Orbital and In-Situ Investigation of the Bagnold Dunes and Sands of
Forvie, Gale Crater, Mars
Abstract
The Bagnold linear dune field investigated by Curiosity at Mount Desert
Island (MDI) is in Gale crater, north of the ~5.5 km
high Aeolis Mons mound. False-color images (RGB, 2.496, 1.802, and 1.235
μm, respectively) generated from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) data show
the dune field has a reddish-brown color. A sand sheet located south of
the Bagnold dunes, the Sands of Forvie (SoF), is darker and lacks the
reddish-brown color. Single scattering albedo (SSA) spectra retrieved at
12 m/pixel using along‑track oversampled CRISM observation FRT00021C92
show a long wavelength (1.7 to 2.5 μm) rise for the MDI dunes. Over the
same wavelength interval, SoF is characterized by a broad
~2.2 μm absorption feature, consistent with color
differences between the two deposits. Checkerboard unmixing of the SSA
image cube isolated spectral endmembers within the MDI and SoF.
Nonlinear modeling using Hapke (2012) theory implies finer grain sizes
for MDI compared to SoF, with inferred abundances of basaltic glass
> feldspar > olivine > pigeonite
> augite for MDI, and basaltic glass >
feldspar > augite > olivine for SoF. These
results are similar for the mean spectra of each region and coincide
with Curiosity‑based observations that MDI contains smaller ripples with
overall finer grains, while SoF has large megaripples and concentrated
coarser grains on the crests. Although these deposits are only located
~2.5 kilometers away from one another, wind and local
topographic controls influence their grain size and mineralogy.