Tag Archives: clay minerals

HiRISE: Clay outcrop near Maja Valles

Posted on September 26, 2018 by rburnham

A clay outcrop near Maja Valles. Maja Valles is a large, ancient outflow channel in the Lunae Palus quadrangle on Mars. The name is a Nepali word for “Mars”, and parts of the system have been partially buried by thin volcanic … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Clays in the Eridania Basin

Posted on July 13, 2018 by rburnham

This colorful image shows clays within the Eridania basin region. Many scientists using orbital data have proposed that a large lake may have once existed here during the Late Noachian through Early Hesperian time periods, and then much of the … Continue reading →

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Mars minerology points to cold, icy ancient climate

Posted on June 8, 2018 by rburnham

The climate throughout Mars’ early history has long been debated – was the Red Planet warm and wet, or cold and icy? New research published in Icarus provides evidence for the latter. Mars is littered with valley networks, deltas and … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Clays in a grouping of small craters

Posted on May 2, 2018 by rburnham

Clays in a grouping of small craters. Beautiful Mars series. [More at links]

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Stepped fans and phyllosilicates on Mars

Posted on April 2, 2018 by rburnham

Planetary Geomorphology Image of the Month, April 1, 2018: Peter Grindrod (Natural History Museum, London, UK). A number of different studies have catalogued features on Mars that could be given the general heading of sedimentary fans… These features occur whenever … Continue reading →

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Mars Curiosity celebrates Sol 2,000

Posted on March 22, 2018 by rburnham

NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover just hit a new milestone: its two-thousandth Martian day, or sol, on the Red Planet. An image mosaic taken by the rover in January offers a preview of what comes next. Looming over the image is … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: A candidate human exploration zone of Maja Valles entry into Chryse Planitia

Posted on March 15, 2018 by rburnham

A candidate human exploration zone of Maja Valles entry into Chryse Planitia. Evidence of clays could provide potential resource to be used. There is also  ample evidence of aqueous processes that could be enhanced by direct observation of the mineralogy … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Clay-rich deposits possibly associated with Nif Crater

Posted on March 6, 2018 by rburnham

Clay-rich deposits possibly associated with Nif Crater. Beautiful Mars series.

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Is underground the best place to look for origin of Mars life?

Posted on February 6, 2018 by rburnham

The planet Mars has long drawn interest from scientists and non-scientists as a possible place to search for evidence of life beyond Earth because the surface contains numerous familiar features such as dried river channels and dried lake beds that … Continue reading →

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Curiosity: Looking into the Phyllosilicate Trough

Posted on January 30, 2018 by rburnham

Sol 1949, January 29, 2018. The rover’s Navcam shot a composite that looks down into the low-lying area behind Vera Rubin Ridge. This is known as the Clay Unit or the Phyllosilicate Trough because clay minerals have been detected there … Continue reading →

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