The Sedimentary History of Mars as Observed by Rovers

Abstract: Mars has a sedimentary history that spans billions of years. Orbital images have allowed for the identification of vast regional sedimentary deposits that can be traced over 100s of kilometers and are 100s of meters thick including localized alluvial, deltaic, and lacustrine deposits. Detections of secondary minerals in these deposits from orbital spectroscopy suggest the aqueous history of early Mars varied as a function of space and time. Orbital observations, however, provide a simplified …