EPSC2013-389.pdf

The Curiosity rover's ChemCam and APXS instruments analyzed over 100 rock and soil targets during the first 180 sols on Mars, providing compositional and textural variations along the traverse from the Bradbury landing site to Yellowknife Bay. The rover encountered a variety of rock types, including igneous and sedimentary rocks, with diverse compositions, such as alkali feldspars, mugearites, and calcium-rich salts. The APXS instrument analyzed a rock named Jake Matijevic, which showed a composition similar to terrestrial mugearites. The ChemCam instrument observed a collection of sedimentary rocks at Rocknest, which had high FeO abundances and displayed layering and compositional variations. The rover also encountered calcium-sulfate veins in the rocks at Yellowknife Bay. The mission revealed a striking compositional diversity within a short distance, with many details still to be revealed as the mission progresses.