Columbus Crater
Columbus Crater is a 119 km wide crater, located at 29.8° south latitude and 166.1° west longitude in the Memnonia quadrangle, and was named after Christopher Columbus[1] Since sulfates and clay minerals have been discovered within Columbus Crater it is believed that a lake once existed in the crater. These minerals need water to form.[2][3] These were found using an orbiting near-infrared spectrometer. Spectrometers reveal the types of minerals present based on the wavelengths of light they absorb. These minerals would appear if a large lake had slowly evaporated.[4] [5] Because some layers contain gypsum, a sulfate which forms in relatively fresh water, it is thought that life could have formed in the crater.[6]
Other minerals
In the layers, or strata, of Columbus Crater, the CRISM instrument on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter found kaolinite, hydrated sulfates including alunite and possibly Jarosite.[7] Further study concluded that gypsum, polyhydrated and monohydrated Mg/Fe-sulfates were common and small deposits of montmorillonite, Fe/Mg-phyllosilicates, and crystalline ferric oxide or hydroxide were also found. Thermal emission spectra hint that some minerals were present in the tens of percent range.[8] [9]
Close-up of Columbus Crater, as seen by HiRISE
See also
- Curiosity
- High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE)
- Holden Crater
- Gale Crater
- Jezero Crater
- Lakes on Mars
- Memnonia quadrangle
- Ritchey Crater
References
- ↑ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/1274
- ↑ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia15099.html#.VWyD-c9VhBc
- ↑ Wray, J., R. Milliken, C. Dundas, G. Swayze, J. Andrews-Hanna, A. Baldridge, M. Chojnacki, J. Bishop, B. Ehlmann, S. Murchie, R. Clark, F. Seelos, L. Tornabene, and S. Squyres. 2011. Columbus crater and other possible groundwater-fed paleolakes of Terra Sirenum, Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets DOI: 10.1029/2010JE003694
- ↑ Cabrol, N. and E. Grin (eds.). 2010. Lakes on Mars. Elsevier.NY.
- ↑ Wray, J. et al. 2009. Columbus Crater and other possible plaelakes in Terra Sirenum, Mars. Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. 40: 1896.
- ↑ http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/091125-mars-crater-lake-michigan-water_2.html
- ↑ Murchie, S. et al. 2009. A synthesis of Martian aqueous mineralogy after 1 Mars year of observations from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Journal of Geophysical Research: 114.
- ↑ https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/70035986
- ↑ Wray, J., R. Milliken, C. Dundas, G. Swayze, J. Andrews-Hanna, A. Baldridge, M. Chojnacki, J. Bishop, B. Ehlmann, S. Murchie, R. Clark, F. Seelos, L. Tornabene, and S. Squyres. 2011. Columbus crater and other possible groundwater-fed paleolakes of Terra Sirenum, Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets DOI: 10.1029/2010JE003694
