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Measurements of Oxychlorine species on Mars
- B. Sutter, R. C. Quinn, P. D. Archer, D. P. Glavin, T. D. Glotch, S. P. Kounaves, M. M. Osterloo, E. B. Rampe, D. W. Ming
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- Journal:
- International Journal of Astrobiology / Volume 16 / Issue 3 / July 2017
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 05 April 2016, pp. 203-217
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Mars landed and orbiter missions have instrumentation capable of detecting oxychlorine phases (e.g. perchlorate, chlorate) on the surface. Perchlorate (~0.6 wt%) was first detected by the Wet Chemistry Laboratory in the surface material at the Phoenix Mars Landing site. Subsequent analyses by the Thermal Evolved Gas Analyser aboard the same lander detected an oxygen release (~465°C) consistent with the thermal decomposition of perchlorate. Recent thermal analysis by the Mars Science Laboratory's Sample Analysis at Mars instrument has also indicated the presence of oxychlorine phases (up to 1.2 wt%) in Gale Crater materials. Despite being at detectable concentrations, the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) X-ray diffractometer has not detected oxychlorine phases. This suggests that Gale Crater oxychlorine may exist as poorly crystalline phases or that perchlorate/chlorate mixtures exist, so that individual oxychlorine concentrations are below CheMin detection limits (~1 wt%). Although not initially designed to detect oxychlorine phases, reinterpretation of Viking Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometer data also suggest that oxychlorine phases are present in the Viking surface materials. Remote near-infrared spectral analyses by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) instrument indicate that at least some martian recurring slope lineae (RSL) have spectral signatures consistent with the presence of hydrated perchlorates or chlorates during the seasons when RSL are most extensive. Despite the thermal emission spectrometer, Thermal Emission Imaging System, Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces et l'Activité and CRISM detection of hundreds of anhydrous chloride (~10–25 vol%) deposits, expected associated oxychlorine phases (>5–10 vol%) have not been detected. Total Cl and oxychlorine data sets from the Phoenix Lander and the Mars Science Laboratory missions could be used to develop oxychlorine versus total Cl correlations, which may constrain oxychlorine concentrations at other locations on Mars by using total Cl determined by other missions (e.g. Viking, Pathfinder, MER and Odyssey). Development of microfluidic or ‘lab-on-a-chip’ instrumentation has the potential to be the next generation analytical capability used to identify and quantify individual oxychlorine species on future landed robotic missions to Mars.
8 - Visible to near-IR multispectral orbital observations of Mars
- from Part III - Mineralogy and Remote Sensing of Rocks, Soil, Dust, and Ices
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- By J. F. Bell III, Cornell University, Department of Astronomy, 402 Space Sciences Building, Ithaca, NY 14853-6801, USA, T. D. Glotch, Department of Geosciences, SUNY at Stony Brook Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA, V. E. Hamilton, Hawaii Institute of Geophysics & Planetology, University of Hawaii, 1680 East-West Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA, T. McConnochie, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Mailstop 693.0 Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA, T. McCord, Space Science Institute 4750 Walnut Street, Suite 205 Boulder, Colorado 80301, USA, A. McEwen, Lunar & Planetary Laboratory University of Arizona, 1541 E. University Blvd. Tuscon, AZ 85721-0063, USA, P. R. Christensen, Planetary Exploration Laboratory Arizona State University Moeur Building 110D Tempe, AZ 85287, USA, R. E. Arvidson, Earth & Planetary Science, Washington University St Louis, MO 63130, USA
- Edited by Jim Bell, Cornell University, New York
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- Book:
- The Martian Surface
- Published online:
- 10 December 2009
- Print publication:
- 05 June 2008, pp 169-192
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Summary
ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews observations and interpretations since the 1990s from orbital telescopic and spacecraft observations of Mars from the extended visible to short-wave near-IR (VNIR) wavelength range. Imaging and spectroscopic measurements from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera Wide Angle (MGS MOC/WA) instrument, Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System Visible Subsystem (THEMIS-VIS), and Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (MEx HRSC) and Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces et l'Activité (OMEGA) have been acquired at spatial scales from global-scale ∼ 1 to hundreds of kilometers resolution to regional-scale ∼ 20–100 m resolution. Most high-albedo regions are homogeneous in color and thus, likely, composition, a supposition consistent with the long-held idea of the presence of a globally homogeneous aeolian dust unit covering much of the surface. Despite the presence and ubiquity of dust, these measurements still reveal the presence of significant VNIR spectral variability at a variety of spatial scales. For example, color variations and possibly mineralogic variations have been detected among small-scale (tens of meters) exposures of light-toned outcrop and layered materials in Meridiani Planum, Valles Marineris, and other areas. Within low-albedo regions, much of the observed color variability appears simply related to different amounts of covering or coating by nanophase ferric oxide-bearing dust and/or ferrous silicate-bearing sand. Some VNIR color units, however, in regions spanning the full range of observed surface albedos, correlate with geologic, topographic, or thermal inertia boundaries, suggesting that either composition/mineralogy or variations in physical properties (e.g., grain size, roughness, packing density) influence the observed color.
9 - Global mineralogy mapped from the Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer
- from Part III - Mineralogy and Remote Sensing of Rocks, Soil, Dust, and Ices
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- By P. R. Christensen, Planetary Exploration Laboratory Arizona State University Moeur Building 110D Tempe, AZ 85287, USA, J. L. Bandfield, Arizona State University, MC 6305 Mars Space Flight Facility Tempe, AZ, USA, A. D. Rogers, Department of Geosciences, SUNY at Stony Brook Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA, Glotch R. T. D., Department of Geosciences, SUNY at Stony Brook Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA, V. E. Hamilton, Hawaii Institute of Geophysics & Planetology, University of Hawaii, 1680 East-West Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA, S. W. Ruff, Mars Space Flight Facility Arizona State University Moeur Building, Room 131 Tempe, AZ 85287-6305, USA, M. B. Wyatt, Brown University, Department of Geological Science, 324 Brook Street Providence, RI 02912-1846, USA
- Edited by Jim Bell, Cornell University, New York
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- Book:
- The Martian Surface
- Published online:
- 10 December 2009
- Print publication:
- 05 June 2008, pp 193-220
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Summary
ABSTRACT
The Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) on Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mapped the surface, atmosphere, and polar caps of Mars from 1997 through 2006. TES provided the first global mineral maps of Mars, and showed that the surface is dominated by primary volcanic minerals (plagioclase feldspar, pyroxene, and olivine) along with high-silica, poorly crystalline materials. Differences in the abundances of these minerals were initially grouped into two broad compositional categories that correspond to basalt and basaltic andesite. Additional analysis has identified four surface compositional groups that are spatially coherent, revealing variations in the composition of the primary crust-forming magmas through time. In general, plagioclase, high-Ca clinopyroxene, and high-silica phases are the dominant mineral groups for most regions, with lesser amounts of orthopyroxene, olivine, and pigeonite. One of the fundamental results from the TES investigation was the identification of several large deposits of crystalline hematite, including those in Meridiani Planum, that were interpreted to indicate the presence of liquid water for extended periods of time. This interpretation led to the selection of Meridiani as the target for the Opportunity rover, the first time that a planetary landing site was selected on the basis of mineralogic information. Aqueous weathering may have formed some of the high-silica phases seen in TES spectra at high latitudes, and the Mars Express Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces et l'Activité (OMEGA) spectrometer has detected phyllosilicates and sulfates, typically formed by aqueous weathering and deposition, in several locations.
14 - The mineralogy of Gusev crater and Meridiani Planum derived from the Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometers on the Spirit and Opportunity rovers
- from Part III - Mineralogy and Remote Sensing of Rocks, Soil, Dust, and Ices
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- By S. W. Ruff, Mars Space Flight Facility Arizona State University, Moeur Building, Room 131 Tempe, AZ 85287-6305, USA, P. R. Christensen, Planetary Exploration Laboratory Arizona State University, Moeur Building 110D Tempe, AZ 85287, USA, T. D. Glotch, Department of Geosciences, SUNY at Stony Brook Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA, D. L. Blaney, JPL MS 183-501 4800 Oak Grove Drive Pasadena, CA 91109, USA, J. E. Moersch, Department of Earth & Planetary Science University of Tennessee, 1412 Circle Drive, Room 306 Knoxville, TN 37996, USA, M. B. Wyatt, Brown University, Department of Geological Science, 324 Brook Street Providence, RI 02912-1846, USA
- Edited by Jim Bell, Cornell University, New York
-
- Book:
- The Martian Surface
- Published online:
- 10 December 2009
- Print publication:
- 05 June 2008, pp 315-338
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Summary
ABSTRACT
Two Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometers (Mini-TES) operated successfully onboard the two Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) on the Martian surface, one at Gusev crater and the other at Meridiani Planum. Designed to provide remotely sensed information on the bulk mineralogy of surface materials, the Mini-TES instruments served to guide the rovers to targets of interest and extrapolate the observations made by the rovers' mechanical-arm-mounted instruments. The Mini-TES on the Spirit rover in Gusev crater observed a flat plain covered by rocks with an olivine-rich ((Mg,Fe)2SiO4) mineralogy and a soil-like unit mantled by airfall dust occurring between the rocks. The dust is a spectral match to dust observed at Meridiani Planum and across the globe. The soil is basaltic in composition, dominated by plagioclase (NaAlSi3O8–CaAl2Si2O8), pyroxene (Ca(Mg,Fe)Si2O6–(Mg,Fe)SiO3), and olivine that probably was produced in part from the breakdown of local rocks. Approximately 2.5 km from the Spirit lander, the Columbia Hills contain a remarkably diverse set of rocks distinct from the plains. Basaltic glass appears to dominate the mineralogy of various outcropping rocks while plagioclase dominates the float rocks that cover most of the north side of Husband Hill, the tallest of the Columbia Hills. Numerous exotic (out of place) rocks dot the hillside that likely were emplaced as impact ejecta in some cases and perhaps as volcanic intrusions in other cases. Onboard the Opportunity rover in Meridiani Planum, the Mini-TES observed a nearly rock-free plain covered in hematite (Fe2O3) spherules and basaltic sand.