Orbital and Rover-Based Exploration of Perseverance

Valley, Endeavour Crater, Mars

Ray Arvidson and the Athena Science Team

T206: Geomorphology and Landscape Evolution of Mars: The G. K. Gilbert Session

10/24/17

244-4

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Marathon Valley

Smectites

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Marathon Valley

Hydrated Phases

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Marathon Valley

Hydrated Sulfates

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Marathon Valley

Perseverance Valley

Wind Sculpted Rim

10/24/17

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Cape Tribulation

Cape Byron

4456Navcam

Grooves

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Sol 4456 Navcam Mosaic Looking Down Marathon Valley

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Grooves due to polygonally fractured bedrock with regolith fill

Central mound

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4754-65 Pancam “Sprained Ankle” Mosaic

Hydrated sulfates

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4754-65 Pancam “Sprained Ankle”Mosaic

Broad, shallow trough

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Pancam Color “Sprained Ankle” Mosaic

Perseverance ValleyUpper end of broad, shallow trough

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Pancam Color “Sprained Ankle” Mosaic

Upper end of broad, shallow trough

Perseverance Valley

Atacama Desert debris flow deposits

Bill Dietrich, Berkeley

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Sol 4818Navcammosaic

Sol 4878Pancam image

Perseverance Valley

Hydrated sulfates

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Sol 4818 Pancam Mosaic

Scoured bedrock

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Regolith

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Wind scoured bedrock

Regolith

Uphill

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Wind Sculpted Rim Segment

Uphill

Gullies

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Winter snowpack site

Perseverance Valley• Field work underway, much remains to be

done as rover power increases after 10/31/17 winter minimum

• Channels extend to west and east of rim, no western catchment

• Unique topographic and morphologic settings

• Wind has shaped PV outcrops at cm to 10’s cm scales

• Considerable diffusive smoothing and regolith deposits

• Speculating: Previous climate snowpack accumulation, some melting with fluvial and debris flow activity, drying out, letting diffusive smoothing and wind action dominate

• But, let us finish the field work and analyze all the data before we come to final conclusions

Prince Christian Sound Southern Greenland September 2017