[meteorite-list] MRO Reveals Rock Fracture Plumbing On Mars

[Ron Baalke]

Sept. 25, 2008

Dwayne Brown 
Headquarters, Washington 
202-358-1726 
dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov 

Guy Webster 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 
818-354-6278 
guy.webster at jpl.nasa.gov 

Lori Stiles 
University of Arizona, Tucson 
520-626-4402 
lstiles at u.arizona.edu 

RELEASE: 08-244

NASA ORBITER REVEALS ROCK FRACTURE PLUMBING ON MARS

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed 
hundreds of small fractures exposed on the Martian surface that 
billions of years ago directed flows of water through underground 
Martian sandstone. 

Researchers used images from the spacecraft's High Resolution Imaging 
Science Experiment, or HiRISE, camera. Images of layered rock 
deposits at equatorial Martian sites show the clusters of fractures 
to be a type called deformation bands, caused by stresses below the 
surface in granular or porous bedrock. 

"Groundwater often flows along fractures such as these, and knowing 
that these are deformation bands helps us understand how the 
underground plumbing may have worked within these layered deposits," 
said Chris Okubo of the U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Ariz. 

Visible effects of water on the color and texture of rock along the 
fractures provide evidence that groundwater flowed extensively along 
the fractures. 

"These structures are important sites for future exploration and 
investigations into the geological history of water and water-related 
processes on Mars," Okubo and co-authors state in a report published 
online this month in the Geological Society of America Bulletin. 

Deformation band clusters in Utah sandstones, as on Mars, are a few 
yards wide and up to a few miles long. They form from either 
compression or stretching of underground layers, and can be 
precursors to faults. The ones visible at the surface have become 
exposed as overlying layers erode away. Deformation bands and faults 
can strongly influence the movement of groundwater on Earth and 
appear to have been similarly important on Mars, according to this 
study. 

"This study provides a picture of not just surface water erosion but 
true groundwater effects widely distributed over the planet," said 
Suzanne Smrekar, deputy project scientist for the Mars Reconnaissance 
Orbiter at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. 
"Ground water movement has important implications for how the 
temperature and chemistry of the crust have changed over time, which 
in turn affects the potential for habitats for past life." 

The recent study focuses on layered deposits in Mars' Capen crater, 
approximately 43 miles in diameter and 7 degrees north of the 
equator. This formerly unnamed crater became notable due to this 
discovery of deformation bands within it and was recently assigned a 
formal name. The crater was named for the late Charles Capen, who 
studied Mars and other objects as an astronomer at JPL's Table 
Mountain Observatory in southern California and at Lowell 
Observatory, Flagstaff, Ariz. 

The HiRISE camera is one of six science instruments on the orbiter. It 
can reveal smaller details on the surface than any previous camera to 
orbit Mars. The orbiter reached Mars in March 2006 and has returned 
more data than all other current and past missions to Mars combined. 

The mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. 
Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Denver built the spacecraft. The 
University of Arizona operates the HiRISE camera, built by Ball 
Aerospace and Technology Corp. of Boulder, Colo. 

Images of the deformation band clusters and additional information 
about the mission are on the Internet at: 



http://www.nasa.gov/mro 


For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit: 



http://www.nasa.gov 

	
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