Retrieval of Compositional End-Members From Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity Observations in a Soil-Filled Fracture in Marathon Valley, Endeavour Crater Rim

Abstract

The Opportunity rover investigated a gentle swale on the rim of Endeavour crater called Marathon Valley where a series of bright planar outcrops are cut into polygons by fractures. A wheel scuff performed on one of the soil-filled fracture zones revealed the presence of three end-members identified on the basis of Pancam multispectral imaging observations covering ~0.4 to 1 μm: red and dark pebbles, and a bright soil clod. Multiple overlapping Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) measurements were collected on three targets within the scuff zone. The field of view of each APXS measurement contained various proportions of the Pancam-based end-members. Application of a log maximum likelihood method for retrieving the composition of the end-members using the 10 APXS measurements shows that the dark pebble end-member is compositionally similar to average Mars soil, with slightly elevated S and Fe. In contrast, the red pebble end-member exhibits enrichments in Al and Si and is depleted in Fe and Mg relative to average Mars soil. The soil clod end-member is enriched in Mg, S, and Ni. Thermodynamic modeling of the soil clod end-member composition indicates a dominance of sulfate minerals. We hypothesize that acidic fluids in fractures leached and oxidized the basaltic host rock, forming the red pebbles, and then evaporated to leave behind sulfate-cemented soil.