Department of Geosciences Hosts Mars Scientists to Look at Arkansas Rocks

Trent Fortier

The field trip team poses in front of the Wedington Sandstone at Bayyari Park in Springdale, Ark.

The planet Mars is 140 million miles away from the University of Arkansas (on average). Even so, 12 planetary scientists from around the country gathered on campus to learn more about Mars on Jan. 8 and 9, hosted by Ph.D. candidate Cory Hughes, associate professor John Shaw, and the Department of Geosciences.

Attendees hailed from the University of Texas, Stanford University, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Planetary Sciences Institute, and Penn State University.

The reason for the visit was the Wedington Sandstone, a set of cliff-forming rocks that are present across the Northwest Arkansas region, and deep underground as far south as Fort Smith. The shapes of these rock formations are surprisingly similar to rocks in a region of Mars called Aeolis Dorsa that has been photographed by satellite. Since the nearest Mars rover is hundreds of miles away, the best thing that scientists can do to study the enigmatic martian rocks is to find similar rocks on Earth.

Both the rocks of Aeolis Dorsa and the rocks of the Wedington Sandstone appear to be the deposits of coastal rivers that flowed about 3.5 billion years ago on Mars and 300 million years ago on Arkansas. Climbing over the local rocks, the group debated the best techniques to estimate how deep the ancient river channels were. Evidence of tidal currents preserved in the sands was of particular interest.

Ben Cardenas, an assistant professor at Penn State, was excited to attend and study the rocks with a team. He said, “I think we’re getting much closer to the truth about what built the Wedington!”

Pea Ridge National Military Park was one of the field trip stops, because the hills that surround the battlefield are the Wedington Sandstone. Nolan Moore, the park biologist, joined the group to learn about the rocks. He said that with growing focus on nature and outdoor recreation in the park, it is important to learn what the rocks can say.

Jackson Stewart, a U of A junior honors student double-majoring in earth science and history, also attended and was inspired: “Working with such an intelligent group of professionals in my field informed me beyond what any classroom experience could have. It was especially invigorating that the formation we visited was the same I am studying for my honors thesis as it emphasized the value of my research and got me excited to be able present it to other passionate people in the future.”

Hughes, the primary organizer of the field trip, is writing his dissertation on how the Wedington Sandstone relates to Mars. “It’s pretty special to have rocks so similar to those we find on Mars just minutes away from campus,” he said. “I think we can expect future generations of planetary scientists to visit Northwest Arkansas with an eye on revealing the mysteries of the Red Planet!”

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