Jake Matijevic (or Jake M) is a pyramidal rock on the surface of
Aeolis Palus
Aeolis Palus is a plain between the northern wall of Gale crater and the northern foothills of Aeolis Mons (Mount Sharp) on Mars. It is located at .
The NASA Mars Science Laboratory mission landed the ''Curiosity'' rover on Aeolis Palus in Aug ...
, between
Peace Vallis
Peace Vallis is an ancient stream valley on the northern rim of Gale Crater on the planet Mars. It is notable for its associated alluvial fan which lies near the Mars Science Laboratory ''Curiosity'' landing site (Bradbury Landing). The valley ...
and
Aeolis Mons ("Mount Sharp"), in
Gale crater
Gale is a crater, and probable dry lake, at in the northwestern part of the Aeolis quadrangle on Mars. It is in diameter and estimated to be about 3.5–3.8 billion years old. The crater was named after Walter Frederick Gale, an amateur astr ...
on the planet
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
. The approximate site coordinates are: .
The rock was encountered by the
''Curiosity'' rover on the way from
Bradbury Landing
Bradbury Landing is the August 6, 2012, landing site within Gale crater on planet Mars of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) ''Curiosity'' rover. On August 22, 2012, on what would have been his 92nd birthday, NASA named the site for author Ray ...
to
Glenelg Intrigue in September 2012 and measures about height and width.
The rock was named by
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
after
Jacob Matijevic
Jacob (Richard) Matijevic, also known as "Jake" Matijevic, (3 November 1947 – 20 August 2012) was an American NASA engineer of Croatian origin who worked on Mars Exploration Rovers. Dr. Matijevic was involved in developing the ''"Sojourner"'' ...
(1947–2012), a mathematician-turned-rover-engineer, who played a critical role in the design of the six-wheeled rover, but died just days after the ''Curiosity'' rover landed in August 2012. Matijevic was the surface operations systems chief engineer for the
Mars Science Laboratory
Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a robotic spacecraft, robotic space probe mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, which successfully landed ''Curiosity (rover), Curiosity'', a Mars rover, in Gale (crater), Gale Crater on August ...
Project and the project's ''Curiosity'' rover. He was also a leading engineer for all of the previous NASA
Mars rovers
A Mars rover is a motor vehicle designed to travel on the surface of Mars. Rovers have several advantages over stationary landers: they examine more territory, they can be directed to interesting features, they can place themselves in sunny pos ...
including ''
Sojourner
A sojourner is a person who resides temporarily in a place.
Sojourner may also refer to:
*Sojourner Truth (1797–1883), abolitionist and women's rights activist
*Albert Sojourner (1872–1951), member of the Mississippi House of Representatives
...
'', ''
Spirit
Spirit or spirits may refer to:
Liquor and other volatile liquids
* Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks
* Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol
* Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...
'' and ''
Opportunity
Opportunity may refer to:
Places
* Opportunity, Montana, an unincorporated community, United States
* Opportunity, Nebraska, an unincorporated community, United States
* Opportunity, Washington, a former census-designated place, United States
* 3 ...
''.
The rover team determined the rock to be a suitable target for the first use of ''Curiosity''s contact instruments, the
Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) and the
Alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS).
Analytical studies, performed on the rock by the ''Curiosity'' rover in October 2012, suggest the Jake M rock is an
igneous rock
Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main The three types of rocks, rock types, the others being Sedimentary rock, sedimentary and metamorphic rock, metamorphic. Igneous rock ...
but found to be high in elements consistent with
feldspar
Feldspars are a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagioclase'' (sodium-calcium) feldsp ...
, such as
sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable iso ...
,
aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...
and
potassium
Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin ''kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosphe ...
, and lower concentrations of
magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...
,
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
and
nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...
than other such rocks previously found on Mars.
The mineral content and elemental abundance indicates ''Jake M'' rock may be a
mugearite
Mugearite () is a type of oligoclase-bearing basalt, comprising olivine, apatite, and opaque oxides. The main feldspar in mugearite is oligoclase.
Mugearite is a sodium-rich member of the alkaline magma series. In the TAS classification of volc ...
, a sodium rich
oligoclase
Oligoclase is a rock-forming mineral belonging to the plagioclase feldspars. In chemical composition and in its crystallographic and physical characters it is intermediate between albite ( Na Al Si3 O8) and anorthite ( CaAl2Si2O8). The albite:an ...
-bearing basaltic
trachyandesite
Trachyandesite is an extrusive igneous Rock (geology), rock with a composition between trachyte and andesite. It has little or no free quartz, but is dominated by Sodium, sodic plagioclase and alkali feldspar. It is formed from the cooling of ...
.
Igneous rocks similar to the Jake M rock are well known but occur rarely on Earth. On Earth, such rocks form when
magma
Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also been discovered on other terrestrial planets and some natural sa ...
, usually found in
volcanoes
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...
, rises to the surface, cools and partially solidifies with certain
chemical elements
A chemical element is a species of atoms that have a given number of protons in their nuclei, including the pure substance consisting only of that species. Unlike chemical compounds, chemical elements cannot be broken down into simpler sub ...
, while the warmer liquid magma portion becomes enriched with the left-behind elements.
By remarkable coincidence, the Martian locality
Glenelg is also the name of a small settlement in north-west
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
that is east of
type locality for
mugearite
Mugearite () is a type of oligoclase-bearing basalt, comprising olivine, apatite, and opaque oxides. The main feldspar in mugearite is oligoclase.
Mugearite is a sodium-rich member of the alkaline magma series. In the TAS classification of volc ...
at
Mugeary
Mugeary ( gd, Mùigearraidh) is a farm or croft and former settlement on the island of Skye, Scotland. Located southwest of Portree, it is known as the location where the basaltic rock mugearite was first identified. The Gaelic name is derived ...
on the island of
Skye
The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated b ...
.
The Jake M rock is a
ventifact
A ventifact (also wind-faceted stone, windkanter) is a rock that has been abraded, pitted, etched, grooved, or polished by wind-driven sand or ice crystals. These geomorphic features are most typically found in arid environments where there is lit ...
with a volcanic fabric.
[Zasada, Patrick (2013): Entstehung des Mars-Gesteins "Jake Matijevic". â€]
Sternzeit – Z. astron. Vereinig.
issue 2/2013
98-101. ''ISSN 0721-8168'', (in German). Its pyramidal shape was formed by
eolian drifted grains of sand. The little cavities on its surface were formed by the blast-effect, which is caused by different flow dynamics at the micro-relief.
On the surface one could see the marks of the main wind direction, by which Jake M was formed.
On September 27, 2013, NASA scientists reported that Jake M rock was a
mugearite
Mugearite () is a type of oligoclase-bearing basalt, comprising olivine, apatite, and opaque oxides. The main feldspar in mugearite is oligoclase.
Mugearite is a sodium-rich member of the alkaline magma series. In the TAS classification of volc ...
and very similar to terrestrial mugearite rocks.
See also
*
Aeolis quadrangle
The Aeolis quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The Aeolis quadrangle is also referred to as MC-23 (Mars Chart-23).
The Aeolis quadrangle co ...
*
Composition of Mars
The composition of Mars covers the branch of the geology of Mars that describes the make-up of the planet Mars.
Elemental composition
Mars is differentiated, which—for a terrestrial planet—implies that it has a central core made up of me ...
*
Geology of Mars
The geology of Mars is the scientific study of the surface, crust, and interior of the planet Mars. It emphasizes the composition, structure, history, and physical processes that shape the planet. It is analogous to the field of terrestrial geo ...
*
List of rocks on Mars
This is an alphabetical list of named rocks (and meteorites) found on Mars, by mission. This list is a sampling of rocks viewed, and is not an exhaustive listing. A more complete listing may be found on the various NASA mission web sites. This lis ...
*
Matijevic Hill
Matijevic Hill, named after Americans, American NASA engineer Jacob Matijevic, Jacob "Jake" Matijevic (1947 - 2012), is a hill located on "Cape York (Mars), Cape York", itself on the western rim of Endeavour (crater), Endeavour Crater lying withi ...
*
Mugearite
Mugearite () is a type of oligoclase-bearing basalt, comprising olivine, apatite, and opaque oxides. The main feldspar in mugearite is oligoclase.
Mugearite is a sodium-rich member of the alkaline magma series. In the TAS classification of volc ...
*
Timeline of Mars Science Laboratory
The Mars Science Laboratory and its rover, ''Curiosity'', were launched from Earth on November 26, 2011. As of , , ''Curiosity'' has been on the planet Mars for sols ( total days; ') since landing on August 6, 2012. ''(See Current statu ...
References
External links
Mars Rock Touched by NASA ''Curiosity'' has Surprises a NASA press release about the rock's composition
''Curiosity'' rover - Official SiteVolcanic rock classification
Roca Jake Matijevic (in spanish)
{{Portal bar, Solar System, Spaceflight
Aeolis quadrangle
Mars Science Laboratory
Rocks on Mars