2nd November 2014 Sol 797

This NavCam image shows one of the outcrops we have been analysing in detail at the Chinle outcrop in Pahrump.  This could be one of the classic MSL outcrops which helps unlock how Mt Sharp formed and what sort of lakes and deltas were present on Mars. You can see fine scaled layering and cross-bedding, and we are taking lots of ChemCam analyses to check the variation in composition.  We know from the orbital near Infrared analyses by CRISM that we are moving into an area with more Fe oxide, and this will lead up to the ‘Hematite Ridge’ which is one of our main mission targets.  Piecing together why there were was a change from the Yellowknife Bay type of conditions with deposition of fine grained sediment into a lake, to these Fe oxide rich lacustrine sediments will help unravel early Mars.