The first paper about our results after landing has just been published. Its a short paper in Science with the title ‘Martian Fluvial Conglomerates at Gale Crater’ and it is led by Becky Williams of the Planetary Science Institute of Arizona.
Seeing the first MastCam images come down of the ‘Link’ outcrop was one of the highlights of the mission so far. Previously we had seen rounded clasts from some distance but this time it was clear what we were seeing. By measuring the clast shapes and sizes (thats where I contributed to this work together with Susanne Schwenzer of the Open University) we were able to help show direct comparisons with conglomerates from deserts on Earth, particularly the Atacama. By using stereo images with other team members we were able to characterise the shapes in 3 dimensions as well.
The stereo imagery of the conglomerates is fantastic. If you get a pair of red-blue glasses for viewing analgylphs you can see this rock in 3d.
Now Curiosity is at Yellowknife Bay and we are waiting for the next CheMin and SAM results from the second drillhole. The Yellowknife Bay sediments and veins had a complicated history and we are trying to piece together the different stages and temperatures of the fluids that these rocks encountered.
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