When
3:45 p.m., Aug. 27, 2013
Where
Kuiper Space Sciences 312
Dr. Bethany Ehlmann
Assistant Professor
California Institute of Technology
Aqueous Environments During Mars' First Billion Years
Abstract:
The last decade of high resolution orbital imaging spectroscopy of Mars has revealed nearly a dozen distinct aqueous, potentially habitable environments, ranging from lacustrine to hydrothermal to weathering. These environments varied in space and time and do not necessarily imply a continually warm early Mars, but rather a warm and wet subsurface with punctuated periods of more clement conditions that allowed liquid water availability at the surface. One of these environments, the sedimentary facies in the Gale Crater basin, is the landing site for the Curiosity rover, and first results from this mission will also be discussed.
Host: Shane Byrne
Assistant Professor
California Institute of Technology
Aqueous Environments During Mars' First Billion Years
Abstract:
The last decade of high resolution orbital imaging spectroscopy of Mars has revealed nearly a dozen distinct aqueous, potentially habitable environments, ranging from lacustrine to hydrothermal to weathering. These environments varied in space and time and do not necessarily imply a continually warm early Mars, but rather a warm and wet subsurface with punctuated periods of more clement conditions that allowed liquid water availability at the surface. One of these environments, the sedimentary facies in the Gale Crater basin, is the landing site for the Curiosity rover, and first results from this mission will also be discussed.
Host: Shane Byrne