The Mineralogy, Microstructure and Formation of Martian Soils

• Applicant: Privatdozent Walter Goetz, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry ; Soil Sciences
• Term: from 2012 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 224836998

• Final Report Year: 2017

Final Report Abstract

In Nov. 2011 the applicant was selected by NASA to become a Participating Scientist & Co-I on the MSL rover mission. However, due to extremely dusty environment in the beginning of the mission the generation of “mineral maps” along the rover traverse (as originally and successfully applied for [to NASA] in 2011) was not possible and it became clear very quickly that this project would have to be continued over many months (and even years) ahead to produce a significant science return. Therefore the applicant’s science focus moved to project #1: Spatial scale determined for images that have been acquired by the rover cameras and to project #2: distribution of copper along the rover traverse (as based on LIBS spectra, Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy). Both projects have been pursued by the applicant for several years and dominate the applicant’s current profile in the NASA MSL Science Team. Moreover, both projects are promising topics for further investigations and for participation in the next large NASA mission to Mars (the NASA-2020 rover). Project #1 is basically finished and the related internet resource (called ASIC, Approximate Scale for Images acquired by the Curiosity Rover) will be opened up to the MSL Science Team during next Science Team Meeting (Pasadena, Jan 30, 2018). Project #2 is unfinished, although proceeding continuously.

Publications

• Curiosity’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) Investigation, Space Science Review – Special Issue on Mars Science Laboratory Mission
  Edgett, Kenneth S.; Yingst, R. Aileen; Ravine, Michael A.; Caplinger, Michael A.; Maki, Justin N.; Ghaemi, F. Tony; Schaffner, Jacob A.; Bell, James F.; Edwards, Laurence J.; Herkenhoff, Kenneth E.; Heydari, Ezat; Kah, Linda C.; Lemmon, Mark T.; Minitti, Michelle E.; Olson, Timothy S.; Parker, Timothy J.; Rowland, Scott K.; Schieber, Juergen; Sullivan, Robert J.; ... & Goetz, Walter
  
• Characteristics of pebble- and cobble-sized clasts along the Curiosity rover traverse from Bradbury Landing to Rocknest, J. Geophys. Res. – Planets
  Yingst, R. A.; Kah, L. C.; Palucis, M.; Williams, R. M. E.; Garvin, J.; Bridges, J. C.; Bridges, N.; Deen, R. G.; Farmer, J.; Gasnault, O.; Goetz, W.; Hamilton, V. E.; Hipkin, V.; Jensen, J. K.; King, P. L.; Koefoed, A.; Le Mouélic, S. P.; Madsen, M. B; Mangold, N.; ... & Wiens, R. C.
  
• Curiosity at Gale Crater, Mars: Characterization and Analysis of the Rocknest Sand Shadow, Science 341
  Blake, D. F.; Morris, R. V.; Kocurek, G.; Morrison, S. M.; Downs, R. T.; Bish, D.; Ming, D. W.; Edgett, K. S.; Rubin, D.; Goetz, W.; Madsen, M. B.; Sullivan, R.; Gellert, R.; Campbell, I.; Treiman, A. H.; McLennan, S. M.; Yen, A. S.; Grotzinger, J.; Vaniman, D. T.; ... & Zorzano Mier, María-Paz
  
• Martian Fluvial Conglomerates at Gale Crater, Science 340, 1068
  Williams, R. M. E.; Grotzinger, J. P.; Dietrich, W. E.; Gupta, S.; Sumner, D. Y.; Wiens, R. C.; Mangold, N.; Malin, M. C.; Edgett, K. S.; Maurice, S.; Forni, O.; Gasnault, O.; Ollila, A.; Newsom, H. E.; Dromart, G.; Palucis, M. C.; Yingst, R. A.; Anderson, R. B.; Herkenhoff, K. E.; ... & Moores, John E.
  
• Soil Diversity and Hydration as Observed by ChemCam at Gale Crater, Mars, Science 341
  Meslin, P.-Y.; Gasnault, O.; Forni, O.; Schröder, S.; Cousin, A.; Berger, G.; Clegg, S. M.; Lasue, J.; Maurice, S.; Sautter, V.; Le Mouélic, S.; Wiens, R. C.; Fabre, C.; Goetz, W.; Bish, D.; Mangold, N.; Ehlmann, B.; Lanza, N.; Harri, A.-M.; ... & Berger, Jeffrey
  
• Chemistry and texture of the rocks at Rocknest, Gale Crater: Evidence for sedimentary origin and diagenetic alteration, J. Geophys. Res.- Planets, 119(9), 2109–2131
  Blaney, D. L.; Wiens, R. C.; Maurice, S.; Clegg, S. M.; Anderson, R. B.; Kah, L. C.; Le Mouélic, S.; Ollila, A.; Bridges, N.; Tokar, R.; Berger, G.; Bridges, J. C.; Cousin, A.; Clark, B.; Dyar, M. D.; King, P. L.; Lanza, N.; Mangold, N.; Meslin, P.‐Y.; ... & Madsen, M. B.
  
• Observations and preliminary science results from the first 100 sols of MSL REMS ground temperature sensor measurements at Gale Crater, J. Geophys. Res. - Planets, 119
  Hamilton, Victoria E.; Vasavada, Ashwin R.; Sebastián, Eduardo; de la Torre Juárez, Manuel; Ramos, Miguel; Armiens, Carlos; Arvidson, Raymond E.; Carrasco, Isaías; Christensen, Philip R.; De Pablo, Miguel A.; Goetz, Walter; Gómez‐Elvira, Javier; Lemmon, Mark T.; Madsen, Morten B.; Martín‐Torres, F. Javier; Martínez‐Frías, Jesús; Molina, Antonio; Palucis, Marisa C.; Rafkin, Scot C. R.; ... & Zorzano, María‐Paz
  
• Compositions of coarse and fine particles in martian soils at gale: A window into the production of soils, Icarus, 249, 22–42
  Cousin, A.; Meslin, P.Y.; Wiens, R.C.; Rapin, W.; Mangold, N.; Fabre, C.; Gasnault, O.; Forni, O.; Tokar, R.; Ollila, A.; Schröder, S.; Lasue, J.; Maurice, S.; Sautter, V.; Newsom, H.; Vaniman, D.; Le Mouélic, S.; Dyar, D.; Berger, G.; ... & Delapp, D.
  
• Transient liquid water and water activity at Gale crater on Mars, Nature Geoscience Letters
  Martín-Torres, F. Javier; Zorzano, María-Paz; Valentín-Serrano, Patricia; Harri, Ari-Matti; Genzer, Maria; Kemppinen, Osku; Rivera-Valentin, Edgard G.; Jun, Insoo; Wray, James; Bo Madsen, Morten; Goetz, Walter; McEwen, Alfred S.; Hardgrove, Craig; Renno, Nilton; Chevrier, Vincent F.; Mischna, Michael; Navarro-González, Rafael; Martínez-Frías, Jesús; Conrad, Pamela; ... & Vaniman, David
  
• Observation of >5wt % zinc at the Kimberley outcrop, Gale crater, Mars, Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets, 121, 338–352
  Lasue, J.; Clegg, S. M.; Forni, O.; Cousin, A.; Wiens, R. C.; Lanza, N.; Mangold, N.; Le Deit, L.; Gasnault, O.; Maurice, S.; Berger, J. A.; Stack, K.; Blaney, D.; Fabre, C.; Goetz, W.; Johnson, J.; Le Mouélic, S.; Nachon, M.; Payré, V.; ... & Sumner, D. Y.
  
• Centimeter to Decimeter Spherical Shells and Voids in Gale Crater Sediments, Mars, Icarus, 289, 144–156 (2017)
  Wiens, Roger C.; Rubin, David M.; Goetz, Walter; Fairén, Alberto G.; Schwenzer, Susanne P.; Johnson, Jeffrey R.; Milliken, Ralph; Clark, Ben; Mangold, Nicolas; Stack, Kathryn M.; Oehler, Dorothy; Rowland, Scott; Chan, Marjorie; Vaniman, David; Maurice, Sylvestre; Gasnault, Olivier; Rapin, William; Schroeder, Susanne; Clegg, Sam; ... & Grotzinger, John P.
  
• Fluidized sediment pipes in Gale crater, Mars, and possible Earth analogs, Geology
  Rubin, David M.; Fairén, A.G.; Martínez-Frías, J.; Frydenvang, J.; Gasnault, O.; Gelfenbaum, G.; Goetz, W.; Grotzinger, J.P.; Le Mouélic, S.; Mangold, N.; Newsom, H.; Oehler, D.Z.; Rapin, W.; Schieber, J. & Wiens, R.C.