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Published December 2025 | Version Published
Journal Article Open

Sedimentology and stratigraphy of the fluvial–deltaic Skrinkle Haven member, Tenby formation, Jezero Crater, Mars

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon Jet Propulsion Lab
  • 2. ROR icon Western Michigan University
  • 3. ROR icon California Institute of Technology
  • 4. ROR icon Imperial College London
  • 5. Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse
  • 6. ROR icon Rice University
  • 7. ROR icon Université de Nantes
  • 8. ROR icon University of California, Los Angeles
  • 9. ROR icon Johns Hopkins University
  • 10. ROR icon Johnson Space Center
  • 11. ROR icon Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • 12. ROR icon Planetary Science Institute
  • 13. ROR icon Carnegie Institution for Science
  • 14. ROR icon Malin Space Science Systems (United States)
  • 15. ROR icon University of Tennessee at Knoxville
  • 16. ROR icon University of Alberta

Abstract

In 2023, the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover investigated the Skrinkle Haven member of the Tenby formation in the > 3.5-billion-year Jezero Crater western fan. This unit was interpreted from orbiter data as bank attached, lateral-accretion bars in a sinuous river on a muddy delta plain. To test that hypothesis, this study applies facies and stratigraphic analyses of both rover and orbiter data. Rover images show that the Skrinkle Haven member is composed of two lithofacies: a fine-grained sandstone and a pebble conglomerate. Both lithofacies are composed of structureless, ungraded, planar-parallel beds that have sharp, nongradational contacts and depositional angles up to ∼ 30°. These characteristics indicate that grain flow was the main depositional process and that the sedimentary bodies were built through downstream accretion. Architectural analysis suggests that the Skrinkle Haven member was deposited primarily as delta foresets and mouth bars, with limited river bar deposition. The sequence stratigraphic analysis identified five maximum-flooding surfaces associated with relative-lake-level increases ranging from 5 to 25 m. In the sequences, deltaic strata prograded during normal and forced regressions. Some sequences have evidence for compensational stacking. Lake levels decreased through time both within sequences and throughout the duration of the Skrinkle Haven member deposition, from at least –2415 m in the oldest sequence to at most –2455 m in the youngest. The elevation range of the Skrinkle Haven member is below the modern Jezero Crater outlet breach, suggesting that the Jezero Crater lake basin was closed at that time. Overall, the Skrinkle Haven member records the deposition of a sandy to conglomeratic deltaic system that prograded into a closed lake basin during both forced and normal regressions. This type of fluvial–deltaic system is significantly different from the muddy delta topsets originally interpreted from orbiter data, because of the different implications for biosignature preservation and the paleohydrology of the Jezero Crater.

Copyright and License

Copyright 2025, SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology). Open Access CC-BY 4.0.

Acknowledgement

This research was carried out in part at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The authors acknowledge the contributions of the large and talented team that conceived, created, and operated the Perseverance rover and the Mars 2020 mission. The work of GC and NM was supported by the French Space Agency CNES, focused on SuperCam and on Mars2020‐Perseverance. The authors thank D.G.F. Long, L.J. Wood, and B.T. Cardenas for their thoughtful reviews, which strengthened this manuscript.

Data Availability

The rover and orbiter data used in this study are publicly available in the sources listed in Table 1 and Table S3. Products created in support (shapefiles, code, tables, etc.) of this study are available in the Supplementary Materials.

Supplemental Material

Supplementary data:

SMF1- docx file
SMF2- docx file
SMF3- xlsx file
SMF4- xlsx file
SMF5- zip file
SMF6- zip file
SMF7- csv file
SMF8- zip file
SMF9- jpeg file

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Additional details

Funding

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Centre National d'Études Spatiales

Dates

Accepted
2025-08-28
Available
2025-11-19
First online

Caltech Custom Metadata

Caltech groups
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences (GPS)
Publication Status
Published