Not listed QUANTIFYING DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS ON MARS USING ASKJA VOLCANO ICELAND AS A TEST-BED FOR CHARACTERIZING WEATHERING OF FERROBASALTIC VOLCANIC DEPOSITS.EFFECTIVELY UTILIZING REMOTELY ACQUIRED SPECTRAL DATA AND MORPHOLOGIC OBSERVATIONS FROM MARS TO IDENTIFY DEPOSIT TYPE AND INFER DEPOSITIONAL MECHANISM IS A CRITICAL BUT CURRENTLY CHALLENGING ASPECT OF UNDERSTANDING THE GEOLOGIC EVOLUTION OF THE PLANET. THE HISTORY OF MARS IS DOMINATED BY MAFIC VOLCANISM MUCH OF WHICH INVOLVES THE INTERACTION OF MAGMA AND WATER (BOTH SOLID AND LIQUID) CREATING VOLUMINOUS AND ABUNDANT MAFIC VOLCANICLASTIC DEPOSITS. IN ORDER TO EFFECTIVELY INTERPRET MARS GLOBAL-SCALE HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGERY CHEMICAL SPECTRA AND LANDED MISSION DATA WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL WEATHERING IN FLUVIAL AND AEOLIAN SETTINGS MODIFIES THE MORPHOLOGIC MINERALOGIC AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MAFIC VOLCANIC DEPOSITS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO CHARACTERIZE A SET OF LINKED MORPHOLOGIC AND CHEMICAL CRITERIA THAT CAN UNIQUELY IDENTIFY DIFFERENT TYPES OF MAFIC VOLCANIC AND SEDIMENTARY DEPOSITS BASED ON THEIR DEPOSITIONAL MECHANISMS UTILIZING MARS-RELEVANT ENVIRONMENTS ON ASKJA ICELAND AS A TESTBED. OUR CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT WHILE MORPHOLOGY MINERALOGY AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION MAY BE SIMILAR ACROSS A BROAD SPECTRUM OF DEPOSIT TYPES THE PROCESSES BY WHICH MATERIALS ARE FORMED DEPOSITED AND CHEMICALLY AND MECHANICALLY MODIFIED REFLECT THE STARTING PRODUCTS DEPOSITIONAL MECHANISMS AND THE ENVIRONMENT AND SHOULD RESULT IN A UNIQUE SUBSET OFIDENTIFIABLE CHARACTERISTICS. OUR RATIONALE FOR CONDUCTING THIS STUDY IS TO ESTABLISH A SET OF PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PARAMETERS RELEVANT TO MAFIC VOLCANICLASTIC DEPOSITS FORMED IN COLD DESERT ENVIRONMENTS. STARTING COMPOSITION IS A CRUCIAL FACTOR IN DETERMINING MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL WEATHERING PROCESSES AND ALTERATION PRODUCTS AND ASKJA FERROBASALTS ARE EXCELLENT ANALOGS FOR HIGH-FE MARS LAVAS. IN ADDITION THE FLUVIAL AND AEOLIAN PROCESSES OPERATING IN THE ICELAND COLD DESERT PROVIDE AN ENVIRONMENTAL ANALOG FOR PAST AND CURRENT MARS. WE PROPOSE TO IDENTIFY MORPHOLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL CHANGES IN BASALTIC MATERIALS REWORKED AND RE-DEPOSITED BY PROCESSES RELEVANT TO PAST AND PRESENT MARS ENVIRONMENTS AND QUANTIFY DEPOSIT FORMATION MECHANISMS TO DETERMINE RELEVANT PARAMETERS FOR MARS PROCESSES AND ENVIRONMENTS. WE WILL TRACK THE MORPHOLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL EVOLUTION OF FERROBASALTIC VOLCANIC MATERIAL SOURCED FROM ASKJA VOLCANO ICELAND AS IT IS TRANSPORTED THROUGH THE VOLCANO-SEDIMENTARY CYCLE BY FLUVIAL AND AEOLIAN PROCESSES IN DEPOSITS SUCH AS JOHULHLAUPS (GLACIAL FLOODS) AEOLIAN SAND SHEETS AND SANDY DESERTS. WE WILL CONSTRUCT A DETAILED DATASET OF MINERALOGY AND MAJOR AND TRACE ELEMENT COMPOSITION (USING A PORTABLE XRF/XRD INSTRUMENT SIMILAR TO MSL CHEMIN AND LABORATORY ANALYSES) AND LINK THIS TO MORPHOLOGY CHANGES. WE WILL COMPARE OUR TERRESTRIAL FINDINGS WITH COMPARABLE DATASETS COLLECTED BY MER ON MARS CLASTIC DEPOSITS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS EXPECTED TO REFINE OUR ABILITY TO DIFFERENTIATE PRIMARY AND REWORKED VOLCANIC DEPOSITS AND DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS BY ESTABLISHING A DATA INTERPRETATION PROTOCOL THAT INTEGRATES MORPHOLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL CRITERIA AND QUANTITATIVELY EVALUATES THE PARAMETERS THAT MOST ACCURATELY IDENTIFY DEPOSITIONAL FACIES. ($35) 6/25/20 6 QUANTIFYING DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS ON MARS USING ASKJA VOLCANO, ICELAND, AS A TEST-BED FOR CHARACTERIZING WEATHERING OF FERROBASALTIC VOLCANIC DEPOSITS. EFFECTIVELY UTILIZING REMOTELY ACQUIRED SPECTRAL DATA AND MORPHOLOGIC OBSERVATIONS FROM MARS TO IDENTIFY DEPOSIT TYPE AND INFER DEPOSITIONAL MECHANISM IS A CRITICAL, BUT CURRENTLY CHALLENGING, ASPECT OF UNDERSTANDING THE GEOLOGIC EVOLUTION OF THE PLANET. THE HISTORY OF MARS IS DOMINATED BY MAFIC VOLCANISM, MUCH OF WHICH INVOLVES THE INTERACTION OF MAGMA AND WATER (BOTH SOLID AND LIQUID), CREATING VOLUMINOUS AND ABUNDANT MAFIC VOLCANICLASTIC DEPOSITS. IN ORDER TO EFFECTIVELY INTERPRET MARS GLOBAL-SCALE HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGERY, CHEMICAL SPECTRA, AND LANDED MISSION DATA, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL WEATHERING IN FLUVIAL AND AEOLIAN SETTINGS MODIFIES THE MORPHOLOGIC, MINERALOGIC AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MAFIC VOLCANIC DEPOSITS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO CHARACTERIZE A SET OF LINKED MORPHOLOGIC AND CHEMICAL CRITERIA THAT CAN UNIQUELY IDENTIFY DIFFERENT TYPES OF MAFIC VOLCANIC AND SEDIMENTARY DEPOSITS BASED ON THEIR DEPOSITIONAL MECHANISMS, UTILIZING MARS-RELEVANT ENVIRONMENTS ON ASKJA, ICELAND AS A TESTBED. OUR CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT WHILE MORPHOLOGY, MINERALOGY AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION MAY BE SIMILAR ACROSS A BROAD SPECTRUM OF DEPOSIT TYPES, THE PROCESSES BY WHICH MATERIALS ARE FORMED, DEPOSITED AND CHEMICALLY AND MECHANICALLY MODIFIED REFLECT THE STARTING PRODUCTS, DEPOSITIONAL MECHANISMS AND THE ENVIRONMENT, AND SHOULD RESULT IN A UNIQUE SUBSET OF IDENTIFIABLE CHARACTERISTICS. OUR RATIONALE FOR CONDUCTING THIS STUDY IS TO ESTABLISH A SET OF PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PARAMETERS RELEVANT TO MAFIC VOLCANICLASTIC DEPOSITS FORMED IN COLD DESERT ENVIRONMENTS. STARTING COMPOSITION IS A CRUCIAL FACTOR IN DETERMINING MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL WEATHERING PROCESSES AND ALTERATION PRODUCTS, AND ASKJA FERROBASALTS ARE EXCELLENT ANALOGS FOR HIGH-FE MARS LAVAS. IN ADDITION, THE FLUVIAL AND AEOLIAN PROCESSES OPERATING IN THE ICELAND COLD DESERT PROVIDE AN ENVIRONMENTAL ANALOG FOR PAST AND CURRENT MARS. WE PROPOSE TO IDENTIFY MORPHOLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL CHANGES IN BASALTIC MATERIALS REWORKED AND RE-DEPOSITED BY PROCESSES RELEVANT TO PAST AND PRESENT MARS ENVIRONMENTS, AND QUANTIFY DEPOSIT FORMATION MECHANISMS TO DETERMINE RELEVANT PARAMETERS FOR MARS PROCESSES AND ENVIRONMENTS. WE WILL TRACK THE MORPHOLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL EVOLUTION OF FERROBASALTIC VOLCANIC MATERIAL SOURCED FROM ASKJA VOLCANO, ICELAND, AS IT IS TRANSPORTED THROUGH THE VOLCANO-SEDIMENTARY CYCLE BY FLUVIAL AND AEOLIAN PROCESSES IN DEPOSITS SUCH AS JOHULHLAUPS (GLACIAL FLOODS), AEOLIAN SAND SHEETS, AND SANDY DESERTS. WE WILL CONSTRUCT A DETAILED DATASET OF MINERALOGY AND MAJOR AND TRACE ELEMENT COMPOSITION (USING A PORTABLE XRF/XRD INSTRUMENT SIMILAR TO MSL CHEMIN AND LABORATORY ANALYSES) AND LINK THIS TO MORPHOLOGY CHANGES. WE WILL COMPARE OUR TERRESTRIAL FINDINGS WITH COMPARABLE DATASETS COLLECTED BY MER ON MARS CLASTIC DEPOSITS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS EXPECTED TO REFINE OUR ABILITY TO DIFFERENTIATE PRIMARY AND REWORKED VOLCANIC DEPOSITS AND DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS BY ESTABLISHING A DATA INTERPRETATION PROTOCOL THAT INTEGRATES MORPHOLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL CRITERIA, AND QUANTITATIVELY EVALUATES THE PARAMETERS THAT MOST ACCURATELY IDENTIFY DEPOSITIONAL FACIES. Funding Only Action ($35) 6/25/20 Not listed QUANTIFYING DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS ON MARS USING ASKJA VOLCANO ICELAND AS A TEST-BED FOR CHARACTERIZING WEATHERING OF FERROBASALTIC VOLCANIC DEPOSITS.EFFECTIVELY UTILIZING REMOTELY ACQUIRED SPECTRAL DATA AND MORPHOLOGIC OBSERVATIONS FROM MARS TO IDENTIFY DEPOSIT TYPE AND INFER DEPOSITIONAL MECHANISM IS A CRITICAL BUT CURRENTLY CHALLENGING ASPECT OF UNDERSTANDING THE GEOLOGIC EVOLUTION OF THE PLANET. THE HISTORY OF MARS IS DOMINATED BY MAFIC VOLCANISM MUCH OF WHICH INVOLVES THE INTERACTION OF MAGMA AND WATER (BOTH SOLID AND LIQUID) CREATING VOLUMINOUS AND ABUNDANT MAFIC VOLCANICLASTIC DEPOSITS. IN ORDER TO EFFECTIVELY INTERPRET MARS GLOBAL-SCALE HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGERY CHEMICAL SPECTRA AND LANDED MISSION DATA WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL WEATHERING IN FLUVIAL AND AEOLIAN SETTINGS MODIFIES THE MORPHOLOGIC MINERALOGIC AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MAFIC VOLCANIC DEPOSITS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO CHARACTERIZE A SET OF LINKED MORPHOLOGIC AND CHEMICAL CRITERIA THAT CAN UNIQUELY IDENTIFY DIFFERENT TYPES OF MAFIC VOLCANIC AND SEDIMENTARY DEPOSITS BASED ON THEIR DEPOSITIONAL MECHANISMS UTILIZING MARS-RELEVANT ENVIRONMENTS ON ASKJA ICELAND AS A TESTBED. OUR CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT WHILE MORPHOLOGY MINERALOGY AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION MAY BE SIMILAR ACROSS A BROAD SPECTRUM OF DEPOSIT TYPES THE PROCESSES BY WHICH MATERIALS ARE FORMED DEPOSITED AND CHEMICALLY AND MECHANICALLY MODIFIED REFLECT THE STARTING PRODUCTS DEPOSITIONAL MECHANISMS AND THE ENVIRONMENT AND SHOULD RESULT IN A UNIQUE SUBSET OFIDENTIFIABLE CHARACTERISTICS. OUR RATIONALE FOR CONDUCTING THIS STUDY IS TO ESTABLISH A SET OF PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PARAMETERS RELEVANT TO MAFIC VOLCANICLASTIC DEPOSITS FORMED IN COLD DESERT ENVIRONMENTS. STARTING COMPOSITION IS A CRUCIAL FACTOR IN DETERMINING MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL WEATHERING PROCESSES AND ALTERATION PRODUCTS AND ASKJA FERROBASALTS ARE EXCELLENT ANALOGS FOR HIGH-FE MARS LAVAS. IN ADDITION THE FLUVIAL AND AEOLIAN PROCESSES OPERATING IN THE ICELAND COLD DESERT PROVIDE AN ENVIRONMENTAL ANALOG FOR PAST AND CURRENT MARS. WE PROPOSE TO IDENTIFY MORPHOLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL CHANGES IN BASALTIC MATERIALS REWORKED AND RE-DEPOSITED BY PROCESSES RELEVANT TO PAST AND PRESENT MARS ENVIRONMENTS AND QUANTIFY DEPOSIT FORMATION MECHANISMS TO DETERMINE RELEVANT PARAMETERS FOR MARS PROCESSES AND ENVIRONMENTS. WE WILL TRACK THE MORPHOLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL EVOLUTION OF FERROBASALTIC VOLCANIC MATERIAL SOURCED FROM ASKJA VOLCANO ICELAND AS IT IS TRANSPORTED THROUGH THE VOLCANO-SEDIMENTARY CYCLE BY FLUVIAL AND AEOLIAN PROCESSES IN DEPOSITS SUCH AS JOHULHLAUPS (GLACIAL FLOODS) AEOLIAN SAND SHEETS AND SANDY DESERTS. WE WILL CONSTRUCT A DETAILED DATASET OF MINERALOGY AND MAJOR AND TRACE ELEMENT COMPOSITION (USING A PORTABLE XRF/XRD INSTRUMENT SIMILAR TO MSL CHEMIN AND LABORATORY ANALYSES) AND LINK THIS TO MORPHOLOGY CHANGES. WE WILL COMPARE OUR TERRESTRIAL FINDINGS WITH COMPARABLE DATASETS COLLECTED BY MER ON MARS CLASTIC DEPOSITS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS EXPECTED TO REFINE OUR ABILITY TO DIFFERENTIATE PRIMARY AND REWORKED VOLCANIC DEPOSITS AND DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS BY ESTABLISHING A DATA INTERPRETATION PROTOCOL THAT INTEGRATES MORPHOLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL CRITERIA AND QUANTITATIVELY EVALUATES THE PARAMETERS THAT MOST ACCURATELY IDENTIFY DEPOSITIONAL FACIES. $0 12/16/19 5 QUANTIFYING DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS ON MARS USING ASKJA VOLCANO, ICELAND, AS A TEST-BED FOR CHARACTERIZING WEATHERING OF FERROBASALTIC VOLCANIC DEPOSITS. EFFECTIVELY UTILIZING REMOTELY ACQUIRED SPECTRAL DATA AND MORPHOLOGIC OBSERVATIONS FROM MARS TO IDENTIFY DEPOSIT TYPE AND INFER DEPOSITIONAL MECHANISM IS A CRITICAL, BUT CURRENTLY CHALLENGING, ASPECT OF UNDERSTANDING THE GEOLOGIC EVOLUTION OF THE PLANET. THE HISTORY OF MARS IS DOMINATED BY MAFIC VOLCANISM, MUCH OF WHICH INVOLVES THE INTERACTION OF MAGMA AND WATER (BOTH SOLID AND LIQUID), CREATING VOLUMINOUS AND ABUNDANT MAFIC VOLCANICLASTIC DEPOSITS. IN ORDER TO EFFECTIVELY INTERPRET MARS GLOBAL-SCALE HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGERY, CHEMICAL SPECTRA, AND LANDED MISSION DATA, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL WEATHERING IN FLUVIAL AND AEOLIAN SETTINGS MODIFIES THE MORPHOLOGIC, MINERALOGIC AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MAFIC VOLCANIC DEPOSITS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO CHARACTERIZE A SET OF LINKED MORPHOLOGIC AND CHEMICAL CRITERIA THAT CAN UNIQUELY IDENTIFY DIFFERENT TYPES OF MAFIC VOLCANIC AND SEDIMENTARY DEPOSITS BASED ON THEIR DEPOSITIONAL MECHANISMS, UTILIZING MARS-RELEVANT ENVIRONMENTS ON ASKJA, ICELAND AS A TESTBED. OUR CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT WHILE MORPHOLOGY, MINERALOGY AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION MAY BE SIMILAR ACROSS A BROAD SPECTRUM OF DEPOSIT TYPES, THE PROCESSES BY WHICH MATERIALS ARE FORMED, DEPOSITED AND CHEMICALLY AND MECHANICALLY MODIFIED REFLECT THE STARTING PRODUCTS, DEPOSITIONAL MECHANISMS AND THE ENVIRONMENT, AND SHOULD RESULT IN A UNIQUE SUBSET OF IDENTIFIABLE CHARACTERISTICS. OUR RATIONALE FOR CONDUCTING THIS STUDY IS TO ESTABLISH A SET OF PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PARAMETERS RELEVANT TO MAFIC VOLCANICLASTIC DEPOSITS FORMED IN COLD DESERT ENVIRONMENTS. STARTING COMPOSITION IS A CRUCIAL FACTOR IN DETERMINING MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL WEATHERING PROCESSES AND ALTERATION PRODUCTS, AND ASKJA FERROBASALTS ARE EXCELLENT ANALOGS FOR HIGH-FE MARS LAVAS. IN ADDITION, THE FLUVIAL AND AEOLIAN PROCESSES OPERATING IN THE ICELAND COLD DESERT PROVIDE AN ENVIRONMENTAL ANALOG FOR PAST AND CURRENT MARS. WE PROPOSE TO IDENTIFY MORPHOLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL CHANGES IN BASALTIC MATERIALS REWORKED AND RE-DEPOSITED BY PROCESSES RELEVANT TO PAST AND PRESENT MARS ENVIRONMENTS, AND QUANTIFY DEPOSIT FORMATION MECHANISMS TO DETERMINE RELEVANT PARAMETERS FOR MARS PROCESSES AND ENVIRONMENTS. WE WILL TRACK THE MORPHOLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL EVOLUTION OF FERROBASALTIC VOLCANIC MATERIAL SOURCED FROM ASKJA VOLCANO, ICELAND, AS IT IS TRANSPORTED THROUGH THE VOLCANO-SEDIMENTARY CYCLE BY FLUVIAL AND AEOLIAN PROCESSES IN DEPOSITS SUCH AS JOHULHLAUPS (GLACIAL FLOODS), AEOLIAN SAND SHEETS, AND SANDY DESERTS. WE WILL CONSTRUCT A DETAILED DATASET OF MINERALOGY AND MAJOR AND TRACE ELEMENT COMPOSITION (USING A PORTABLE XRF/XRD INSTRUMENT SIMILAR TO MSL CHEMIN AND LABORATORY ANALYSES) AND LINK THIS TO MORPHOLOGY CHANGES. WE WILL COMPARE OUR TERRESTRIAL FINDINGS WITH COMPARABLE DATASETS COLLECTED BY MER ON MARS CLASTIC DEPOSITS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS EXPECTED TO REFINE OUR ABILITY TO DIFFERENTIATE PRIMARY AND REWORKED VOLCANIC DEPOSITS AND DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS BY ESTABLISHING A DATA INTERPRETATION PROTOCOL THAT INTEGRATES MORPHOLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL CRITERIA, AND QUANTITATIVELY EVALUATES THE PARAMETERS THAT MOST ACCURATELY IDENTIFY DEPOSITIONAL FACIES. Other Administrative Action $0 12/16/19 Not listed QUANTIFYING DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS ON MARS USING ASKJA VOLCANO ICELAND AS A TEST-BED FOR CHARACTERIZING WEATHERING OF FERROBASALTIC VOLCANIC DEPOSITS.EFFECTIVELY UTILIZING REMOTELY ACQUIRED SPECTRAL DATA AND MORPHOLOGIC OBSERVATIONS FROM MARS TO IDENTIFY DEPOSIT TYPE AND INFER DEPOSITIONAL MECHANISM IS A CRITICAL BUT CURRENTLY CHALLENGING ASPECT OF UNDERSTANDING THE GEOLOGIC EVOLUTION OF THE PLANET. THE HISTORY OF MARS IS DOMINATED BY MAFIC VOLCANISM MUCH OF WHICH INVOLVES THE INTERACTION OF MAGMA AND WATER (BOTH SOLID AND LIQUID) CREATING VOLUMINOUS AND ABUNDANT MAFIC VOLCANICLASTIC DEPOSITS. IN ORDER TO EFFECTIVELY INTERPRET MARS GLOBAL-SCALE HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGERY CHEMICAL SPECTRA AND LANDED MISSION DATA WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL WEATHERING IN FLUVIAL AND AEOLIAN SETTINGS MODIFIES THE MORPHOLOGIC MINERALOGIC AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MAFIC VOLCANIC DEPOSITS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO CHARACTERIZE A SET OF LINKED MORPHOLOGIC AND CHEMICAL CRITERIA THAT CAN UNIQUELY IDENTIFY DIFFERENT TYPES OF MAFIC VOLCANIC AND SEDIMENTARY DEPOSITS BASED ON THEIR DEPOSITIONAL MECHANISMS UTILIZING MARS-RELEVANT ENVIRONMENTS ON ASKJA ICELAND AS A TESTBED. OUR CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT WHILE MORPHOLOGY MINERALOGY AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION MAY BE SIMILAR ACROSS A BROAD SPECTRUM OF DEPOSIT TYPES THE PROCESSES BY WHICH MATERIALS ARE FORMED DEPOSITED AND CHEMICALLY AND MECHANICALLY MODIFIED REFLECT THE STARTING PRODUCTS DEPOSITIONAL MECHANISMS AND THE ENVIRONMENT AND SHOULD RESULT IN A UNIQUE SUBSET OFIDENTIFIABLE CHARACTERISTICS. OUR RATIONALE FOR CONDUCTING THIS STUDY IS TO ESTABLISH A SET OF PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PARAMETERS RELEVANT TO MAFIC VOLCANICLASTIC DEPOSITS FORMED IN COLD DESERT ENVIRONMENTS. STARTING COMPOSITION IS A CRUCIAL FACTOR IN DETERMINING MECHANICAL AND CHEMICAL WEATHERING PROCESSES AND ALTERATION PRODUCTS AND ASKJA FERROBASALTS ARE EXCELLENT ANALOGS FOR HIGH-FE MARS LAVAS. IN ADDITION THE FLUVIAL AND AEOLIAN PROCESSES OPERATING IN THE ICELAND COLD DESERT PROVIDE AN ENVIRONMENTAL ANALOG FOR PAST AND CURRENT MARS. WE PROPOSE TO IDENTIFY MORPHOLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL CHANGES IN BASALTIC MATERIALS REWORKED AND RE-DEPOSITED BY PROCESSES RELEVANT TO PAST AND PRESENT MARS ENVIRONMENTS AND QUANTIFY DEPOSIT FORMATION MECHANISMS TO DETERMINE RELEVANT PARAMETERS FOR MARS PROCESSES AND ENVIRONMENTS. WE WILL TRACK THE MORPHOLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL EVOLUTION OF FERROBASALTIC VOLCANIC MATERIAL SOURCED FROM ASKJA VOLCANO ICELAND AS IT IS TRANSPORTED THROUGH THE VOLCANO-SEDIMENTARY CYCLE BY FLUVIAL AND AEOLIAN PROCESSES IN DEPOSITS SUCH AS JOHULHLAUPS (GLACIAL FLOODS) AEOLIAN SAND SHEETS AND SANDY DESERTS. WE WILL CONSTRUCT A DETAILED DATASET OF MINERALOGY AND MAJOR AND TRACE ELEMENT COMPOSITION (USING A PORTABLE XRF/XRD INSTRUMENT SIMILAR TO MSL CHEMIN AND LABORATORY ANALYSES) AND LINK THIS TO MORPHOLOGY CHANGES. WE WILL COMPARE OUR TERRESTRIAL FINDINGS WITH COMPARABLE DATASETS COLLECTED BY MER ON MARS CLASTIC DEPOSITS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS EXPECTED TO REFINE OUR ABILITY TO DIFFERENTIATE PRIMARY AND REWORKED VOLCANIC DEPOSITS AND DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS BY ESTABLISHING A DATA INTERPRETATION PROTOCOL THAT INTEGRATES MORPHOLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL CRITERIA AND QUANTITATIVELY EVALUATES THE PARAMETERS THAT MOST ACCURATELY IDENTIFY DEPOSITIONAL FACIES. $0 4/5/19