Active neutron sensing of the Martian surface with the DAN experiment onboard the NASA “Curiosity” Mars rover: Two types of soil with different water content in the gale crater

Abstract

This paper presents the water and chlorine content estimates on the bottom of the Martian crater Gale obtained by processing the data of active neutron sensing with the DAN experiment onboard theNASA “Curiosity”Mars rover at 412 spots along the 11-kilometer track. For 78% of the examined spots the water distribution in depth is found to be homogeneous with a mean content of 2.1±0.5% by mass (here and elsewhere variations correspond to the mean square deviations). For 22% of the examined spots the data require a two-layer model of water distribution down to the sensitivity limit of about 60 сm. The mean water content in upper layer of these spots is about 2−3% by mass, which is close to the content for spots with the homogeneous water distribution. In 8% of the examined spots the water content in the bottom layer at a depth of 27 ± 18 сm increases to 5.6 ± 2.7%. In 14% of the examined spots the water content in the bottom layer at a depth of 14 ± 7 сm decreases to 1.2 ± 0.5%. For interpretation of these results we conclude that the Gale crater has areas both with high and low water content, which correspond to distinct sedimentary layers from different past epochs, when sedimentation process took place underwater and in air correspondingly.