Reading ‘Endurance Crater’

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Caption:

Figure 1

Chlorine Goes Deep This image taken by the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the layers of bedrock that line the walls of “Endurance Crater.” Opportunity has been inching down the crater walls, investigating distinct layers of rock for clues to Mars’ buried past. The various layers are labeled here as “A” through “F.” Targets within these layers, including millstone, are also indicated. Using its alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, Opportunity has discovered that the element chlorine increases in concentration dramatically with deepening layers. Opportunity will continue to roll deeper into Endurance to see if this puzzling trend continues. Scientists hope the new data will help them figure out how the presence of chlorine fits into the history of water at Endurance Crater. This image was taken on sol 134 (June 9, 2004).

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