title: Mineralogy, provenance, and diagenesis of a potassic basaltic sandstone on Mars: CheMin X-ray diffraction of the Windjana sample (Kimberley area, Gale Crater).
abstract: The Windjana drill sample, a sandstone of the Dillinger member (Kimberley formation, Gale Crater, Mars), was analyzed by CheMin X-ray diffraction (XRD) in the MSL Curiosity rover. From Rietveld refinements of its XRD pattern, Windjana contains the following: sanidine (21% weight, ~Or95); augite (20%); magnetite (12%); pigeonite; olivine; plagioclase; amorphous and smectitic material (~25%); and percent levels of others including ilmenite, fluorapatite, and bassanite. From mass balance on the Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) chemical analysis, the amorphous material is Fe rich with nearly no other cations-like ferrihydrite. The Windjana sample shows little alteration and was likely cemented by its magnetite and ferrihydrite. From ChemCam Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectrometer (LIBS) chemical analyses, Windjana is representative of the Dillinger and Mount Remarkable members of the Kimberley formation. LIBS data suggest that the Kimberley sediments include at least three chemical components. The most K-rich targets have 5.6% K2O, ~1.8 times that of Windjana, implying a sediment component with >40% sanidine, e.g., a trachyte. A second component is rich in mafic minerals, with little feldspar (like a shergottite). A third component is richer in plagioclase and in Na2O, and is likely to be basaltic. The K-rich sediment component is consistent with APXS and ChemCam observations of K-rich rocks elsewhere in Gale Crater. The source of this sediment component was likely volcanic. The presence of sediment from many igneous sources, in concert with Curiosity's identifications of other igneous materials (e.g., mugearite), implies that the northern rim of Gale Crater exposes a diverse igneous complex, at least as diverse as that found in similar-age terranes on Earth.
authors.affiliation: Lunar and Planetary Institute Houston Texas USA.
authors.forename: Allan H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Treiman
authors.affiliation: Department of Geological Sciences Indiana University Bloomington Indiana USA.
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Bish
authors.affiliation: Planetary Science Institute Tucson Arizona USA.
authors.forename: David T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Vaniman
authors.affiliation: Chesapeake Energy Corporation Oklahoma City Oklahoma USA.
authors.forename: Steve J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Chipera
authors.affiliation: NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field California USA.
authors.forename: David F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Blake
authors.affiliation: Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division NASA Johnson Space Center Houston Texas USA.
authors.forename: Doug W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Ming
authors.affiliation: Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division NASA Johnson Space Center Houston Texas USA.
authors.forename: Richard V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.affiliation: NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field California USA.
authors.forename: Thomas F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Bristow
authors.affiliation: Department of Geosciences University of Arizona Tucson Arizona USA.
authors.forename: Shaunna M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Morrison
authors.affiliation: Division of Geologic and Planetary Sciences California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USA.
authors.forename: Michael B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.affiliation: Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division NASA Johnson Space Center Houston Texas USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Rampe
authors.affiliation: Department of Geosciences University of Arizona Tucson Arizona USA.
authors.forename: Robert T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Downs
authors.affiliation: Department of Geology Southern Illinois University Carbondale Illinois USA.
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Filiberto
authors.affiliation: Department of Geological Sciences University of North Carolina Chapel Hill North Carolina USA.
authors.forename: Allen F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Glazner
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics University of Guelf Guelph Ontario Canada.
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gellert
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences University of New Brunswick Fredericton New Brunswick Canada.
authors.forename: Lucy M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences Brock University St. Catharines Ontario Canada.
authors.forename: Mariek E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Planétologie et Géodynamique de Nantes, LPGN/CNRS UMR6112, and Université de Nantes Nantes France.
authors.forename: Laetitia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Le Deit
authors.affiliation: Space Remote Sensing Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos New Mexico USA.
authors.forename: Roger C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Wiens
authors.affiliation: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt Maryland USA.
authors.forename: Amy C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: McAdam
authors.affiliation: Department of Geological Sciences Indiana University Bloomington Indiana USA.
authors.forename: Cherie N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Achilles
authors.affiliation: Malin Space Science Systems, Inc. San Diego California USA.
authors.forename: Kenneth S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Edgett
authors.affiliation: School of Earth and Space Exploration Arizona State University Tempe Arizona USA.
authors.forename: Jack D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Farmer
authors.affiliation: Department of Geosciences University of Arizona Tucson Arizona USA.
authors.forename: Kim V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Fendrich
authors.affiliation: Division of Geologic and Planetary Sciences California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USA.
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Grotzinger
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Science and Engineering Imperial College London UK.
authors.forename: Sanjeev
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USA.
authors.forename: John Michael
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Morookian
authors.affiliation: Division of Geologic and Planetary Sciences California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USA.
authors.forename: Megan E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Newcombe
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences Western Washington University Bellingham Washington USA.
authors.forename: Melissa S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Rice
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences University of New Brunswick Fredericton New Brunswick Canada.
authors.forename: John G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Spray
authors.affiliation: Division of Geologic and Planetary Sciences California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USA.
authors.forename: Edward M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Stolper
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences University of California Davis California USA.
authors.forename: Dawn Y
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Sumner
authors.affiliation: Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USA.
authors.forename: Ashwin R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Vasavada
authors.affiliation: Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USA.
authors.forename: Albert S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Yen
keywords: CheMin; MSL; Mars; Windjana; X‐ray diffraction; sandstone