Foot-dragging Mars rover finds Yellowstone-like hot spring deposits

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As the rover drove away from Tyrone its jammed right front wheel dug this trench the site was later dubbed Gertrude Weise. Scientists first thought the white soil was caused by sulfate minerals but the Mini-TES instrument revealed its high silica con ...
As the rover drove away from Tyrone, its jammed right front wheel dug this trench; the site was later dubbed Gertrude Weise. Scientists first thought the white soil was caused by sulfate minerals, but the Mini-TES instrument revealed its high silica content, and the rover returned to the site to confirm the discovery. Credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell University

Deposits of nearly pure silica discovered by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit in Gusev Crater formed when volcanic steam or hot water (or maybe both) percolated through the ground. Such deposits are found around hydrothermal vents like those in Yellowstone National Park. That's the conclusion of planetary scientists working with data collected by the rover's Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES), developed at Arizona State University.


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