Rock Sample Log Book – FMARS Crew 3 18-27 July 2001
Cathrine Frandsen and Charles Frankel
Note: Except where indicated, samples were loose fragments on surface, not attached to bedrock.
EVA-1 (July 18 2001)
AROUND THE HAB – HAYNES RIDGE
# 1.1 DOLOMITE
Dark brownish gray (slight greenish hint) fist-sized rock, with labyrinthian (in relief) pattern on one face : probably a dolomite. When exposed to acetic acid (vinegar, we hadn’t located the HCl cache yet!), rock does not fizz, but small pockets of soil in vugs do: probably calcium carbonate soil.
# 1.2 DOLOMITE
Beige-gray fist-sized sample. Shows clear layering on one edge, sub-millimetric, slightly wavy. Round dark lichen spots, º millimeter in size (just a few). Centimeter-size greenish ‘stamp’. No fizzing of rock under acetic acid, except where soil. Probably a dolomite.
# 1.3 MINERAL-COATED SAMPLE
Lumpy, smaller-than-fist size, gray rock (slight lavender tint), with clear-coloured, whitish, subhedral crystals, millimetric in size. Greenish spot on one side of sample. Crystals do not dissolve in mouth, have no taste. Look like anhydrite or dolomite crystals. Do not fizz in acetic acid, although some soil impurities on rock do. SAWED AND HALF OF SAMPLE GIVEN TO CHRISTINE JAYARAJAH.
# 1.4
Pale apricot-coloured, 5 x 3 x 2 cm sample. Gritty texture with a few black lichen spots. Alcove pitting. Also a greenish spot.
# 1.5
Pale-coloured rock with a lavender tint.
# 1.6
Peach-coloured 17 x 7 cm, dagger-shaped sample, with black, green and copper green (vert-de-gris) patches, probably due to weathering or biological activity. Vugs in the green patches fizz when exposed to acetic acid : their soil impurities are probably rich in calcium carbonate. Under its veneer, the rock is reddish gray, with fine (.5 mm) shiny grains/crystallites. The rock shows subtle layering.
Unfinished (only polished and mounted on glass on one side) THIN SECTION
# 1.7 DOLOMITE
Sample ‘fllake’, about 9 cm in diameter, chipped off rock. The rock itself is reddish gray with shiny, submillimetric grains. The weathered surface is creamy gray and does not effervesce when exposed to vinegar. Probably a dolomite.
# 1.8
Sample 5 cm across, with white spot, probably a lichen, on the weathered surface.
# 1.9 SAMPLE WITH FOSSIL
A cone-shaped, rosette of black, bluish and white wavy lamellae, attached to a rock sample that is typical of the area around the hab (dolomite). The rosette is probably a stromatolite-like fossil.
# 1.10 STROMATOLITE FRAGMENTv
Light-bluish gray rock flake, about 4 cm in diameter. The majority of the flake has a wavy layering, parallel to its surface. Layers are porous. We believe the flake to be a fragment of stromatolite.
# 1.11 DOLOMITE
Sample almost rectangular in shape, 4 cm long and 1 cm wide, representative of the rocks around the Hab (dolomite), showing outstanding, ‘ice blue’ biological staining on its surface. Lichen?
# 1.12 DOLOMITE
5 cm piece of dolomite with gray and black lichen on one side.
# 1.13 DOLOMITE
Light gray, fist-sized, ‘packman-shaped’ fragment of dolomite, with green and black lichen on one side.
# 1.14 DOLOMITE
3 cm cubic sample of yellowish (butterscotch) dolomite, with greenish patch and black spots.
EVA # 2 (July 19 2001)
RIDGE TWO-KILOMETERS NORTH-EAST OF THE HAB
(NORTH-WESTERN RIM OF CRATER, NEAR INUIT LAND BORDER)
# 2.1 DOLOMITE or DOLOMITIC LIMESTONE
Flatish, grayish rock, with some sort of bedding, detrital in aspect, with skeletal fabric in places, and in other places yellowish, quartz or dolimite-looking, 1-2 millimeter grains. Gritty, apricot-coloured ‘sand’ pasted on one face ; a rectangular 6 x 4 cm brownish inclusion or stain ; and a smaller ( 1 x 1 cm) bluish squarish inclusion in corner of latter. Opposite face of sample is knobby on a millimeter scale, from weathering. What is this ?
Places do fizz with HCl, although this could be due to surficial soil.
# 2.2 IMPACT BRECCIA
Irregular-shaped conglomerate breccia, 8 x 5 x 5 cm. Cruddy, brownish gray with a hint of lavender. Socket holes, where clasts once were. Other clasts jut out and are angular, up to 2 cm across.
Erratic sample was not representative of site, and was picked out amidst dolomite rocks.
# 2.3 DOLOMITE
Irregular-shaped sample (11 x 5 x 3 cm), pitted and knobby weathered dolomite, with apricot to purple, to emerald green staining. GIVEN TO CHRISTINE JAYARAJAH FOR DNA ANALYSIS.
# 2.4
Two small, coloured samples :
a) 7 x 3 x 2 cm golden, coral-rough texture on top, and bluish to emerald green tint on bottom.
b) ?
EVA # 3 (July 20, 2001)
MARINE ROCK, VON BRAUN PLANITIA
# 3.1 DOLOMITE
Flatish (7 x 6 x 1cm), very knobby (half-centimeter knobs) weathered dolomite. Brown to sepia brown. Apparently a fragment of coral reef.
Does not fizz with HCl: dolomitic.
Unfinished (only polished and mounted on glass on one side) THIN SECTION.
# 3.2 DOLOMITE and STROMATOLITES
Grab bag of rocks from ‘reef’, including :
a) a large stromatolite (12 x 12 x 6 cm) with wavy, sagging layering. Layers are mushroom-lamella thin (about 10 layers/cm)
b) smaller stromatolite (11 x 5 x 2cm). Both are grayish-brown in colour; and
c) twosmall (4 x 3 x2 and 3 x 2 x 1) cream-coloured (beige, hint of apricot), lightly pitted to flutted, ‘chalk-looking’ fragments.
Fragments do not fizz when exposed to HCl: dolomitic.
# 3.? ROBERT’s STROMATOLITE
EVA # 4 (July 21, 2001)
“BEAR CANYON” (our naming)
# 4.1 A Probably collected at waypoint 31 (17.4E, 77.6N). Apricot whitish rock with “etched” alcoves revealing layers (4/cm).
# 4.1 B Bownish gray (with hint of lavender) knobby flake of weathered dolomite (7 x 5 x 2cm), splitting along bedding planes.
# 4.2 Large (15 x 10 x 5), purplish, smooth rounded rock, coated with tiny shiny grains and golden soil .
# 4.3 Half-kilometer from “Bear Canyon” (as are next samples). Purplish, vesicular, weathered dolomite (6 x 4 x 2 cm). Looks almost like vesicular basalt !
# 4.4 Golden brown, fine sandstone or dolomite (6 x 4 x 4 cm) with tiny sparkling crystals. Some whitish spots (salts or lichen).
# 4.5 Yellowish-orange dolomite, rough on top, smooth on bottom, with tiny dark specks (of lichen?)
# 4.6 Whitish to slightly greenish, weathered dolomite or limestone with fine layering still visible.
EVA # 5 (July 23, 2001)
“CABIN ROCK” (our naming)
# 5.0 IMPACT BRECCIA
Yellowish, angular impact breccia (9 x 8 x 3 cm), collected in sand bar, on the way to Trinity Lake.
# 5.1 IMPACT BRECCIA
Chunk of light gray impact breccia, collected off “Cabin Rock”. It was pried off slab fracturing off the surface of the boulder, a large erratic boulder targeted by Lee and Cockell. Angular clasts are apparent on the outside, up to several cm in size, caught up in a fine, gray matrix. The surface shows some alteration, and the back side (fracture side) shows pervasive biological alteration.
Unfinished (only polished and glass-mounted on one side) THIN SECTION
# 5.2 and 5.3 IMPACT BRECCIA
Samples of impact breccia, hammered off Cabin Rock.
# 5.4 ALTERED IMPACT BRECCIA
Chips of impact breccia off Cabin Rock, showing orange and black lichen, growing in large patches, especially on the ‘southern’ (check) downslope side.
# 5.5, 5.6, 5.7 ALTERED IMPACT BRECCIA
Fragments of impact breccia off Cabin Rock, showing brownish, possibly biogenic alteration (northern side of boulder)
# 5.8 BASEMENT IMPACT BRECCIA
On the crater-side slope overlooking Trinity Lake, two quick grab of small (5 x 5 cm) fragments of basement impact breccia, showing salt and pepper, banded black and white texture. Anomalously low in density, probably due to partial volatilization. Lighter-coloured one has been sawed, and prepared as an unfinished (only polished on one side) THIN SECTION.
# 5.9 IMPACT BRECCIA
In same location as 5.8 (Trinity Lake), quick grab of small (5x 5 cm) impact breccia, showing small angular clasts (millimetric), white to greenish to dark, in a light gray matrix.
EVA # 6 (July 25, 2001)
“TYCHO CANYON” (our naming)
# 6.1 Before canyon, above lake on slope, chips of red-stained dolomite (8 x 5 x 4). Perhaps iron-rich. On smaller chip, reddish alteration seems to be on top * centimeter.
# 6.2 Canyon rim. Whitish brain coral (stringlet of shining ‘beads’) on brown dolomite. Green stain.
# 6.3 Canyon rim. Typical canyon dolomite (7 x 4 x 3 cm), brownish gray.
# 6.4 Canyon rim. Yellowish gray, vuggy dolomite
# 6.5 (a & b). Greenish, cream-coloured dolomite with pitting on some faces.
