Meetings to Understand the Rock Record

Eos, Vol. 95, No. 39, 30 September 2014

New means of determining process timing and duration estimates and petrology are required Meetings to understand the rock record. A frequent question from climate scientists dealing with a less luminous young Sun was, Did it have to rain to generate the landform and mineral Developing an Updated, Integrated records from that era? Scientists continue to debate whether early Mars was cold, with Understanding of Mars snow, ice caps, and transient water, or warm, with an integrated hydrologic system and The Eighth International Conference on Mars; standing bodies of water. Pasadena, California, 14–18 July 2014 • Mars today has active processes involving dust, water, and atmospheric gases, which together with geological and chemical evi- PAGE 354 aimed to foster cross‐disciplinary discourse. dence (e.g., minerals and isotopes) are provid- The afternoon sessions centered on poster ing windows into the past, while challenging More than 650 scientists from 21 countries presentations—about 100 each day. The con- the physical processes and scales resolvable gathered in mid‐July at the California Institute ference ended with a discussion moderated in current Mars climate models. Understand- of Technology (Caltech) to debate and exam- by Lisa Pratt (Indiana University) and led by a ing modern Mars and its resources is also im- ine the status of our exploration of the Red panel representing broad disciplines in Mars portant for preparing for human exploration Planet. Since the Seventh International Confer- studies: Phil Christensen (geology, Arizona missions. ence on Mars in 2007, seven Mars missions— State University), Rich Zurek (climate, JPL), The conference was funded by NASA, and Mars Odyssey, Mars Exploration Rovers Dave Des Marais (life, JPL), and Marcello program logistics assistance was provided by (Spirit/Opportunity), Mars Express, Mars Coradini (human exploration, JPL). the Lunar and Planetary Institute. Key presenta- Reconnaissance Orbiter, Phoenix, and Mars Some highlights of the meeting follow. tions, including thematic session and integra- Science Laboratory (Curiosity)—have been • The emergence of Mars system science tive overviews, all abstracts, and many ePosters returning data, augmented by telescopic was apparent: Conference participants repeat- are available at http://bit.ly/8thMars2014 . Also observations, studies of Martian meteorites, edly discussed two key discoveries —mineral included are snapshots of the missions arriv- laboratory work, and modeling studies. distribution and diversity, and large magni- ing at Mars (MAVEN, ISRO’s Mars Orbiter The Eighth International Conference on tude, obliquity‐driven climate variations—that Mission) and those under development (ESA’s Mars, sponsored by the Jet Propulsion Labo- have profound implications for understand- 2016/2018 ExoMars, 2016 InSight lander, 2020 ratory (JPL), Caltech, and NASA, brought ing the Martian geologic record, climate, and Mars Rover). In addition to the authors/ together geoscientists, atmospheric scientists, habitability. conveners listed, conveners Rich Zurek and astrobiologists, and engineers to present their • Evidence for geographically widespread Dan McCleese and organizer Serina Diniega latest discoveries and discuss the implications liquid water on past Mars—and possibly (JPL) were instrumental in the setup of the for understanding Mars. The goal of the meet- ephemeral water present‐day—is now unam- conference and in writing this summary. ing was to refocus the primary scientifi c ques- biguous. This evidence, with detection of key tions surrounding Mars by identifying new elements and energy sources, indicates that — BETHANY EHLMANN, California Institute of paradigms and the most important unknowns. early Mars was habitable. But did life develop? Technology, Pasadena; DAVID BEATY , Jet Propulsion Participants submitted 499 abstracts, many Important unknowns are liquid water’s persis- Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.; email: David.W.Beaty@ of which were presented during the morning tence and the environmental setting impli- jpl.nasa.gov; and MICHAEL MEYER , NASA, Wash- sessions. These big‐picture, thematic sessions cated by the mineral and chemical record. ington, D. C.