The Murray Formation has five named subunits, the Pahrump Hills Member, Hartmann's Valley Member, Karasburg Member, Sutton Island Member, and Vera Rubin Ridge Member.[2] It unconformably underlies theStimson formation.[5]
The Murray Formation is the target of multiple compelling hints of ancient Martian microbial life. The region contains veins ofboron[6][7] and "halos" ofsilica likely formed by groundwater flows late in the crater's geologic history[8] and high levels ofmanganese oxide suggesting Earth-like oxygen levels early in Mars' history.[9]
^Frydenvang, J.; Gasda, P. J.; Hurowitz, J. A.; Grotzinger, J. P.; Wiens, R. C.; Newsom, H. E.; Edgett, K. S.; Watkins, J.; Bridges, J. C.; Maurice, S.; Fisk, M. R.; Johnson, J. R.; Rapin, W.; Stein, N. T.; Clegg, S. M.; Schwenzer, S. P.; Bedford, C. C.; Edwards, P.; Mangold, N.; Cousin, A.; Anderson, R. B.; Payré, V.; Vaniman, D.; Blake, D. F.; Lanza, N. L.; Gupta, S.; Van Beek, J.; Sautter, V.; Meslin, P.-Y.; Rice, M.; Milliken, R.; Gellert, R.; Thompson, L.; Clark, B. C.; Sumner, D. Y.; Fraeman, A. A.; Kinch, K. M.; Madsen, M. B.; Mitrofanov, I. G.; Jun, I.; Calef, F.; Vasavada, A. R. (May 28, 2017)."Diagenetic silica enrichment and late-stage groundwater activity in Gale crater, Mars"(PDF).Geophysical Research Letters.44 (10):4716–4724.Bibcode:2017GeoRL..44.4716F.doi:10.1002/2017GL073323.ISSN0094-8276.
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