doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abn8555. Epub 2022 May 11.
Zhurong reveals recent aqueous activities in Utopia Planitia, Mars
Yang Liu 1 2, Xing Wu 1, Yu-Yan Sara Zhao 2 3, Lu Pan 4, Chi Wang 1, Jia Liu 1, Zhenxing Zhao 1 5, Xiang Zhou 1 5, Chaolin Zhang 1 5, Yuchun Wu 1 5, Wenhui Wan 6, Yongliao Zou 1
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- PMID:35544566
- PMCID: PMC9094648
- DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abn8555
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Zhurong reveals recent aqueous activities in Utopia Planitia, Mars
Yang Liu et al. Sci Adv..
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Abstract
The Mars' climate is cold and dry in the most recent epoch, and liquid water activities are considered extremely limited. Previous orbital data only show sporadic hydrous minerals in the northern lowlands of Mars excavated by large impacts. Using the short-wave infrared spectral data obtained by the Zhurong rover of China's Tianwen-1 mission, which landed in southern Utopia Planitia on Mars, we identify hydrated sulfate/silica materials on the Amazonian terrain at the landing site. These hydrated minerals are associated with bright-toned rocks, interpreted to be duricrust developed locally. The lithified duricrusts suggest that formation with substantial liquid water originates by either groundwater rising or subsurface ice melting. In situ evidence for aqueous activities identified at Zhurong's landing site indicates a more active Amazonian hydrosphere for Mars than previously thought.
Figures
(A) The inset Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (49) topographic map displays the Northern Hemisphere of Mars. The Zhurong rover (red cross) is located in the southern Utopia Planitia. Tianwen-1 High Resolution Imaging Camera (HiRIC; ~0.7 m per pixel) (50) image (outlined by orange dashed lines) overlays the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Context Camera (~6 m per pixel) (51) image showing the diverse geomorphological features of the landing site, denoted by arrows. (B) The traverse of Zhurong rover is denoted by the white line. The orange dots indicate spots of spectral observations. The basemap is a HiRIC image overlain by the HiRIC digital terrain model (~3.5 m per pixel).
(A) The NaTeCam panorama on sol 50 displays the landing area and its immediate surroundings. (B) A close-up image taken on sol 22 shows the dark-toned and bright-toned rocks, which are two primary rocks distributed in this region (also see fig. S2). (C) Image taken on sol 57 displays platy rocks, bright-toned rocks, dunes, and a small crater.
The NaTeCam panoramas display the local context for MarSCoDe observations on (A) sol 32, (B) sol 43, and (C) sol 45. The white arrows denote the locations of the rocks targeted for spectral observations. (D) Zoomed images for rocks targeted for spectral measurements. (E) Comparison between MarSCoDe SWIR spectra with laboratory spectra. The top panel shows the smoothed MarSCoDe spectra (thick solid line) overlays the raw spectra (thin solid line). The signal-to-noise of SWIR data before denoising is around 40 to 55 dB (24). The orbital spectrum from OMEGA over the landing area is also plotted for comparison (orbit identification number: ORB0973_5, pixel location: sample 19, line 1296). Note that the small dents in the 1.9- to 2.0-μm region in the OMEGA data are residuals of CO2 absorptions from the atmospheric correction. Laboratory candidate reflectance spectra are shown in the bottom panel. The IDs for MarSCoDe SWIR and laboratory spectra are tabulated in tables S1 and S2, respectively.
(A) The NaTeCam mosaic on sol 107 displays continuously distributed platy rocks in perched positions on the surface. (B) The NaTeCam mosaic on sol 94 shows the platy rock slab broken in situ on the right and a clastic rock detached from the parent platy rocks nearby. The isolated clast shares similar morphology and texture to those examined by MarSCoDe SWIR spectrometer in Fig. 3.
Stage 1: Evaporation occurs near the groundwater table and in the capillary fringe zone where salt cements (e.g., sulfates or opaline silica) precipitate. The cementation and lithification of predepositional regolith form a thin layer of duricrusts. Stage 2: Episodic fluctuation of the groundwater table further thickens the indurated section to form thick duricrusts with fine-layered structure. Stage 3: The deflation and erosion of the loose sediments exposes the erosion-resistant duricrusts.
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