The Curiosity rover's discovery of rocks preserving evidence of past habitable conditions in Gale crater highlights the importance of constraining the timing of responsible depositional settings to understand the astrobiological implications for Mars. Crater statistics and mapping reveal the bulk of the alluvial deposits in Gale, including those interrogated by Curiosity, were likely emplaced during the Hesperian, thereby implying that habitable conditions persisted after the Noachian. Crater counting data sets and upper Peace Vallis fan morphology also suggest a possible younger period of fluvial activation that deposited ~10–20 m of sediments on the upper fan after emplacement of the main body of the fan. If validated, water associated with later alluvial activity may have contributed to secondary diagenetic features in Yellowknife Bay.
Earth and Space Science Open Archive This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. ESSOAr is a venue for early communication or feedback before peer review. Data may be preliminary.Learn more about preprints preprintOpen AccessYou are viewing the latest version by default [v1]Orbital Context and In Situ Observations of Nili Fossae Olivine-CarbonateAuthorsAdrianBrowniDRogerWiensiDSylvestreMauricePatrickPinetiDLuciaMandoniDStephaneLe MoueliciDLisaMayhewAryaUdryiDBrionyHorganiDNathalieTurenneFredCalefEdwardCloutisiDThierryFouchetiDClémentRoyeriDMaría-PazZorzanoiDEleniRavanisSarahFagentsAlbertoFairénSee all authors Adrian BrowniDCorresponding Author• Submitting AuthorSelf EmployediDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9352-6989view email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressRoger WiensiDSpace Science and ApplicationsiDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3409-7344view email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressSylvestre MauriceIRAP, CNRS, Université de Toulouse, UPS-OMPview email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressPatrick PinetiDInstitut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP)iDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1933-5631view email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressLucia MandoniDLESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université de ParisiDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9310-0742view email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressStephane Le MoueliciDLPG Nantes, UMR 6112, CNRS, OSUNA, Université de NantesiDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5260-1367view email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressLisa MayhewUniversity of Colorado at Boulderview email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressArya UdryiDUniversity of Nevada Las VegasiDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-0074-8110view email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressBriony HorganiDPurdue UniversityiDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6314-9724view email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressNathalie TurenneUniversity of Winnipegview email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressFred CalefJet Propulsion Laboratoryview email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressEdward CloutisiDUniversity of WinnipegiDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7301-0929view email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressThierry FouchetiDLESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université de ParisiDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9040-8285view email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressClément RoyeriDLESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université de ParisiDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5472-7235view email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressMaría-Paz ZorzanoiDCentro de AstrobiologíaiDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4492-9650view email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressEleni RavanisUniversity of Hawaii at Manoaview email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressSarah FagentsUniv Hawaiiview email addressThe email was not providedcopy email addressAlberto FairénCentro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), Madrid, Spain, and Dept. of Astronomy, Cornell Universityview email addressThe email was not providedcopy email address
