31st August 2015 Sol 1091

I am Geo Science Theme Lead today (Geo STL).  Our top priority is to retake the APXS compostional analyses  on the Buckskin drill tailings, as we missed first time around. This Navcam image shows APXS placed over the tailings on a  flat rock surface.

The outcrop in front of us is called Williams. It has some striking crossbedding, probably due to the flow of ancient rivers into Gale Crater.  However, ChemCam has shown us that there is a great compositional variation in this outcrop so we are going to spend an extra day here before driving off.  A question is whether the compositional variation is due to remobilisation of elements by  fluids or reflects variations in the source material.

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jbridges

About jbridges

This blog is a record of my experiences and work during the Mars Science Laboratory mission, from the preparation, landing on August 5th 2012 Pacific Time, and onwards... I will also post updates about our other Mars work on meteorites, ExoMars and new missions. You can also follow the planetary science activities with @LeicsPlanets Professor John Bridges, School of Physics and Astronomy

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