Search NASA⌕ Search

Engineering topics

M. Tice

Publications and source records attributed to M. Tice.

A Komatiite Succession as an Analog for the Olivine Bearing Rocks at Jezero

The Mars 2020 rover landed at Jezero crater on February 18, 2021 [1]. Since then, the rover has traveled around the “Séítah” region [2] and has collected data from the Mastcam-Z, Supercam, PIXL and SHERLOC instruments that has led to insights into the formation of the olivine-clay-carbonate bearing rocks that were identified from orbit [3,4]. Here we discuss three questions: 1) What have we learned about the olivine-claycarbonate unit? 2) What terrestrial analogs exist for the unit? 3) Why do the rocks have a thinly layered morphology? We shall briefly mention instrumental measurements which provide important information regarding the olivine bearing rock at Seitah. Note: Extended abstract included on attachment.

A.J. Brown↗

Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of the Lower Delta Sequence, Jezero Crater, Mars.

In April 2022, the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover arrived at the base of the ancient delta in Jezero crater after completing the first year of its mission exploring and sampling aqueously altered igneous rocks of the present-day crater floor. Perseverance then spent ~200 sols exploring the lower ~25 m of rock exposed within the eastern scarp of the Jezero delta, a sedimentary sequence informally named the ‘Shenandoah’ formation. This study describes the sedimentology and stratigraphy of the Shenandoah formation explored by Perseverance at two sections—'Cape Nukshak’ and ‘Hawksbill Gap’—including a description, interpretation, and depositional framework for the facies that comprise it.

K. M. Stack↗