Goulburn, also known as Goulburn Scour, is a
rock outcrop
An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth and other terrestrial planets.
Features
Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most p ...
on the surface of
Aeolis Palus, between
Peace Vallis and
Aeolis Mons ("Mount Sharp"), in
Gale crater
Gale is a crater, and probable dry lake, at in the northwestern part of the Aeolis quadrangle on Mars. It is in diameter and estimated to be about 3.5–3.8 billion years old. The crater was named after Walter Frederick Gale, an amateur a ...
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 outcrop was encountered by the
''Curiosity'' rover on landing at the
Bradbury Landing on August 6, 2012 (the 1st
sol of the mission) and is named after a two-billion year-old sequence of rocks in
Northern Canada
Northern Canada (), colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada, variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada#Territories, terr ...
. The "approximate" site coordinates are: .
The outcrop is a
well-sorted gravel
Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone.
Gr ...
conglomerate, containing well-rounded, smooth,
abraded pebbles. Occasional pebbles up to a few centimeters across are embedded in amongst a
matrix
Matrix (: matrices or matrixes) or MATRIX may refer to:
Science and mathematics
* Matrix (mathematics), a rectangular array of numbers, symbols or expressions
* Matrix (logic), part of a formula in prenex normal form
* Matrix (biology), the m ...
of finer rounded particles, up to a centimeter across. It has been interpreted as a
fluvial
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it ru ...
sediment
Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...
, deposited by a vigorously flowing stream, probably between ankle and waist deep. This stream is part of an ancient
alluvial fan
An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to Semi-arid climate, semiar ...
, which descends from the steep terrain at the rim of Gale crater across its floor.
Gallery
Image:PIA16157-MarsCuriosityRover-GoulburnLinkHottah-20120927.jpg, ''"Goulburn"'', ''" Link"'' and ''" Hottah"'' rock outcrops - suggest "vigorously" flowing water in an ancient streambed (September 27, 2012).
Image:PIA16067-MarsCuriosityRover-GoulburnBedrock-20120817.jpg, ''"Goulburn"'' rock outcrop
An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth and other terrestrial planets.
Features
Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most p ...
on Mars - near the landing site (" Bradbury Landing") of the ''Curiosity'' rover (August 17, 2012).
Image:PIA16187-MarsCuriosityRover-Goulburn-20120819.jpg, "Goulburn" rock outcrop
An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth and other terrestrial planets.
Features
Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most p ...
on Mars - an ancient streambedrock outcrop
An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth and other terrestrial planets.
Features
Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most p ...
on Mars - Close-up (August 17, 2012).
See also
*
Aeolis quadrangle
The Aeolis quadrangle is one of a series of list of quadrangles on Mars, 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Aeolis quadrangle is also referred to as MC-23 (Mars Chart-2 ...
*
Bedrock
In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet.
Definition
Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of bed ...
*
Composition of Mars
The composition of Mars covers the branch of the geology of Mars that describes the make-up of the planet Mars.
Elemental composition
Mars is differentiated, which—for a terrestrial planet—implies that it has a central core made up of h ...
*
Geology of Mars
The geology of Mars is the scientific study of the surface, crust, and interior of the planet Mars. It emphasizes the composition, structure, history, and physical processes that shape the planet. It is analogous to the field of terrestrial geo ...
*
Hottah (Mars)
*
Link (Mars)
Link is a rock outcrop on the surface of Aeolis Palus, between Peace Vallis and Aeolis Mons, Aeolis Mons ("Mount Sharp"), in Gale (crater), Gale crater on the planet Mars. The outcrop was encountered by the Curiosity rover, ''Curiosity'' rover on ...
*
List of rocks on Mars
Martian rocks and outcrops have been studied ''in-situ'' by various landers and rovers. While many of the rocks identified on the Martian surface are similar to each other, some have been considered scientifically important or otherwise notabl ...
*
Rock outcrop
An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth and other terrestrial planets.
Features
Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most p ...
*
Timeline of Mars Science Laboratory
The Mars Science Laboratory and its rover, Curiosity rover, ''Curiosity'', were launched from Earth on 26 November 2011. As of , , ''Curiosity'' has been in Gale Crater on the Mars, planet Mars for Sol (day on Mars), sols ( days, total days; ...
*
Water on Mars
Although very small amounts of liquid water may occur transiently on the surface of Mars, limited to traces of dissolved moisture from the atmosphere and thin films, large quantities of ice are present on and under the surface. Small amounts of ...
References
External links
''Curiosity'' Rover - Official SiteNASA - Mars Exploration Program
Volcanic rock classification
Video (04:32) - Evidence: Water "Vigorously" Flowed On Mars - September, 2012
Aeolis quadrangle
Mars Science Laboratory
Rocks on Mars
{{Mars-stub