Murray Formation

The Murray Formation is the name given to a distinctive mudstone geologic formation studied by the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity at the Gale Crater, Mars.[1]

Geology map - Murray Formation and Aeolis Mons slopes (September 11, 2014)

Stratigraphy

The formation is more than 300 metres (980 ft) thick[2] and is part of the Mount Sharp Group which interfingers with units of the Bradbury Group.[3] The formation is composed mostly of basaltic minerals plus clays, though an intermediate horizon contains tridymite, cristobalite, quartz and opal.[4]

The Murray formation has five named subunits, i.e. Pahrump Hills Member, Hartmann's Valley Member, Karasburg Member, Sutton Island Member, Vera Rubin Ridge Member.[2] It unconformably underlies the Stimson formation.[5]

References
  1. Elizabeth B. Rampe; et al. (August 2017), "Mineralogy of an ancient lacustrine mudstone succession from the Murray formation, Gale crater, Mars", Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 471, Bibcode:2017E&PSL.471..172R, doi:10.1016/J.EPSL.2017.04.021, Wikidata Q57852716
  2. Christopher M. Fedo; et al. (March 2018), Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of the Murray Formation, Gale Crater, Mars, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Bibcode:2018LPI....49.2078F, Wikidata Q66314517
  3. John P. Grotzinger; et al. (1 October 2015), "Deposition, exhumation, and paleoclimate of an ancient lake deposit, Gale crater, Mars", Science, 350 (6257), Bibcode:2015Sci...350.7575G, doi:10.1126/SCIENCE.AAC7575, PMID 26450214, Wikidata Q34497447
  4. McSween, Harry; Moersch, Jeffrey; Burr, Devon; Dunne, William; Emery, Joshua; Kah, Linda; McCanta, Molly (2019). Planetary Geoscience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 302–310. ISBN 9781107145382.
  5. Steven G. Banham; et al. (2017), The Stimson Formation: Determining the Morphology of a Dry Aeolian Dune System and its Climatic Significance in Gale Crater, Mars, Wikidata Q66360591
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