Amapari Marker Band Metal‐Enrichments: Potential Mechanisms and Implications for Surface and Subsurface Water and Weathering in Gale Crater

Abstract NASA's Curiosity rover is exploring a 5 km tall sedimentary mound that is hypothesized to record the transition from a warm and wet (phyllosilicate‐rich) to a cold and drier (sulfate‐rich) Mars. Evidence of magnesium sulfate‐bearing rock has shown that Curiosity has crossed through this phyllosilicate‐sulfate transition. Recently, Curiosity arrived at the Amapari Marker Band, a darker, indurated unit that can be traced laterally for tens of kilometers in orbiter images. Here, Curiosity found evidence for a very broad lake, and bedforms interpreted as wave‐ripple laminated sedimentary rock that likely was deposited in shallow water in the explored location, before becoming a deeper lake. These rocks are enriched in Fe, Mn, and Zn which has major implications for groundwater paleohydrology in Gale crater. Three formation hypotheses are considered: concretion formation during early diagenetic alteration of shallow lake sediments, laterization or leaching of the sediments, and addition of Fe, Mn, and Zn by a mildly acidic and reducing groundwater interacting with a redox and/or pH front in a stratified lake. The preferred interpretation of the metal enrichments within the Amapari Marker band sedimentary rocks is that they formed in a shallow water environment at a redox and/or pH front within the ripple unit, which drove precipitation and concentration of metals. If the enrichments are due to groundwater alteration, these processes could link subsurface and surface environments. Water and the presence of high amounts of redox sensitive elements and other metals are favorable indicators for habitability.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research Planets
Published
2026-04-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1029/2025je009153
Primary Topic
Planetary Science and Exploration
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Amapari Marker Band Metal‐Enrichments: Potential Mechanisms and Implications for Surface and Subsurface Water and Weathering in Gale Crater

J. Lasue, E. B. Rampe, M. E. Minitti, R. A. Yingst et al.
Journal of Geophysical Research Planets
Planetary Science and Exploration
article

Amapari Marker Band Metal‐Enrichments: Potential Mechanisms and Implications for Surface and Subsurface Water and Weathering in Gale Crater

J. Lasue, E. B. Rampe, M. E. Minitti, R. A. Yingst, A. A. Fraeman, C. M. Weitz, E. Dehouck, L. M. Thompson, J. Frydenvang, T. F. Bristow, S. J. VanBommel, Amelie L. Roberts, David M. Rubin, Jack Lightholder, Claire A. Mondro, Rachel Y. Sheppard, Aster Cowart, P. J. Gasda, W. H. Farrand, C. Hardgrove, Susanne Schröder, S. P. Schwenzer, R. E. Milliken, Sarah Simpson, W. Goetz, Elisabeth M. Hausrath, Edwin S. Kite, A. B. Bryk, Benjamin M. Tutolo, R. M. E. Williams, Christina H. Seeger, C. D. O’Connell‐Cooper, S. M. Clegg, Laura J. Crossey, J. M. Davis, K. W. Lewis, Michael P. Lamb, Christopher H. House, Ari Essunfeld, N. Lanza, Olivier Gasnault, R. Gellert, J. A. Grant, Debabrata Das, Gwénaël Caravaca, S. Gupta, J. Schieber, D. Ming, D. Delapp, W. E. Dietrich, S. Le Mouélic, H. E. Newsom, P. D. Archer, W. Rapin, A. R. Vasavada, W. W. Fischer, J. R. Johnson, R. Arvidson
article en

Abstract

Abstract NASA's Curiosity rover is exploring a 5 km tall sedimentary mound that is hypothesized to record the transition from a warm and wet (phyllosilicate‐rich) to a cold and drier (sulfate‐rich) Mars. Evidence of magnesium sulfate‐bearing rock has shown that Curiosity has crossed through this phyllosilicate‐sulfate transition. Recently, Curiosity arrived at the Amapari Marker Band, a darker, indurated unit that can be traced laterally for tens of kilometers in orbiter images. Here, Curiosity found evidence for a very broad lake, and bedforms interpreted as wave‐ripple laminated sedimentary rock that likely was deposited in shallow water in the explored location, before becoming a deeper lake. These rocks are enriched in Fe, Mn, and Zn which has major implications for groundwater paleohydrology in Gale crater. Three formation hypotheses are considered: concretion formation during early diagenetic alteration of shallow lake sediments, laterization or leaching of the sediments, and addition of Fe, Mn, and Zn by a mildly acidic and reducing groundwater interacting with a redox and/or pH front in a stratified lake. The preferred interpretation of the metal enrichments within the Amapari Marker band sedimentary rocks is that they formed in a shallow water environment at a redox and/or pH front within the ripple unit, which drove precipitation and concentration of metals. If the enrichments are due to groundwater alteration, these processes could link subsurface and surface environments. Water and the presence of high amounts of redox sensitive elements and other metals are favorable indicators for habitability.

Journal of Geophysical Research PlanetsVol. 131(4)
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR), Smithsonian Institution (US), University of New Brunswick (CA), École Normale Supérieure de Lyon (FR), California Institute of Technology (US), Ames Research Center (US), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Space Science Institute (US), Planetary Science Institute (US), Pennsylvania State University (US), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (US), University of Nevada, Las Vegas (US), Los Alamos National Laboratory (US), Johns Hopkins University (US), University of Calgary (CA), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), The Open University (GB), Washington University in St. Louis (US), Université Nantes Angers Le Mans (FR), Brown University (US), Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (US), Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR) (DE), University of Chicago (US), Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale (FR), Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (DE), Indiana University Bloomington (US), National Air and Space Museum (US), National Institute of Meteorology (TN), Johnson Space Center (US), Géosciences Environnement Toulouse (FR), Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (FR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), Imperial College London (GB), Arizona State University (US), University of Guelph (CA), University of California, Berkeley (US)
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Planetary Science and Exploration
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