Everything about Meridiani Planum totally explained
Meridiani Planum is a plain located 2 degrees south of
Mars' equator (centered at ), in the westernmost portion of
Terra Meridiani. It hosts a rare occurrence of gray crystalline
hematite. On
Earth, hematite is often formed in
hot springs or in standing pools of
water; therefore, many scientists believe that the hematite at Meridiani Planum may be indicative of ancient hot springs or that the environment contained liquid water. The hematite is part of a layered
sedimentary rock formation about 200 to 800 meters thick. Other features of Meridiani Planum include
volcanic basalt and
impact craters.
Mars rover Opportunity
In
2004, Meridiani Planum was the landing site for the second of
NASA's two
Mars Exploration Rovers, named
Opportunity. It had also been the target landing site for
Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander, which was cancelled after the failures of the
Mars Climate Orbiter and
Mars Polar Lander missions.
Results from
Opportunity indicate that its landing site was once saturated for a long period of time with liquid water, possibly of high salinity and acidity. Features that suggest this include cross-bedded sediments, the presence of many small spherical pebbles that appear to be
concretions,
vugs inside rocks, and the presence of large amounts of
magnesium sulfate and other sulfate-rich minerals such as
jarosite.
Craters within Meridiani Planum
Further Information
Get more info on 'Meridiani Planum'.
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