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Mineralogy, morphology, and emplacement history of the Maaz formation on the Jezero crater floor from orbital and rover observations
  • +42
  • Briony Heather Noelle Horgan,
  • Arya Udry,
  • Meiissa S Rice,
  • Sanna Alwmark,
  • Hans E. F. Amundsen,
  • James F. Bell III,
  • Larry S. Crumpler,
  • Bradley Garczynski,
  • Jeffrey R. Johnson,
  • Kjartan Münster Kinch,
  • Lucia Mandon,
  • Marco Merusi,
  • Chase Million,
  • Jorge I. Núñez,
  • Patrick S. Russell,
  • Justin I. Simon,
  • Michael St. Clair,
  • Kathryn Stack Morgan,
  • Alicia Fallacaro Vaughan,
  • Brittan Valhalla Wogsland,
  • Andrew Michael Annex,
  • Andreas Bechtold,
  • Tor Berger,
  • Olivier Beyssac,
  • Adrian Jon Brown,
  • Edward Cloutis,
  • Barbara A Cohen,
  • Sarah Fagents,
  • Linda C Kah,
  • Ken Farley,
  • David Timothy Flannery,
  • Sanjeev Gupta,
  • Sein-Erik Hamran,
  • Yang Liu,
  • Gerhard Paar,
  • Cathy Quantin-Nataf,
  • Nicolas Randazzo,
  • Eleni Maria Ravanis,
  • Steven F Sholes,
  • David Shuster,
  • Vivian Zheng Sun,
  • Christian Tate,
  • Nicholas Tosca,
  • Meenakshi Wadhwa,
  • Roger C. Wiens
Briony Heather Noelle Horgan
Purdue University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Arya Udry
Department of Geoscience, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
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Meiissa S Rice
Western Washington University
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Sanna Alwmark
Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
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Hans E. F. Amundsen
Earth and Planetary Exploration Services
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James F. Bell III
Arizona State University
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Larry S. Crumpler
New Mexico Museum of Natural History
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Bradley Garczynski
Purdue University
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Jeffrey R. Johnson
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
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Kjartan Münster Kinch
University of Copenhagen
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Lucia Mandon
Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon
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Marco Merusi
University of Copenhagen
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Chase Million
Million Concepts
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Jorge I. Núñez
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
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Patrick S. Russell
UCLA
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Justin I. Simon
Center for Isotope Cosmochemistry and Geochronology, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science, NASA Johnson Space Center
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Michael St. Clair
Million Concepts
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Kathryn Stack Morgan
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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Alicia Fallacaro Vaughan
Apogee Engineering, LLC
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Brittan Valhalla Wogsland
University of Tennessee
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Andrew Michael Annex
California Institute of Technology
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Andreas Bechtold
Department of Lithospheric Research
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Tor Berger
University of Oslo
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Olivier Beyssac
Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie (IMPMC), Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie (UPMC)
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Adrian Jon Brown
Plancius Research
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Edward Cloutis
University of Winnepeg
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Barbara A Cohen
University of New Mexico
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Sarah Fagents
Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa
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Linda C Kah
University of Tennessee at Knoxville
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Ken Farley
California Institute of Technology
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David Timothy Flannery
Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology
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Sanjeev Gupta
Imperial College
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Sein-Erik Hamran
University of Oslo
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Yang Liu
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
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Gerhard Paar
JOANNEUM RESEARCH
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Cathy Quantin-Nataf
Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon
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Nicolas Randazzo
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta
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Eleni Maria Ravanis
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Hawai'i, Honolulu, HI, USA
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Steven F Sholes
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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David Shuster
Unknown
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Vivian Zheng Sun
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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Christian Tate
Cornell University
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Nicholas Tosca
University of Cambridge
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Meenakshi Wadhwa
Arizona State University
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Roger C. Wiens
Los Alamos National Laboratory (DOE)
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Abstract

The first samples collected by the Perseverance rover on the Mars 2020 mission were from the Maaz formation, a lava plain that covers most of the floor of Jezero crater. Laboratory analysis of these samples back on Earth will provide important constraints on the petrologic history, aqueous processes, and timing of key events in Jezero. However, interpreting these samples will require a detailed understanding of the emplacement and modification history of the Maaz formation. Here we synthesize rover and orbital remote sensing data to link outcrop-scale interpretations to the broader history of the crater, including Mastcam-Z mosaics and multispectral images, SuperCam chemistry and reflectance point spectra, RIMFAX ground penetrating radar, and orbital hyperspectral reflectance and high-resolution images. We show that the Maaz formation is composed of a series of distinct members corresponding to basaltic to basaltic andesite lava flows. The members exhibit variable spectral signatures dominated by high-Ca pyroxene, Fe-bearing feldspar, and hematite, which can be tied directly to igneous grains and altered matrix in abrasion patches. Spectral variations correlate with morphological variations, from recessive layers that produce a regolith lag in lower Maaz, to weathered polygonally fractured paleosurfaces and crater-retaining massive blocky hummocks in upper Maaz. The Maaz members were likely separated by one or more extended periods of time, and were subjected to variable erosion, burial, exhumation, weathering, and tectonic modification. The two unique samples from the Maaz formation are representative of this diversity, and together will provide an important geochronological framework for the history of Jezero crater.