Link (Mars)

{{Short description|Rock outcrop on Mars}}

{{Infobox feature on celestial object

|name = Link

|image = 300px

|caption = "Link" rock outcrop on Mars - an ancient streambed{{cite web|last1=Brown |first1=Dwayne|last2=Cole |first2=Steve |last3=Webster |first3=Guy|last4=Agle |first4=D.C.|title=NASA Rover Finds Old Streambed On Martian Surface|url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/sep/HQ_12-338_Mars_Water_Stream.html|date=September 27, 2012|website=NASA |access-date=September 28, 2012 }}{{cite AV media |title=NASA's Curiosity Rover Finds Old Streambed on Mars |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYo31XjoXOk |date=September 27, 2012|publisher=NASAtelevision|access-date=September 28, 2012 |via=YouTube}}{{cite news |last=Chang|first=Alicia |title=Mars rover Curiosity finds signs of ancient stream|url=http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120927/DA1IDOO00.html|date=September 27, 2012 |work=AP News|access-date=September 27, 2012 }} viewed by the Curiosity rover (September 2, 2012) ([http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpeg/PIA17063.jpg 3-D version]).

|type = Rock outcrop

|coordinates = {{coord|4.59|S|137.44|E|globe:mars_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

}}

Link is a rock outcrop on the surface of Aeolis Palus, between Peace Vallis and Aeolis Mons ("Mount Sharp"), in Gale crater on the planet Mars. The outcrop was encountered by the Curiosity rover on the way from Bradbury Landing to Glenelg Intrigue on September 2, 2012 (the 27th sol of the mission), and was named after a significant rock formation (and lake) in the Northwest Territories of Canada.{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16188.html|title=Link to a Watery Past|date=26 July 2018 |access-date=March 3, 2021}} The "approximate" site coordinates are: {{coord|4.59|S|137.44|E|globe:Mars}}.

File:PIA16157-MarsCuriosityRover-GoulburnLinkHottah-20120927.jpg", "Link" and Hottah" rock outcrop - suggest "vigorously" flowing water in an ancient streambed (September 27, 2012).]]

File:PIA16189_fig1-Curiosity_Rover-Rock_Outcrops-Mars_and_Earth.jpg of "Link" (left) is strikingly similar to a terrestrial fluvial conglomerate (right).]]

The outcrop is a conglomerate of gravel that has been well-sorted, containing well-rounded, smooth, abraded pebbles. Pebbles and gravel a few millimeters to centimeters across are embedded in amongst a finer, white matrix. This outcrop geology is strikingly similar to some terrestrial fluvial conglomerates.{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16189.html|title=Rock Outcrops on Mars and Earth|date=26 July 2018 |access-date=March 3, 2021}} Around the rock are scattered well sorted loose gravel around 1 cm across, which are thought to be weathering out of the outcrop.

The rock has been interpreted as a cemented fluvial sediment, deposited by a "vigorously" flowing stream, probably between ankle and waist deep. This stream is part of an ancient alluvial fan, which descends from the steep terrain at the rim of Gale crater across its floor.

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