J. W. Rice

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that the surface enrichment is the result of a minor amount of transport and deposition by aqueous processes on the surface of olivine-bearing basalts.

TL;DR: The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has investigated the landing site in Eagle crater and the nearby plains within Meridiani Planum, and the rocks are interpreted to be a mixture of chemical and siliciclastic sediments formed by episodic inundation by shallow surface water, followed by evaporation, exposure, and desiccation.

TL;DR: The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit and its Athena science payload have been used to investigate a landing site in Gusev crater, but no clear evidence for lacustrine sedimentation has been found to date as discussed by the authors.

TL;DR: The final four landing sites showed strong evidence for surface processes involving water and appear capable of addressing the science objectives of the missions, which are to determine the aqueous, climatic, and geologic history of sites on Mars where conditions may have been favorable to the preservation of evidence of possible prebiotic or biotic processes.

TL;DR: Textural observations indicate that the lower strata were emplaced in an explosive event, and geochemical considerations favor an explosive volcanic origin over an impact origin, so Home Plate likely represents accumulation of pyroclastic materials.