Thomson Bradley J, Buczkowski Debra L, Crumpler Larry S, Seelos Kimberly D, Fassett Caleb I
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, Laurel, Maryland, USA.
Geophys Res Lett. 2019 May 28;46(10):5092-5099. doi: 10.1029/2018GL081727. Epub 2019 Apr 29.
The origin of the sedimentary mound within Gale crater, the landing site for the Mars Science Laboratory rover , remains enigmatic. Here we examine the total potential contribution of fluvial material by conducting a volume-based analysis. On the basis of these results, the mound can be divided into three zones: a lower, intermediate, and upper zone. The top boundary of the lowermost zone is defined by maximal contribution of water-lain sediments, which are ~13 to 20% of the total mound volume. The upper zone is defined by the elevation of the unbreached rim to the north (-2.46 km); sediments above this elevation cannot have been emplaced by flowing water. These volume balance calculations indicate that mechanisms other than flowing water are required to account for the overwhelming majority of the sediments transported into Gale crater. The most likely candidate process is settling from eolian suspension.
盖尔撞击坑是火星科学实验室探测器的着陆点，其中沉积丘的起源仍然成谜。在此，我们通过进行基于体积的分析，研究河流物质的总潜在贡献。基于这些结果，该沉积丘可分为三个区域：下部、中部和上部区域。最下部区域的顶部边界由水成沉积物的最大贡献量界定，这些沉积物约占沉积丘总体积的13%至20%。上部区域由北侧未被破坏的边缘海拔高度（-2.46千米）界定；高于此海拔高度的沉积物不可能是由流水沉积而成。这些体积平衡计算表明，除流水作用外，还需要其他机制来解释大部分被输送到盖尔撞击坑的沉积物。最有可能的过程是风成悬浮物沉降。
