Objective:

Today's objective was to find and collect evaporite minerals along the Tank Wash, and look specifically for halite for our crew biologist.

Operations & Data Collected:

1 - UTM 12 S 0515197 4253109
One stop was visited, a succession visible up to 2 meters thick of mud with interlayered flat crystalline gypsum. Sample TW01 consists of a large quantity of large selenite crystals up to 30 cm wide.

Discussion:

The samples collected today are very similar to those collected previously of gypsum in the mudflats. The crystals are easily located in the mud and collected because they shine bright in the sunlight. These crystals will be ideal for the SEM analysis I hope to complete.