Sedimentology and stratigraphy of the fluvial–deltaic Skrinkle Haven member, Tenby formation, Jezero Crater, Mars

ABSTRACT In 2023, the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover investigated the Skrinkle Haven member of the Tenby formation in the > 3.5-billion-year Jezero Crater western fan. This unit was interpreted from orbiter data as bank attached, lateral-accretion bars in a sinuous river on a muddy delta plain. To test that hypothesis, this study applies facies and stratigraphic analyses of both rover and orbiter data. Rover images show that the Skrinkle Haven member is composed of two lithofacies: a fine-grained sandstone and a pebble conglomerate. Both lithofacies are composed of structureless, ungraded, planar-parallel beds that have sharp, nongradational contacts and depositional angles up to ∼ 30°. These characteristics indicate that grain flow was the main depositional process and that the sedimentary bodies were built through downstream accretion. Architectural analysis suggests that the Skrinkle Haven member was deposited primarily as delta foresets and mouth bars, with limited river bar deposition. The sequence stratigraphic analysis identified five maximum-flooding surfaces associated with relative-lake-level increases ranging from 5 to 25 m. In the sequences, deltaic strata prograded during normal and forced regressions. Some sequences have evidence for compensational stacking. Lake levels decreased through time both within sequences and throughout the duration of the Skrinkle Haven member deposition, from at least –2415 m in the oldest sequence to at most –2455 m in the youngest. The elevation range of the Skrinkle Haven member is below the modern Jezero Crater outlet breach, suggesting that the Jezero Crater lake basin was closed at that time. Overall, the Skrinkle Haven member records the deposition of a sandy to conglomeratic deltaic system that prograded into a closed lake basin during both forced and normal regressions. This type of fluvial–deltaic system is significantly different from the muddy delta topsets originally interpreted from orbiter data, because of the different implications for biosignature preservation and the paleohydrology of the Jezero Crater.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Sedimentary Research
Published
2025-11-19
DOI
https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2025.019
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Planetary Science and Exploration
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.15

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article

Sedimentology and stratigraphy of the fluvial–deltaic Skrinkle Haven member, Tenby formation, Jezero Crater, Mars

Jorge I. Núñez, Oak Kanine, J. P. Grotzinger, A. C. Pascuzzo et al.
1 citations
Journal of Sedimentary Research
Planetary Science and Exploration
1.15
article

Sedimentology and stratigraphy of the fluvial–deltaic Skrinkle Haven member, Tenby formation, Jezero Crater, Mars

Jorge I. Núñez, Oak Kanine, J. P. Grotzinger, A. C. Pascuzzo, Robert Barnes, Woodward W. Fischer, Samantha Gwizd, N. Mangold, Libby R. W. Ives, Emily Geyman, K. L. Siebach, Nicolas Randazzo, Michael P. Lamb, Justin I. Simon, Kathryn M. Stack, Joshua Huggett, Brittan Wogsland, Sanjeev Gupta, Sunanda Sharma, Patrick Russell, Stéphane Le Mouélic, Aileen Yingst, B. P. Weiss
article en
1 citations

Abstract

ABSTRACT In 2023, the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover investigated the Skrinkle Haven member of the Tenby formation in the > 3.5-billion-year Jezero Crater western fan. This unit was interpreted from orbiter data as bank attached, lateral-accretion bars in a sinuous river on a muddy delta plain. To test that hypothesis, this study applies facies and stratigraphic analyses of both rover and orbiter data. Rover images show that the Skrinkle Haven member is composed of two lithofacies: a fine-grained sandstone and a pebble conglomerate. Both lithofacies are composed of structureless, ungraded, planar-parallel beds that have sharp, nongradational contacts and depositional angles up to ∼ 30°. These characteristics indicate that grain flow was the main depositional process and that the sedimentary bodies were built through downstream accretion. Architectural analysis suggests that the Skrinkle Haven member was deposited primarily as delta foresets and mouth bars, with limited river bar deposition. The sequence stratigraphic analysis identified five maximum-flooding surfaces associated with relative-lake-level increases ranging from 5 to 25 m. In the sequences, deltaic strata prograded during normal and forced regressions. Some sequences have evidence for compensational stacking. Lake levels decreased through time both within sequences and throughout the duration of the Skrinkle Haven member deposition, from at least –2415 m in the oldest sequence to at most –2455 m in the youngest. The elevation range of the Skrinkle Haven member is below the modern Jezero Crater outlet breach, suggesting that the Jezero Crater lake basin was closed at that time. Overall, the Skrinkle Haven member records the deposition of a sandy to conglomeratic deltaic system that prograded into a closed lake basin during both forced and normal regressions. This type of fluvial–deltaic system is significantly different from the muddy delta topsets originally interpreted from orbiter data, because of the different implications for biosignature preservation and the paleohydrology of the Jezero Crater.

Journal of Sedimentary ResearchVol. 95(6)
California Institute of Technology (US), United States Geological Survey (US), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Planetary Science Institute (US), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (US), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (FR), University of Alberta (CA), Carnegie Institution for Science (US), Malin Space Science Systems (United States) (US), Knoxville College (US), Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (US), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (FR), Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (FR), Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géosciences (FR), Johnson Space Center (US), Géosciences Environnement Toulouse (FR), Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (FR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), Earth and Planets Laboratory, Imperial College London (GB), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US), Rice University (US), University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US), Nantes Université (FR)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, California Institute of Technology, Arizona State University, Society for Sedimentary Geology, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, U.S. Geological Survey, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Fogarty International Center
Openalex Percentile: Top 14%
Planetary Science and Exploration
1.15
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