Jake Matijevic (or Jake M) is a pyramidal rock on the surface of Aeolis Palus, between Peace Vallis and Aeolis Mons ("Mount Sharp"), in Gale crater on the planet

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

. The approximate site coordinates are: . The rock was encountered by the ''Curiosity'' rover on the way from Bradbury Landing to Glenelg Intrigue in September 2012 and measures about height and width. The rock was named by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

after Jacob Matijevic (1947–2012), a mathematician-turned-rover-engineer, who played a critical role in the design of the six-wheeled rover, but died just days after the ''Curiosity'' rover landed in August 2012. Matijevic was the surface operations systems chief engineer for the

Mars Science Laboratory Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a robotic spacecraft, robotic space probe mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, which successfully landed ''Curiosity (rover), Curiosity'', a Mars rover, in Gale (crater), Gale Crater on Augus ...

Project and the project's ''Curiosity'' rover. He was also a leading engineer for all of the previous NASA Mars rovers including '' Sojourner'', '' Spirit'' and '' Opportunity''. Jake Formation

The rover team determined the rock to be a suitable target for the first use of ''Curiosity''s contact instruments, the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) and the Alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS). Analytical studies, performed on the rock by the ''Curiosity'' rover in October 2012, suggest the Jake M rock is an

igneous rock Igneous rock ( ), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rocks are formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava. The magma can be derived from partial ...

but found to be high in elements consistent with

feldspar Feldspar ( ; sometimes spelled felspar) is a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagiocl ...

, such as

sodium Sodium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Na (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 element, group 1 of the peri ...

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

and

potassium Potassium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol K (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number19. It is a silvery white metal that is soft enough to easily cut with a knife. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmospheric oxygen to ...

, and lower concentrations of

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 ...

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

and

nickel Nickel is a chemical element; it has symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive, but large pieces are slo ...

than other such rocks previously found on Mars. The mineral content and elemental abundance indicates ''Jake M'' rock may be a mugearite, a sodium rich oligoclase-bearing basaltic trachyandesite. Igneous rocks similar to the Jake M rock are well known but occur rarely on Earth. On Earth, such rocks form when

magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma (sometimes colloquially but incorrectly referred to as ''lava'') is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also ...

, usually found in

volcanoes A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...

, rises to the surface, cools and partially solidifies with certain

chemical elements A chemical element is a chemical substance whose atoms all have the same number of protons. The number of protons is called the atomic number of that element. For example, oxygen has an atomic number of 8: each oxygen atom has 8 protons in i ...

, while the warmer liquid magma portion becomes enriched with the left-behind elements. By remarkable coincidence, the Martian locality Glenelg is also the name of a small settlement in north-west

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

that is east of type locality for mugearite at Mugeary on the island of Skye. The Jake M rock is a

ventifact A ventifact (also wind-faceted stone, windkanter) is a rock (geology), rock that has been abraded, pitted, etched, grooved, or polished by wind-driven sand or ice crystals. The word "Ventifact" is derived from the Latin word "Ventus" meaning 'wind ...

with a volcanic fabric.Zasada, Patrick (2013): Entstehung des Mars-Gesteins "Jake Matijevic". �
Sternzeit – Z. astron. Vereinig.issue 2/2013
98-101. ''ISSN 0721-8168'', (in German). Its pyramidal shape was formed by eolian drifted grains of sand. The little cavities on its surface were formed by the blast-effect, which is caused by different flow dynamics at the micro-relief. On the surface one could see the marks of the main wind direction, by which Jake M was formed. On September 27, 2013, NASA scientists reported that Jake M rock was a mugearite and very similar to terrestrial mugearite rocks.

References

External links

Mars Rock Touched by NASA ''Curiosity'' has Surprises
a NASA press release about the rock's composition
''Curiosity'' rover - Official Site

Volcanic rock classification

Roca Jake Matijevic (in spanish)
{{Portal bar, Solar System, Spaceflight Aeolis quadrangle Mars Science Laboratory Rocks on Mars

See also

References

External links