1.
Lyme Regis
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Lyme Regis /ˌlaɪmˈriːdʒɪs/ is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester and 25 miles east of Exeter. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset–Devon border and it is nicknamed The Pearl of Dorset. The town is noted for the found in the cliffs and beaches. The town was home to Admiral Sir George Somers, its one-time mayor and he founded the English colonial settlement of the Somers Isles, better known as Bermuda. Lyme Regis is twinned with St. Georges, Bermuda, in July 2015 Lyme Regis was also tripled with Jamestown, Virginia to form the Historic Atlantic Triangle between Lyme, St Georges and Jamestown. In the 2011 Census the towns parish and the ward had a population of 3,671. In Saxon times, the abbots of Sherborne Abbey had salt-boiling rights on land adjacent to the River Lym, Lyme is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. In the 13th century, it developed as one of the major British ports, a Royal Charter was granted by King Edward I in 1284 when Regis was added to the towns name. The charter was confirmed by Queen Elizabeth I in 1591, John Leland visited the town in the 16th century and described it as a praty market town set in the rootes of an high rokky hille down to the hard shore. There cummith a shalow broke from the hilles about a three miles by north, and cummith fleting on great stones through a bridge in the botom. In 1644, during the English Civil War, Parliamentarians withstood a siege of the town by Royalist forces under Prince Maurice. The Duke of Monmouth landed at Lyme Regis at start of the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685, on New Years Day,1915, the H. M. S. Formidable was torpedoed, the first major U-boat loss of World War I, a local lifeboat delivered bodies to the Pilot Boat Inn on Bridge Street. Lassie, the dog of the Inns owner, licked the face of Seaman Cowan, believed dead, the namesake of the cross-breed became a legend of books, radio, film and television. In 1965, the railway station was closed, in the Beeching Axe. The station was dismantled and rebuilt at Alresford, on the Mid Hants Watercress Railway in Hampshire, the route to Lyme Regis was notable for being operated by aged Victorian locomotives. One of these Adams Radial Tank engines is now preserved on the Bluebell Railway in Sussex, West Country Class steam locomotive No.34009 was named Lyme Regis after the town. In 2005, as part of the bicentenary of Admiral Nelsons victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, the actor playing the part of Trafalgar messenger Lieutenant Lapenotiere was welcomed at Lyme Regis
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Mudrock
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Mudrocks are a class of fine grained siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. The varying types of mudrocks include, siltstone, claystone, mudstone, slate, most of the particles of which the stone is composed are less than 0.0625 mm and are too small to study readily in the field. At first sight the rock types look quite similar, however, there are important differences in composition, there has been a great deal of disagreement involving the classification of mudrocks. Fine sediment is the most abundant product of erosion, and these contribute to the overall omnipresence of mudrocks. With increased pressure over time the platey clay minerals may become aligned and this finely bedded material that splits readily into thin layers is called shale, as distinct from mudstone. The lack of fissility or layering in mudstone may be due either to the texture or to the disruption of layering by burrowing organisms in the sediment prior to lithification. From the beginning of civilization, when pottery and mudbricks were made by hand, to now, literature on this omnipresent rock-type has been increasing in recent years, and technology continues to allow for better analysis. Mudrocks, by definition, consist of at least fifty percent mud-sized particles, specifically, mud is composed of silt-sized particles that are between 1/16 – 1/256 of a millimeter in diameter, and clay-sized particles which are less than 1/256 millimeter. Mudrocks contain mostly clay minerals, and quartz and feldspars and they can also contain the following particles at less than 63 micrometres, calcite, dolomite, siderite, pyrite, marcasite, heavy minerals, and even organic carbon. There are various synonyms for fine-grained siliciclastic rocks containing fifty percent or more of its constituents less than 1/256 of a millimeter. Mudstones, shales, lutites, and argillites are common qualifiers, or umbrella-terms, however, the term mudrock allows for further subdivisions of siltstone, claystone, mudstone, and shale. For example, a siltstone would be made of more than 50-percent grains that equate to 1/16 - 1/256 of a millimeter, Shale denotes fissility, which implies an ability to part easily or break parallel to stratification. Siltstone, mudstone, and claystone implies lithified, or hardened, a claystone is lithified, and non-fissile mudrock. In order for a rock to be considered a claystone, it must consist of up to fifty percent clay, clay minerals are integral to mudrocks, and represent the first or second most abundant constituent by volume. There are 35 recognized clay mineral species on Earth and they make muds cohesive and plastic, or able to flow. Clay is by far the smallest particles recognized in mudrocks, most materials in nature are clay minerals, but quartz, feldspar, iron oxides, and carbonates can weather to sizes of a typical clay mineral. For a size comparison, a particle is 1/1000 the size of a sand grain. This means a particle will travel 1000 times further at constant water velocity
3.
Sedimentary rock
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Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the deposition and subsequent cementation of that material at the Earths surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle in place. The particles that form a rock by accumulating are called sediment. Sedimentation may also occur as minerals precipitate from solution or shells of aquatic creatures settle out of suspension. The sedimentary rock cover of the continents of the Earths crust is extensive, sedimentary rocks are only a thin veneer over a crust consisting mainly of igneous and metamorphic rocks. Sedimentary rocks are deposited in layers as strata, forming a structure called bedding, sedimentary rocks are also important sources of natural resources like coal, fossil fuels, drinking water or ores. The study of the sequence of rock strata is the main source for an understanding of the Earths history, including palaeogeography, paleoclimatology. The scientific discipline that studies the properties and origin of rocks is called sedimentology. Sedimentology is part of both geology and physical geography and overlaps partly with other disciplines in the Earth sciences, such as pedology, geomorphology, geochemistry, sedimentary rocks have also been found on Mars. Clastic sedimentary rocks are composed of rock fragments that were cemented by silicate minerals. Clastic rocks are composed largely of quartz, feldspar, rock fragments, clay minerals, and mica, any type of mineral may be present, clastic sedimentary rocks, are subdivided according to the dominant particle size. Most geologists use the Udden-Wentworth grain size scale and divide unconsolidated sediment into three fractions, gravel, sand, and mud and this tripartite subdivision is mirrored by the broad categories of rudites, arenites, and lutites, respectively, in older literature. The subdivision of these three categories is based on differences in clast shape, conglomerates and breccias), composition. Conglomerates are dominantly composed of rounded gravel, while breccias are composed of dominantly angular gravel, composition of framework grains The relative abundance of sand-sized framework grains determines the first word in a sandstone name. Naming depends on the dominance of the three most abundant components quartz, feldspar, or the lithic fragments that originated from other rocks, all other minerals are considered accessories and not used in the naming of the rock, regardless of abundance. Clean sandstones with open space are called arenites. Muddy sandstones with abundant muddy matrix are called wackes, six sandstone names are possible using the descriptors for grain composition and the amount of matrix. Mudrocks are sedimentary rocks composed of at least 50% silt- and clay-sized particles and these relatively fine-grained particles are commonly transported by turbulent flow in water or air, and deposited as the flow calms and the particles settle out of suspension
4.
Clay
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Clay is a fine-grained natural rock or soil material that combines one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure. Clays are plastic due to water content and become hard, brittle. Depending on the content in which it is found, clay can appear in various colours from white to dull grey or brown to deep orange-red. Although many naturally occurring deposits include both silts and clay, clays are distinguished from other fine-grained soils by differences in size, silts, which are fine-grained soils that do not include clay minerals, tend to have larger particle sizes than clays. There is, however, some overlap in size and other physical properties. The distinction between silt and clay varies by discipline, geologists and soil scientists usually consider the separation to occur at a particle size of 2 µm, sedimentologists often use 4–5 μm, and colloid chemists use 1 μm. Geotechnical engineers distinguish between silts and clays based on the plasticity properties of the soil, as measured by the soils Atterberg limits, ISO14688 grades clay particles as being smaller than 2 μm and silt particles as being larger. These solvents, usually acidic, migrate through the rock after leaching through upper weathered layers. In addition to the process, some clay minerals are formed through hydrothermal activity. There are two types of deposits, primary and secondary. Primary clays form as residual deposits in soil and remain at the site of formation, secondary clays are clays that have been transported from their original location by water erosion and deposited in a new sedimentary deposit. Clay deposits are associated with very low energy depositional environments such as large lakes. Depending on the source, there are three or four main groups of clays, kaolinite, montmorillonite-smectite, illite, and chlorite. Chlorites are not always considered to be a clay, sometimes being classified as a group within the phyllosilicates. There are approximately 30 different types of clays in these categories. Varve is clay with visible annual layers, which are formed by deposition of those layers and are marked by differences in erosion. This type of deposit is common in glacial lakes
5.
Clay minerals
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Clay minerals are hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, sometimes with variable amounts of iron, magnesium, alkali metals, alkaline earths, and other cations found on or near some planetary surfaces. Clay minerals form in the presence of water and have been important to life and they are important constituents of soils, and have been useful to humans since ancient times in agriculture and manufacturing. Clays form flat hexagonal sheets similar to the micas, Clay minerals are common weathering products and low-temperature hydrothermal alteration products. Clay minerals are common in soils, in fine-grained sedimentary rocks such as shale, mudstone. Clay minerals are usually ultrafine-grained and so may require special techniques for their identification. These methods can be augmented by polarized light microscopy, a traditional technique establishing fundamental occurrences or petrologic relationships. Given the requirement of water, clay minerals are rare in the Solar System, though they occur extensively on Earth where water has interacted with other minerals. Clay minerals have been detected at several locations on Mars including Echus Chasma and Mawrth Vallis and the Memnonia quadrangle, spectrography has confirmed their presence on asteroids including the dwarf planet Ceres and Tempel 1 as well as Jupiters moon Europa. A1,1 clay would consist of one sheet and one octahedral sheet. A2,1 clay consists of an octahedral sheet sandwiched between two sheets, and examples are talc, vermiculite and montmorillonite. Smectite group which includes dioctahedral smectites such as montmorillonite, nontronite and beidellite, in 2013, analytical tests by the Curiosity rover found results consistent with the presence of smectite clay minerals on the planet Mars. Illite group which includes the clay-micas, illite is the only common mineral. Chlorite group includes a variety of similar minerals with considerable chemical variation. Other 2,1 clay types exist such as sepiolite or attapulgite, mixed layer clay variations exist for most of the above groups. Ordering is described as random or regular ordering, and is described by the term reichweite. Literature articles will refer to a R1 ordered illite-smectite, for example and this type would be ordered in an ISISIS fashion. R0 on the other hand describes random ordering, and other advanced ordering types are also found, mixed layer clay minerals which are perfect R1 types often get their own names. R1 ordered chlorite-smectite is known as corrensite, R1 illite-smectite is rectorite, knowledge of the nature of clay became better understood in the 1930s with advancements in x-ray diffraction technology necessary to analyze the molecular nature of clay particles
6.
Fissility (geology)
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Fissility or fissibility refers to the property of rocks to split along planes of weakness into thin sheets. This is commonly observed in shales, which are sedimentary rocks, and in slates and phyllites, the fissility in these rocks is caused by the preferred alignment of platy phyllosilicate grains due to compaction, deformation or new mineral growth. A highly fissile rock splits easily along the cleavage
7.
Shale
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Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable, shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering or bedding less than one centimeter in thickness, called fissility. Mudstones, on the hand, are similar in composition. Before the mid 19th century, the slate, shale. In the context of underground mining, shale was frequently referred to as slate well into the 20th century. Non-fissile rocks of similar composition but made of smaller than 0.06 mm are described as mudstones or claystone. Rocks with similar sizes but with less clay and therefore grittier are siltstones. Shale is the most common sedimentary rock, shales are typically composed of variable amounts of clay minerals and quartz grains and the typical color is gray. Addition of variable amounts of minor constituents alters the color of the rock, black shale results from the presence of greater than one percent carbonaceous material and indicates a reducing environment. Black shale can also be referred to as black metal, red, brown and green colors are indicative of ferric oxide, iron hydroxide, or micaceous minerals. Clays are the constituent of shales and other mudrocks. The clay minerals represented are largely kaolinite, montmorillonite and illite, clay minerals of Late Tertiary mudstones are expandable smectites whereas in older rocks especially in mid- to early Paleozoic shales illites predominate. The transformation of smectite to illite produces silica, sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron and these released elements form authigenic quartz, chert, calcite, dolomite, ankerite, hematite and albite, all trace to minor minerals found in shales and other mudrocks. Shales and mudrocks contain roughly 95 percent of the matter in all sedimentary rocks. However, this amounts to less than one percent by mass in an average shale, black shales, which form in anoxic conditions, contain reduced free carbon along with ferrous iron and sulfur. Pyrite and amorphous iron sulfide along with carbon produce the black coloration, the process in the rock cycle which forms shale is called compaction. The fine particles that compose shale can remain suspended in long after the larger particles of sand have deposited. Shales are typically deposited in very slow moving water and are found in lakes and lagoonal deposits, in river deltas, on floodplains
8.
Siltstone
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Siltstone is a sedimentary rock which has a grain size in the silt range, finer than sandstone and coarser than claystones. Siltstone is a sedimentary rock. As its name implies, it is composed of silt sized particles. Siltstones differ significantly from sandstones due to their smaller pores and higher propensity for containing a significant clay fraction, although often mistaken as a shale, siltstone lacks the fissility and laminations which are typical of shale. Unless the siltstone is fairly shaly, stratification is likely to be obscure, mudstone or shale are rocks that contain mud, which is material that has a range of silt and clay. Siltstone is differentiated by having a majority silt, not clay, folk, R. L.1965, Petrology of sedimentary rocks PDF version. 2nd ed.1981, ISBN 0-914696-14-9 Williams, Howel, Francis J. Turner and Charles M. Gilbert,1954, Petrography, W. H. Freeman
9.
Argillite
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Argillite may also refer to Argillite, Kentucky. An argillite is a sedimentary rock composed predominantly of indurated clay particles. Argillaceous rocks are basically lithified muds and oozes and they contain variable amounts of silt-sized particles. The argillites grade into shale when the fissile layering typical of shale is developed, another name for poorly lithified argillites is mudstone. These rocks, although variable in composition, are high in aluminium and silica with variable alkali. The term pelitic or pelite is often applied to these sediments, metamorphism of argillites produces slate, phyllite, and pelitic schist. The Belt Supergroup, an assemblage of rocks of late Precambrian age, includes thick sequences of argillite and it is exposed primarily in western Montana, including the Bitterroot Valley and Bitterroot Mountains, the Missoula area, Flathead Lake, and Glacier National Park, and in northern Idaho. There are also minor occurrences in northwestern Washington and western Wyoming, the Haida carvings of along the coast of British Columbia are notable aboriginal art treasures created from a type of a hard, fine black silt argillite, sometimes called black slate. The black slate occurs only at a quarry on a Slatechuck Mountain in the basin of Slatechuck Creek. At one time, around 1900, it was shipped to Victoria for manufacturing and this artwork has been of high quality and prized around the world since the Haida first began carving it to sell to sailors around 1800, modern Haida carvers continue the tradition. Mudrock Catlinite Lutite R. V. Dietrich,2005, Gemrocks, museum of Civilization Haida argillite gallery BC Govt MINFILE report, includes history and geological data. Dauzères, Alexandre,2004, Ten Years of Argillite Study, Procedia Earth and Planetary Science USGS argillite
10.
Dunham classification
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Robert J. Dunham published his classification system for limestone in 1962. His scheme focuses on the fabric of carbonate rocks. Dunham divides the rocks into four groups based on relative proportions of coarser clastic particles. Dunham names are essentially for rock families, unlike the Folk classification scheme, Dunham deals with the original porosity of the rock. The Dunham scheme is useful for hand samples because it is based on texture. The classification is a way of describing the composition of rocks in hand sample. Mudstone contains less than 10% grains, supported by a lime mud, wackestone consists of more than 10% grains, supported by a lime mud. Packstone contains lime mud and is grain supported, grainstone lacks mud and is grain supported. Bafflestone develops where organisms have hindered deposition, reducing the local depositional energy and these stones usually contain traces of the baffling organisms, and smaller grains than would be expected from the strength of the paleocurrent. Bindstone is produced where organisms encrust the elements during deposition and bind them together, framestone is a solid calcareous or siliceous framework which is maintained by an organism such as a coral or sponge. Crystalline carbonate does not have recognisable depositional structures, classification of carbonate rocks according to depositional texture. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir
11.
Limestone
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Limestone is a sedimentary rock, composed mainly of skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral, forams and molluscs. Its major materials are the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate, about 10% of sedimentary rocks are limestones. The solubility of limestone in water and weak acid solutions leads to karst landscapes, most cave systems are through limestone bedrock. The first geologist to distinguish limestone from dolomite was Belsazar Hacquet in 1778, like most other sedimentary rocks, most limestone is composed of grains. Most grains in limestone are skeletal fragments of organisms such as coral or foraminifera. Other carbonate grains comprising limestones are ooids, peloids, intraclasts and these organisms secrete shells made of aragonite or calcite, and leave these shells behind when they die. Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica in the form of chert or siliceous skeletal fragment, some limestones do not consist of grains at all, and are formed completely by the chemical precipitation of calcite or aragonite, i. e. travertine. Secondary calcite may be deposited by supersaturated meteoric waters and this produces speleothems, such as stalagmites and stalactites. Another form taken by calcite is oolitic limestone, which can be recognized by its granular appearance, the primary source of the calcite in limestone is most commonly marine organisms. Some of these organisms can construct mounds of rock known as reefs, below about 3,000 meters, water pressure and temperature conditions cause the dissolution of calcite to increase nonlinearly, so limestone typically does not form in deeper waters. Limestones may also form in lacustrine and evaporite depositional environments, calcite can be dissolved or precipitated by groundwater, depending on several factors, including the water temperature, pH, and dissolved ion concentrations. Calcite exhibits a characteristic called retrograde solubility, in which it becomes less soluble in water as the temperature increases. Impurities will cause limestones to exhibit different colors, especially with weathered surfaces, Limestone may be crystalline, clastic, granular, or massive, depending on the method of formation. Crystals of calcite, quartz, dolomite or barite may line small cavities in the rock, when conditions are right for precipitation, calcite forms mineral coatings that cement the existing rock grains together, or it can fill fractures. Travertine is a banded, compact variety of limestone formed along streams, particularly there are waterfalls. Calcium carbonate is deposited where evaporation of the leaves a solution supersaturated with the chemical constituents of calcite. Tufa, a porous or cellular variety of travertine, is found near waterfalls, coquina is a poorly consolidated limestone composed of pieces of coral or shells. During regional metamorphism that occurs during the building process, limestone recrystallizes into marble
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Carbonate rock
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Carbonate rocks are a class of sedimentary rocks composed primarily of carbonate minerals. The two major types are limestone, which is composed of calcite or aragonite and dolostone, which is composed of the mineral dolomite. Calcite can be dissolved by groundwater or precipitated by groundwater, depending on several factors including the water temperature, pH. Calcite exhibits a characteristic called retrograde solubility in which it becomes less soluble in water as the temperature increases. When conditions are right for precipitation, calcite forms mineral coatings that cement the existing rock grains together or it can fill fractures, karst topography and caves develop in carbonate rocks because of their solubility in dilute acidic groundwater. Cooling groundwater or mixing of different groundwaters will also create conditions suitable for cave formation, marble is the metamorphic carbonate rock. Rare igneous carbonate rocks exist as intrusive carbonatites and even rarer volcanic carbonate lava
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Timeline of Mars Science Laboratory
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Timeline of Mars Science Laboratory is a timeline of the Mars Science Laboratory mission and its rover, Curiosity. As of April 7,2017, Curiosity has been on the planet Mars for 1660 sols since landing on August 6,2012. In April 2004, the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration called for scientific experiments and instruments proposals for the Mars Science Laboratory, Launch was proposed for September 2009. By December 14,2004, eight proposals were selected, including instruments from Russia, testing of components also began in late 2004, including Aerojets monopropellant engine with the ability to throttle from 15–100 percent thrust with a fixed propellant inlet pressure. By November 2008 most hardware and software development was complete, at this point, cost overruns were approximately $400 million. On December 2008, lift-off was delayed to November 2011 due to insufficient time for testing, between March 23–29,2009, the general public ranked nine finalist rover names through a public poll on the NASA website. On May 27,2009, the name was announced to be Curiosity. The name had been submitted in an essay contest by Clara Ma, at the first MSL Landing Site workshop,33 potential landing sites were identified. On July 22,2011, it was announced that Gale Crater had been selected as the site of the Mars Science Laboratory mission. MSL was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41 on November 26,2011, the first and second rocket stages, along with the rocket motors, were stacked on October 9,2011 near the launch pad. The fairing containing the spacecraft was transported to the pad on November 3,2011. On December 13,2011, the rover began monitoring space radiation to aid in planning for manned missions to Mars. The interplanetary journey to Mars took more than eight months, time during which, mission design had allowed for a maximum of 6 trajectory correction opportunities. Curiosity landed in the Gale Crater at 05,17 UTC on August 6,2012, upon reaching Mars, an automated precision landing sequence took over the entire landing events. A cable cutter separated the stage from the aeroshell and then the cruise stage was diverted into a trajectory for burn-up in the atmosphere. Landing was confirmed simultaneously by 3 monitoring Mars orbiters, Curiosity landed on target and only 2.4 km from its center. The coordinates of the site are,4. 5895°S137. 4417°E / -4.5895,137.4417. Some low resolution Hazcam images were beamed to Earth by relay orbiters confirming the rovers wheels were deployed correctly, three hours later, the rover begins to beam detailed data on its systems status as well as on its entry, descent and landing experience
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Mars
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Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, after Mercury. Named after the Roman god of war, it is referred to as the Red Planet because the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance. Mars is a planet with a thin atmosphere, having surface features reminiscent both of the impact craters of the Moon and the valleys, deserts, and polar ice caps of Earth. The rotational period and seasonal cycles of Mars are likewise similar to those of Earth, Mars is the site of Olympus Mons, the largest volcano and second-highest known mountain in the Solar System, and of Valles Marineris, one of the largest canyons in the Solar System. The smooth Borealis basin in the northern hemisphere covers 40% of the planet, Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are small and irregularly shaped. These may be captured asteroids, similar to 5261 Eureka, a Mars trojan, there are ongoing investigations assessing the past habitability potential of Mars, as well as the possibility of extant life. Future astrobiology missions are planned, including the Mars 2020 and ExoMars rovers, liquid water cannot exist on the surface of Mars due to low atmospheric pressure, which is about 6⁄1000 that of the Earths, except at the lowest elevations for short periods. The two polar ice caps appear to be largely of water. The volume of ice in the south polar ice cap, if melted. On November 22,2016, NASA reported finding a large amount of ice in the Utopia Planitia region of Mars. The volume of water detected has been estimated to be equivalent to the volume of water in Lake Superior, Mars can easily be seen from Earth with the naked eye, as can its reddish coloring. Its apparent magnitude reaches −2.91, which is surpassed only by Jupiter, Venus, the Moon, optical ground-based telescopes are typically limited to resolving features about 300 kilometers across when Earth and Mars are closest because of Earths atmosphere. Mars is approximately half the diameter of Earth with an area only slightly less than the total area of Earths dry land. Mars is less dense than Earth, having about 15% of Earths volume and 11% of Earths mass, the red-orange appearance of the Martian surface is caused by iron oxide, or rust. It can look like butterscotch, other common colors include golden, brown, tan. Like Earth, Mars has differentiated into a metallic core overlaid by less dense materials. Current models of its interior imply a core with a radius of about 1,794 ±65 kilometers, consisting primarily of iron and this iron sulfide core is thought to be twice as rich in lighter elements than Earths. The core is surrounded by a mantle that formed many of the tectonic and volcanic features on the planet
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CheMin
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CheMin, short for Chemistry and Mineralogy, is an instrument located in the interior of the Curiosity rover that is exploring the surface of Gale crater on Mars. David Blake, from NASA Ames Research Center, is the Principal Investigator, CheMin identifies and quantifies the minerals present in rocks and soil delivered to it by the rovers robotic arm. By determining the mineralogy in rocks and soils, CheMin assesses the involvement of water in their formation, deposition, in addition, CheMin data is useful in the search for potential mineral biosignatures, energy sources for life or indicators for past habitable environments. CheMin aboard the Curiosity rover on Mars won the 2013 NASA Government Invention of the year award, CheMin is an X-ray powder diffraction instrument that also has X-ray fluorescence capabilities. Raw CCD frames are processed into data products on board the rover to reduce the data volume and these data products are transmitted to Earth for further processing analyses. In operation, a collimated X-ray source produces and directs a beam through a sample cell containing powdered material. An X-ray sensitive CCD imager is positioned on the side of the sample from the source. The CCD can measure the charge generated by each photon, diffracted X-rays strike the detector and are identified by their energy, producing a two-dimensional image that constitutes the diffraction pattern of the sample. Both crystalline and amorphous materials can be analyzed in this fashion, the funnel contains a 1 mm mesh screen to limit the particle size. Five permanent cells are loaded with calibration standards, these are single minerals or synthetic ceramic, each analysis may take up to 10 hours, spread out over two or more Martian nights. Capacity, CheMin is planned to analyze as many as 74 dry samples, cross-contamination by cell reuse is expected to be less than 5%. CheMin does not have the capability to store previously analyzed samples for later reanalysis, detection limits, able to detect individual minerals that are present at the 3% level and above. The paragonetic tephra from a Hawaiian cinder cone has been mined to create Martian regolith simulant for researchers to use since 1998
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NASA
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower established NASA in 1958 with a distinctly civilian orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science. The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed on July 29,1958, disestablishing NASAs predecessor, the new agency became operational on October 1,1958. Since that time, most US space exploration efforts have led by NASA, including the Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station. Currently, NASA is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, the agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for unmanned NASA launches. NASA shares data with various national and international such as from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite. Since 2011, NASA has been criticized for low cost efficiency, from 1946, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics had been experimenting with rocket planes such as the supersonic Bell X-1. In the early 1950s, there was challenge to launch a satellite for the International Geophysical Year. An effort for this was the American Project Vanguard, after the Soviet launch of the worlds first artificial satellite on October 4,1957, the attention of the United States turned toward its own fledgling space efforts. This led to an agreement that a new federal agency based on NACA was needed to conduct all non-military activity in space. The Advanced Research Projects Agency was created in February 1958 to develop technology for military application. On July 29,1958, Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, a NASA seal was approved by President Eisenhower in 1959. Elements of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency and the United States Naval Research Laboratory were incorporated into NASA, earlier research efforts within the US Air Force and many of ARPAs early space programs were also transferred to NASA. In December 1958, NASA gained control of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA has conducted many manned and unmanned spaceflight programs throughout its history. Some missions include both manned and unmanned aspects, such as the Galileo probe, which was deployed by astronauts in Earth orbit before being sent unmanned to Jupiter, the experimental rocket-powered aircraft programs started by NACA were extended by NASA as support for manned spaceflight. This was followed by a space capsule program, and in turn by a two-man capsule program. This goal was met in 1969 by the Apollo program, however, reduction of the perceived threat and changing political priorities almost immediately caused the termination of most of these plans. NASA turned its attention to an Apollo-derived temporary space laboratory, to date, NASA has launched a total of 166 manned space missions on rockets, and thirteen X-15 rocket flights above the USAF definition of spaceflight altitude,260,000 feet. The X-15 was an NACA experimental rocket-powered hypersonic research aircraft, developed in conjunction with the US Air Force, the design featured a slender fuselage with fairings along the side containing fuel and early computerized control systems
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Planetary habitability
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Planetary habitability is the measure of a planets or a natural satellites potential to have habitable environments hospitable to life. Habitable environments do not need to contain life, Life may develop directly on a planet or satellite or be transferred to it from another body, a hypothetical process known as panspermia. Research and theory in this regard is a component of planetary science, in determining the habitability potential of a body, studies focus on its bulk composition, orbital properties, atmosphere, and potential chemical interactions. Stellar characteristics of importance include mass and luminosity, stable variability, the idea that planets beyond Earth might host life is an ancient one, though historically it was framed by philosophy as much as physical science. The late 20th century saw two breakthroughs in the field, the discovery of extrasolar planets, beginning in the early 1990s and accelerating thereafter, has provided further information for the study of possible extraterrestrial life. These findings confirm that the Sun is not unique among stars in hosting planets, the chemistry of life may have begun shortly after the Big Bang,13.8 billion years ago, during a habitable epoch when the Universe was only 10–17 million years old. According to the hypothesis, microscopic life—distributed by meteoroids, asteroids. Nonetheless, Earth is the place in the Universe known to harbor life. 11 billion of these planets may be orbiting Sun-like stars. The nearest such planet may be 12 light-years away, according to the scientists, an understanding of planetary habitability begins with the host star. Under the auspices of SETIs Project Phoenix, scientists Margaret Turnbull and Jill Tarter developed the HabCat in 2002. According to research published in August 2015, very large galaxies may be favorable to the formation and development of habitable planets than smaller galaxies. The spectral class of a star indicates its photospheric temperature, which correlates to overall mass, the appropriate spectral range for HabStars is considered to be late F or G, to mid-K. This corresponds to temperatures of a more than 7,000 K down to a little more than 4,000 K, the Sun. This spectral range probably accounts for between 5% and 10% of stars in the local Milky Way galaxy, middle-class stars of this sort have a number of characteristics considered important to planetary habitability, They live at least a few billion years, allowing life a chance to evolve. More luminous main-sequence stars of the O, B, and A classes usually live less than a billion years and they emit enough high-frequency ultraviolet radiation to trigger important atmospheric dynamics such as ozone formation, but not so much that ionisation destroys incipient life. Liquid water may exist on the surface of planets orbiting them at a distance that does not induce tidal locking, k-type stars may be able to support life far longer than the Sun. Gliese 581 c, a super-Earth, has been found orbiting in the zone of a red dwarf
18.
Curiosity (rover)
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Curiosity is a car-sized robotic rover exploring Gale Crater on Mars as part of NASAs Mars Science Laboratory mission. Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26,2011, at 15,02 UTC aboard the MSL spacecraft, the Bradbury Landing site was less than 2.4 km from the center of the rovers touchdown target after a 560 million km journey. Curiositys design will serve as the basis for the planned Mars 2020 rover, in December 2012, Curiositys two-year mission was extended indefinitely. As of April 7,2017, Curiosity has been on Mars for 1659 sols since landing on August 6,2012, the mission will also help prepare for human exploration. This data would be important for a manned mission. The remaining mass of the MSL craft was discarded in the process of carrying out this task, dimensions, Curiosity has a mass of 899 kg including 80 kg of scientific instruments. The rover is 2.9 m long by 2.7 m wide by 2.2 m in height, power source, Curiosity is powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator, like the successful Viking 1 and Viking 2 Mars landers in 1976. Radioisotope power systems are generators that produce electricity from the decay of isotopes, such as plutonium-238. Heat given off by the decay of this isotope is converted into electric voltage by thermocouples, providing constant power during all seasons and through the day, waste heat can be used via pipes to warm systems, freeing electrical power for the operation of the vehicle and instruments. Curiositys RTG is fueled by 4.8 kg of plutonium-238 dioxide supplied by the U. S. Department of Energy. The MMRTG produces less power over time as its plutonium fuel decays, at its minimum lifetime of 14 years, electrical power output is down to 100 watts. The power source will generate 9 MJ each day, much more than the solar panels of the Mars Exploration Rovers, the electrical output from the MMRTG charges two rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. This enables the power subsystem to meet power demands of rover activities when the demand temporarily exceeds the generator’s steady output level. Each battery has a capacity of about 42 ampere-hours, heat rejection system, The temperatures at the landing site can vary from −127 to 40 °C, therefore, the thermal system will warm the rover for most of the Martian year. It uses fluid pumped through 60 m of tubing in the body so that sensitive components are kept at optimal temperatures. The HRS also has the ability to cool components if necessary, the computers run the VxWorks real-time operating system. Each computers memory includes 256 kB of EEPROM,256 MB of DRAM, for comparison, the Mars Exploration Rovers used 3 MB of EEPROM,128 MB of DRAM, and 256 MB of flash memory. The RCE computers use the RAD750 CPU, which is a successor to the RAD6000 CPU of the Mars Exploration Rovers
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Mount Sharp
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Mount Sharp, officially Aeolis Mons, is a mountain on Mars. It forms the peak within Gale crater and is located around 5. 08°S137. 85°E / -5.08,137.85. It has the ID of 15,000 in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature from the US Geological Survey, on August 6,2012, Curiosity landed in Yellowknife Quad 51 of Aeolis Palus, next to the mountain. NASA named the landing site Bradbury Landing on August 22,2012, Aeolis Mons is a primary goal for scientific study. On June 5,2013, NASA announced that Curiosity would begin a 8 km journey from the Glenelg area to the base of Aeolis Mons. On November 13,2013, NASA announced that an entryway Curiosity would traverse on its way to Aeolis Mons was to be named Murray Buttes, the trip was expected to take about a year and would include stops along the way to study the local terrain. On September 11,2014, NASA announced that the Curiosity rover had reached Aeolis Mons, on October 5,2015, possible recurrent slope lineae, wet brine flows, were reported on Mount Sharp near Curiosity. As of April 6,2017, Curiosity has been on the planet Mars for 1659 sols since landing on August 6,2012, the mountain appears to be an enormous mound of eroded sedimentary layers sitting on the central peak of Gale. It rises 5.5 km above the crater floor and 4.5 km above the southern crater floor. The sediments may have laid down over an interval of 2 billion years. Some of the sediment layers may have originally been deposited on a lake bed. However, this issue is debated, and the origin of the lower layers remains unclear. On October 8,2015, NASA confirmed that lakes and streams existed in Gale crater 3.3 -3.8 billion years ago delivering sediments to build up the layers of Mount Sharp. Aeolis Mons is 5.5 km high, about the height as Mons Huygens, the tallest lunar mountain. In comparison, Mount Everest rises to 8.8 km altitude above sea level, africas Mount Kilimanjaro is about 5.9 km altitude above sea level to the Uhuru peak, also 4.6 km base-to-peak. Americas Denali, also known as Mount McKinley, has a base-to-peak of 5.5 km, the Franco-Italian Mont Blanc/Monte Bianco is 4.8 km in altitude above sea level, Mount Fuji, which overlooks Tokyo, Japan, is about 3.8 km altitude. Discovered in the 1970s, the mountain remained nameless for perhaps 40 years, when it became a likely landing site, it was given various labels, for example, in 2010 a NASA photo caption called it Gale crater mound. In March 2012, NASA unofficially named it Mount Sharp, for American geologist Robert P. Sharp
20.
Boron
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Boron is a chemical element with symbol B and atomic number 5. Produced entirely by cosmic ray spallation and supernovae and not by stellar nucleosynthesis, it is an element in the Solar system. Boron is concentrated on Earth by the water-solubility of its more common naturally occurring compounds and these are mined industrially as evaporites, such as borax and kernite. The largest known deposits are in Turkey, the largest producer of boron minerals. Elemental boron is a metalloid that is found in small amounts in meteoroids, industrially, very pure boron is produced with difficulty because of refractory contamination by carbon or other elements. Several allotropes of boron exist, amorphous boron is a powder, crystalline boron is silvery to black, extremely hard. The primary use of boron is as boron filaments with applications similar to carbon fibers in some high-strength materials. Boron is primarily used in chemical compounds, about half of all consumption globally, boron is used as an additive in glass fibers of boron-containing fiberglass for insulation and structural materials. The next leading use is in polymers and ceramics in high-strength, lightweight structural, borosilicate glass is desired for its greater strength and thermal shock resistance than ordinary soda lime glass. Boron compounds are used as fertilizers in agriculture and in sodium perborate bleaches, a small amount of boron is used as a dopant in semiconductors, and reagent intermediates in the synthesis of organic fine chemicals. A few boron-containing organic pharmaceuticals are used or are in study, natural boron is composed of two stable isotopes, one of which has a number of uses as a neutron-capturing agent. In biology, borates have low toxicity in mammals, but are toxic to arthropods and are used as insecticides. Boric acid is mildly antimicrobial, and several natural boron-containing organic antibiotics are known, small amounts of boron compounds play a strengthening role in the cell walls of all plants, making boron a necessary plant nutrient. Boron is involved in the metabolism of calcium in both plants and animals and it is considered an essential nutrient for humans, and boron deficiency is implicated in osteoporosis. The word boron was coined from borax, the mineral from which it was isolated, by analogy with carbon, marco Polo brought some glazes back to Italy in the 13th century. Agricola, around 1600, reports the use of borax as a flux in metallurgy, in 1777, boric acid was recognized in the hot springs near Florence, Italy, and became known as sal sedativum, with primarily medical uses. The rare mineral is called sassolite, which is found at Sasso, Sasso was the main source of European borax from 1827 to 1872, when American sources replaced it. Boron compounds were relatively rarely used until the late 1800s when Francis Marion Smiths Pacific Coast Borax Company first popularized and produced them in volume at low cost
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Aeolis quadrangle
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The Aeolis quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey Astrogeology Research Program. The Aeolis quadrangle is also referred to as MC-23, the Aeolis quadrangle covers 180° to 225° W and 0° to 30° south on Mars, and contains parts of the regions Elysium Planitia and Terra Cimmeria. A small part of the Medusae Fossae Formation lies in this quadrangle, the name refers to the name of a floating western island of Aiolos, the ruler of the winds. In Homers account, Odysseus received the west wind Zephyr here and kept it in bags and it is famous as the site of two spacecraft landings, the Spirit rover landing site in Gusev crater, and the Curiosity rover in Gale Crater. A large, ancient river valley, called Maadim Vallis, enters at the rim of Gusev Crater. However, it seems that a volcanic flow covered up the lakebed sediments, apollinaris Patera, a large volcano, lies directly north of Gusev Crater. Sharp, a planetary scientist of early Mars missions, more recently, on 16 May 2012, Mount Sharp was officially named Aeolis Mons by the USGS and IAU. Some regions in the Aeolis quadrangle show inverted relief, in these locations, a stream bed may be a raised feature, instead of a valley. The inverted former stream channels may be caused by the deposition of rocks or due to cementation. The rocks on the plains of Gusev are a type of basalt and they contain the minerals olivine, pyroxene, plagioclase, and magnetite, and they look like volcanic basalt as they are fine-grained with irregular holes. Much of the soil on the plains came from the breakdown of the local rocks, fairly high levels of nickel were found in some soils, probably from meteorites. Analysis shows that the rocks have been altered by tiny amounts of water. Outside coatings and cracks inside the rocks suggest water deposited minerals, all the rocks contain a fine coating of dust and one or more harder kinds of material. One type can be brushed off, while another needed to be ground off by the Rock Abrasion Tool, there are a variety of rocks in the Columbia Hills, some of which have been altered by water, but not by very much water. The dust in Gusev Crater is the same as dust all around the planet, all the dust was found to be magnetic. Moreover, Spirit found the magnetism was caused by the mineral magnetite, one magnet was able to completely divert all dust hence all Martian dust is thought to be magnetic. The spectra of the dust was similar to spectra of bright, low thermal inertia regions like Tharsis, a thin layer of dust, maybe less than one millimeter thick covers all surfaces. Something in it contains an amount of chemically bound water
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Composition of Mars
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The composition of Mars covers the branch of the geology of Mars that describes the make-up of the planet Mars. Also like Earth, Mars is a planet, meaning that it has a central core made up of metallic iron and nickel surrounded by a less dense, silicate mantle. The planets distinctive red colour is due to the oxidation of iron on its surface, much of what we know about the elemental composition of Mars comes from orbiting spacecraft and landers. Most of these spacecraft carry spectrometers and other instruments to measure the composition of Mars by either remote sensing from orbit or in situ analyses on the surface. We also have many actual samples of Mars in the form of meteorites that have made their way to Earth, Martian meteorites provide data on the chemical composition of Mars crust and interior that would not otherwise be available except through a sample return mission. Based on these sources, scientists think that the most abundant chemical elements in the martian crust, besides silicon and oxygen, are iron, magnesium, aluminum, calcium. These elements are components of the minerals comprising igneous rocks. Hydrogen is present as ice and in hydrated minerals. Carbon occurs as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and sometimes as dry ice at the poles, an unknown amount of carbon is also stored in carbonates. Molecular nitrogen makes up 2.7 percent of the atmosphere, as far as we know, organic compounds are absent except for a trace of methane detected in the atmosphere. On 16 December 2014, NASA reported the Curiosity rover detected a spike, likely localized. Sample measurements taken a dozen times over 20 months showed increases in late 2013 and early 2014, before and after that, readings averaged around one-tenth that level. The elemental composition of Mars is different from Earth′s in several significant ways, first, Martian meteorite analysis suggests that the planets mantle is about twice as rich in iron as the Earths mantle. Second, its core is more rich in sulphur, many of these conclusions are supported by in situ analyses of rocks and soils on the Martian surface. Mars is fundamentally an igneous planet, rocks on the surface and in the crust consist predominantly of minerals that crystallize from magma. Spectrometers currently in orbit include THEMIS, OMEGA, and CRISM, the two Mars exploration rovers each carry an Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer, a thermal emission spectrometer, and Mössbauer spectrometer to identify minerals on the surface. On October 17,2012, the Curiosity rover on the planet Mars at Rocknest performed the first X-ray diffraction analysis of Martian soil, the dark areas of Mars are characterised by the mafic rock-forming minerals olivine, pyroxene, and plagioclase feldspar. These minerals are the constituents of basalt, a dark volcanic rock that also makes up the Earths oceanic crust
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International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
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International Standard Serial Number
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An International Standard Serial Number is an eight-digit serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title, ISSN are used in ordering, cataloging, interlibrary loans, and other practices in connection with serial literature. The ISSN system was first drafted as an International Organization for Standardization international standard in 1971, ISO subcommittee TC 46/SC9 is responsible for maintaining the standard. When a serial with the content is published in more than one media type. For example, many serials are published both in print and electronic media, the ISSN system refers to these types as print ISSN and electronic ISSN, respectively. The format of the ISSN is an eight digit code, divided by a hyphen into two four-digit numbers, as an integer number, it can be represented by the first seven digits. The last code digit, which may be 0-9 or an X, is a check digit. Formally, the form of the ISSN code can be expressed as follows, NNNN-NNNC where N is in the set, a digit character. The ISSN of the journal Hearing Research, for example, is 0378-5955, where the final 5 is the check digit, for calculations, an upper case X in the check digit position indicates a check digit of 10. To confirm the check digit, calculate the sum of all eight digits of the ISSN multiplied by its position in the number, the modulus 11 of the sum must be 0. There is an online ISSN checker that can validate an ISSN, ISSN codes are assigned by a network of ISSN National Centres, usually located at national libraries and coordinated by the ISSN International Centre based in Paris. The International Centre is an organization created in 1974 through an agreement between UNESCO and the French government. The International Centre maintains a database of all ISSNs assigned worldwide, at the end of 2016, the ISSN Register contained records for 1,943,572 items. ISSN and ISBN codes are similar in concept, where ISBNs are assigned to individual books, an ISBN might be assigned for particular issues of a serial, in addition to the ISSN code for the serial as a whole. An ISSN, unlike the ISBN code, is an identifier associated with a serial title. For this reason a new ISSN is assigned to a serial each time it undergoes a major title change, separate ISSNs are needed for serials in different media. Thus, the print and electronic versions of a serial need separate ISSNs. Also, a CD-ROM version and a web version of a serial require different ISSNs since two different media are involved, however, the same ISSN can be used for different file formats of the same online serial
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Petrology
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Petrology is the branch of geology that studies the origin, composition, distribution and structure of rocks. In the petroleum industry, lithology, or more specifically mud logging, is the representation of geological formations being drilled through. As the cuttings are circulated out of the borehole they are sampled, examined and tested chemically when needed, Petrology utilizes the fields of mineralogy, petrography, optical mineralogy, and chemical analysis to describe the composition and texture of rocks. Igneous rocks include volcanic and plutonic rocks, sedimentary petrology focuses on the composition and texture of sedimentary rocks. Experiments are particularly useful for investigating rocks of the lower crust and they are also one of the prime sources of information about completely inaccessible rocks such as those in the Earths lower mantle and in the mantles of the other terrestrial planets and the Moon. The work of experimental petrologists has laid a foundation on which modern understanding of igneous, important publications in petrology Ore Soil Best, Myron G. Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. ISBN 1-4051-0588-7 Blatt, Harvey, Tracy, Robert J. Owens, Brent, Petrology, igneous, sedimentary, ISBN 978-0-7167-3743-8 Dietrich, Richard Vincent, Skinner, Brian J. Gems, Granites, and Gravels, knowing and using rocks and minerals. ISBN 978-0-521-10722-8 Fei, Yingwei, Bertka, Constance M. Mysen, mantle Petrology, field observations and high-pressure experimentation. ISBN 0-941809-05-6 Philpotts, Anthony, Ague, Jay, Principles of Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology
