title: Soils of Eagle crater and Meridiani Planum at the Opportunity Rover landing site.
abstract: The soils at the Opportunity site are fine-grained basaltic sands mixed with dust and sulfate-rich outcrop debris. Hematite is concentrated in spherules eroded from the strata. Ongoing saltation exhumes the spherules and their fragments, concentrating them at the surface. Spherules emerge from soils coated, perhaps from subsurface cementation, by salts. Two types of vesicular clasts may represent basaltic sand sources. Eolian ripples, armored by well-sorted hematite-rich grains, pervade Meridiani Planum. The thickness of the soil on the plain is estimated to be about a meter. The flatness and thin cover suggest that the plain may represent the original sedimentary surface.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA. lsoderblom@usgs.gov
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Soderblom
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Arvidson
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Cabrol
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Calvin
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Economou
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Ehlmann
authors.forename: W H
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authors.lastname: Farrand
authors.forename: D
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authors.lastname: Fike
authors.forename: R
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authors.lastname: Gellert
authors.forename: T D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Glotch
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Golombek
authors.forename: R
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authors.lastname: Greeley
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Grotzinger
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Herkenhoff
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Jerolmack
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jolliff
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Klingelhöfer
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Knoll
authors.forename: Z A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Learner
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Malin
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: McLennan
authors.forename: H Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: McSween
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Ming
authors.forename: R V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Rice
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rieder
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rodionov
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schröder
authors.forename: F P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Seelos
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Soderblom
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Squyres
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Watters
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Weitz
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Wyatt
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zipfel
mesh_terms: D005118:Extraterrestrial Environment; D005290:Ferric Compounds; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D018535:Mars; D008903:Minerals; D017640:Silicates; D018531:Spacecraft; D013057:Spectrum Analysis; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D005290:Ferric Compounds; D008903:Minerals; D017640:Silicates; C060346:basalt; D014867:Water; C000499:ferric oxide