Abstract
Data gathered with the Dynamic Albedo of Neutron (DAN) instrument onboard rover Curiosity were analyzed for variations in subsurface neutron flux and tested for possible correlation with local geological context. A special DAN observation campaign was executed, in which 18 adjacent DAN active measurements were acquired every 0.75–1.0 m to search for the variations of subsurface hydrogen content along a 15 m traverse across geologic contacts between the Sheepbed and Gillespie Lake members of the Yellowknife Bay formation. It was found that several subunits in Sheepbed and Gillespie Lake could be characterized with different depth distributions of water-equivalent hydrogen (WEH) and different chlorine-equivalent abundance responsible for the distribution of neutron absorption elements. The variations of the average WEH at the top 60 cm of the subsurface are estimated at up to 2–3%. Chlorine-equivalent neutron absorption abundances ranged within 0.8–1.5%. The largest difference in WEH and chlorine-equivalent neutron absorption distribution is found between Sheepbed and Gillespie Lake.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1259-1275 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets |
Volume | 119 |
Issue number | 6 |
Early online date | 13 Jun 2014 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2014 |
Bibliographical note
The DAN team is thankful to the highly professional MSL project team members, who have maximized opportunities for DAN measurements on Mars. We would like to express our special thanks to the Rover Planner Team, MSL engineers, and scientists who made these DAN measurements real. The DAN team very much appreciates the work of colleagues from the N.L. Dukhov Institute for Automatics for the development of the reliable PNG for this experiment. Also, the DAN team appreciates the valuable cooperative support of the two national space agencies, Roscosmos and NASA, which, working together, have made this Russian‐contributed instrument possible on an American rover. Finally, the team thanks the Curiosity science community, which provided essential comments and advice to the DAN team during numerous discussions.Keywords
- DAN
- mars
- Curiosity
- neutrons