Source-to-Sink Processes in Gale Crater: Investigating Sedimentary Rocks on the Red Planet

Since landing on the floor of Gale crater in August 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover has explored over 400 m of basin-fill stratigraphy primarily consisting of fluvio-deltaic deposits and lacustrine mudstones. These sedimentary rocks are historical archives, recording an integrated history of past surface and sub-surface environments. We utilize a “source-to-sink” framework for interpreting the geochemistry of sedimentary rocks observed by Curiosity; this recognizes that the rocks represent an integrated history of detrital source particles, affected by weathering, transport, and sorting processes, and then lithified with chemical sediments and cements, and potentially physically and chemically altered by diagenetic processes. I will present how we have been using modeling, field analogs, and laboratory work to detangle these influences to constrain the magmatic systems around Gale, the paleoclimate during sediment deposition, sorting processes during transport, and lithification and diagenetic processes. These constraints help us better understand the type and duration of habitable environments above and below the surface.