AN ANALOG COMPARISON BETWEEN THE PAHRUMP HILLS, GALE CRATER, MARS TO VOLCANOGENIC FLUVIAL-LACUSTRINE ENVIRONMENTS IN ICELAND

As more scientific data is collected on Mars, there is an increasing need for comparable analogues back on Earth. The purpose of this project is to create analogues that aid in a better understanding of geomorphological sources of the structures and minerals observed on Mars. The site on Mars chosen for this study are the Pahrump Hills of the Gale Crater. The Pahrump Hills is composed primarily of mud and sandstones deposited in a lacustrine environment with a basaltic origin rich in plagioclase, augite, and hematite, with noticeable amounts of alkali feldspar, orthopyroxene, pigeonite, magnetite, and forsterite. A potential site for an analogue to the Pahrump Hill’s paleoenvironment is the Scandinavian country of Iceland. The potential viability of Iceland, as a source for comparisons to Mars volcanogenic fluvial lacustrine environments, is primarily due to the trachybasalt origin of their rocks coupled with fluvial and lacustrine processes occurring today. Thus Iceland, particularly around the Vatnajökull ice cap, provides examples of volcanogenic fluvial–lacustrine terrains, deposits, and environments where the crust and sedimentary parent material is akin to Mars basaltic composition.