France
Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Laboratory for Astrophysics and Space Research, Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Reduced weathering rates due to the lack of liquid water and significantly greater typical surface ages should result in a higher density of meteorites on the surface of Mars compared to Earth. Several meteorites were identified among the rocks investigated during Opportunity's traverse across the sandy Meridiani plains. Heat Shield Rock is a IAB iron meteorite and has been officially recognized as “Meridiani Planum.” Barberton is olivine-rich and contains metallic Fe in the form of kamacite, suggesting a meteoritic origin. It is chemically most consistent with a mesosiderite silicate clast. Santa Catarina is a brecciated rock with a chemical and mineralogical composition similar to Barberton. Barberton, Santa Catarina, and cobbles adjacent to Santa Catarina may be part of a strewn field. Spirit observed two probable iron meteorites from its Winter Haven location in the Columbia Hills in Gusev Crater. Chondrites have not been identified to date, which may be a result of their lower strengths and probability to survive impact at current atmospheric pressures. Impact craters directly associated with Heat Shield Rock, Barberton, or Santa Catarina have not been observed, but such craters could have been erased by eolian-driven erosion.
Received 14 August 2007; accepted 21 December 2007; published 18 April 2008.
Citation: (2008), Meteorites on Mars observed with the Mars Exploration Rovers, J. Geophys. Res., 113, E06S22, doi:10.1029/2007JE002990.
Cited By