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Locations of chloride-bearing deposits (black) overlain on a Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) elevation map (grayscale). Inset is of a region in Terra Sirenum investigated by Davila et al. (2011). Color represents elevation as determined by MOLA (red is higher elevation, yellow is lower elevation).
Using data from Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, scientists have found widespread deposits of chloride minerals. Some of these chloride deposits have been identified to be a mixture of anhydrous chloride salt and regional basaltic regolith. These are located in the southern highlands of Mars. [36]
The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity landed in an area containing cross-bedded (mainly eolian) sandstones (Burns formation [64]). Fluvial-deltaic deposits are present in Eberswalde Crater and elsewhere, and photogeologic evidence suggests that many craters and low lying intercrater areas in the southern highlands contain Noachian-aged lake ...
Based on chloride deposits and hydrated phyllosilicates, Alfonso Davila and others believe there is an ancient lakebed in Terra Sirenum that had an area of 30,000 km 2 and was 200 meters deep. Other evidence that supports this lake are normal and inverted channels like ones found in the Atacama Desert .
Using data from Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, scientists have found widespread deposits of chloride minerals. A picture below shows some deposits within the Phaethontis quadrangle. Evidence suggests that the deposits were formed from the evaporation of mineral enriched waters.
They were deposited as water evaporated from the sea. These chloride deposits are thought to be thin (less than 30 meters), because some craters do not display the chemical in their ejecta. A crater's ejecta contains material from under the surface, therefore if the chloride deposits were very deep they would have appeared in the ejecta. [209]
Evidence of water from chloride deposits in Phaethontis quadrangle. Picture from HiRISE. Rocks on Mars have been found to frequently occur as layers, called strata, in many different places. Columbus Crater is one of many craters that contain layers. Rock can form layers in a variety of ways. Volcanoes, wind, or water can produce layers. [83]
Martian regolith is the fine blanket of unconsolidated, loose, heterogeneous superficial deposits covering the surface of Mars. The term Martian soil typically refers to the finer fraction of regolith.