Skip to main content
. 2020 Nov 5;10:19099. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-75665-7

Figure 1.

Figure 1

(A) Map shows physiographic features of Gale crater. White lines are topographic contours at 500 m intervals. The central mound (Aeolis Mons), informally known as Mt. Sharp, consists of 5 km of layered rocks. The crater floor is a ring-like low elevation area surrounding Mt. Sharp. The crater was once filled with sedimentary rocks but was subsequently excavated resulting in the present-day morphology21–23. The yellow rectangle is the area shown in (B). Major valleys and canyons are in cyan and include 1: Farah Vallis, 2: Dulce Vallis, 3: Peace Vallis, 4: Gediz Vallis, and 5: Grand Canyon of Gale crater (from24). The map was prepared in JMARS (Java Mission-Planning and Analysis for Remote Sensing) website v.4.0 (https://jmars.mars.asu.edu). JMARS is a cross-platform open source25–28 software that provides access to many Mars data products. Credit: Christensen et al.25, The map is a Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) Day IR (Infrared) image with elevation colors from Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA). Credits: Smith et al.26, Edwards et al.27, Hill and Christensen28, MOLA Science team, JPL, and NASA. (B). Map shows traverse path of the Curiosity rover. Large and small yellow squares are areas shown in (C) and (D), respectively. Solid cyan circles and cyan numbers indicate sol locations and sol numbers, respectively. BLS Bradbury Landing Site, C Cooperstown, D Darwin, DG Dingo Gap, GT Glen Torridon, J Junda, K Kimberley, Ky Kylie, MP Marias Pass, PH Pahrump Hills, VRR: Vera Ruben ridge. This figure was generated from High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) base map for Mars Science Laboratory (https://bit.ly/MSL_Basemap). Credit: Calef and Parker29. (C) Geological map shows rock units exposed along part of the area investigated by the curiosity rover. The black square is the area shown in (D) and (E). White lines are topographic contour lines at 10 m intervals. Solid cyan circles and cyan numbers are sol locations and sol numbers, respectively. Brown circles and brow numbers are locations where the elevation of the SU is determined and projected to line P–Q and shown in a cross section on Fig. 5. (D) The HiRISE image of the Kimberly region shows characteristics of the Striated Unit (SU), the Rugged Terrain Unit (RTU), and the Hummocky Plains Unit (HPU). Layers of the SU strike N60° E and dip about 10° SE. Solid cyan circles and cyan numbers are sol locations and sol numbers, respectively. Yellow dashed lines are crests of ridges in the HPU. X–Y and K–Y show locations of geological cross sections in Fig. 3. Thin colored lines are topographic contours at 1 m intervals. The image was generated from HiRISE RGB color image ESP_027834_1755 (https://bit.ly/MSL_Basemap) with a standard deviation stretch using ArcGIS version 10.6. Credit: Calef and Parker29. (E) Geological map of the Kimberley region prepared from the HiRISE image in (D). White lines are topographic contours at one-meter interval. Solid cyan circles and cyan numbers are sol locations and sol numbers, respectively. X–Y and K–Y show locations of geological cross section in Fig. 3. Yellow dashed lines are the location of ridge crests which were also marked in (D).