Chlorate/Fe‐Bearing Phase Mixtures as a Possible Source of Oxygen and Chlorine Detected by the Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument in Gale Crater, Mars

Hogancamp, J. V.; Sutter, B.; Morris, R. V.; Archer, P. D.; Ming, D. W.; Rampe, E. B.; Mahaffy, P. R.; Navarro‐González, Rafael

doi:10.1029/2018je005691

Cited by 30 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Some samples evolved HCl and did not evolve any O 2 . Previous laboratory analyses of perchlorates and chlorates produced O 2 releases consistent with those observed in SAM data but did not produce the high‐temperature (>600 °C) HCl releases observed in the SAM data (Hogancamp et al, ; Sutter et al, ). Additionally, these laboratory studies did not explain the SAM samples that evolved high‐temperature HCl but did not evolve O 2 .…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 74%

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High‐Temperature HCl Evolutions From Mixtures of Perchlorates and Chlorides With Water‐Bearing Phases: Implications for the SAM Instrument in Gale Crater, Mars

et al. 2020

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Evolved hydrogen chloride (HCl) detected by the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument's evolved gas analysis (EGA) mode on board the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover has been attributed to oxychlorines (i.e., perchlorates and chlorates) or chlorides in Gale crater samples. Previous laboratory EGA studies of oxychlorines have been unable to reproduce the high‐temperature (>600 °C) HCl evolutions observed in most Gale crater samples. The objective of this work was to reproduce these high‐temperature HCl releases from laboratory mixtures of perchlorates and chlorides with phases that evolve water upon heating. Magnesium and sodium perchlorate and chloride were mixed with saponite, nontronite, and a basaltic glass and analyzed in a laboratory thermal evolved gas analyzer configured to operate similarly to the SAM instrument. Na perchlorate and chloride evolved HCl only when mixed with all three water‐producing phases. Mg perchlorate and chloride evolved a mid ‐temperature HCl release (~450–550 °C) and evolved an additional high‐temperature HCl release (~810–820 °C) when mixed with saponite. This work demonstrated that chlorides, either originally present or from perchlorate decomposition, evolved high‐temperature HCl when reacting with water from water‐producing phases. The HCl release temperature was dependent on the mixture's mineralogy and chemical composition. HCl releases detected by SAM were consistent with oxychlorines and/or chlorides in the presence of water‐producing phases. Additionally, this work provided constraints on the presence of oxychlorines or chlorides and their cation types, which has implications for past aqueous and diagenetic processes, the potential for past life, and detection of organics by EGA.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 74%

“…) and/or chlorates (ClO 3 -) in Gale crater rocks and sediments (Hogancamp et al, 2018;Glavin et al, 2013;Stern et al, 2018;Sutter et al, 2017). These HCl gas releases either coevolved with O 2 below 600°C or evolved at higher temperatures (>600°C).…”

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confidence: 99%

High‐Temperature HCl Evolutions From Mixtures of Perchlorates and Chlorides With Water‐Bearing Phases: Implications for the SAM Instrument in Gale Crater, Mars

et al. 2020

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“…Their concentrations were higher than for fixed nitrogen species with a (nitrate or nitrite)/oxychlorine mixing ratio from 0.06 to 0.49 (J. C. Stern et al, 2017). The oxygen evolution temperatures are lower than what is typical of perchlorates and appear to be more consistent with Mg (ClO 3 ) 2 and Ca (ClO 3 ) 2 or ClO 3 − /iron phases (Hogancamp et al, 2018). Consequently, NO evolved below 350°C in the Martian samples could be assigned to NO 2 − and iron-NO 3 − , and above 350°C to NO 3 − .…”

Section: Journal Of Geophysical Research: Planetsmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…The samples Lubango, Okoruso, and Sebina were not analyzed by SAM. The sampling sites have been described in detail elsewhere (Hogancamp et al, 2018;J. C. Stern et al, 2017).…”

Section: Martian Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abiotic Input of Fixed Nitrogen by Bolide Impacts to Gale Crater During the Hesperian: Insights From the Mars Science Laboratory

et al. 2019

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Molecular hydrogen (H2) from volcanic emissions is suggested to warm the Martian surface when carbon dioxide (CO2) levels dropped from the Noachian (4100 to 3700 Myr) to the Hesperian (3700 to 3000 Myr). Its presence is expected to shift the conversion of molecular nitrogen (N2) into different forms of fixed nitrogen (N). Here we present experimental data and theoretical calculations that investigate the efficiency of nitrogen fixation by bolide impacts in CO2‐N2 atmospheres with or without H2. Surprisingly, nitric oxide (NO) was produced more efficiently in 20% H2 in spite of being a reducing agent and not likely to increase the rate of nitrogen oxidation. Nevertheless, its presence led to a faster cooling of the shock wave raising the freeze‐out temperature of NO resulting in an enhanced yield. We estimate that the nitrogen fixation rate by bolide impacts varied from 7 × 10−4 to 2 × 10−3 g N·Myr−1·cm−2 and could imply fluvial concentration to explain the nitrogen (1.4 ± 0.7 g N·Myr−1·cm−2) detected as nitrite (NO2−) and nitrate (NO3−) by Curiosity at Yellowknife Bay. One possible explanation is that the nitrogen detected in the lacustrine sediments at Gale was deposited entirely on the crater's surface and was subsequently dissolved and transported by superficial and ground waters to the lake during favorable wet climatic conditions. The nitrogen content sharply decreases in younger sediments of the Murray formation suggesting a decline of H2 in the atmosphere and the rise of oxidizing conditions causing a shortage in the supply to putative microbial life.

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“…To account for oxygen in the Martian atmosphere, a variety of hypothetical abiogenic scenarios have been proposed involving the interaction of the atmosphere with reservoirs of oxygen contained in minerals and soil (Franz et al 2020;Livengood et al 2020;Sutter et al 2015Sutter et al , 2017 and the heating of magnesium, sodium, and potassium chlorate (Hogancamp et al 2018). For example, the rover Curiosity's SAM instrument (Sample Analysis at Mars) has provided indirect evidence for carbonates which in turn may have served as a sink for CO 2 (Franz et al 2020).…”

Section: Soil -Atmosphere Exchange and Abiogenic Oxygen?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mars: Life, Subglacial Oceans, Abiogenic Photosynthesis, Seasonal Increases and Replenishment of Atmospheric Oxygen

et al. 2020

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The discovery and subsequent investigations of atmospheric oxygen on Mars are reviewed. Free oxygen is a biomarker produced by photosynthesizing organisms. Oxygen is reactive and on Mars may be destroyed in 10 years and is continually replenished. Diurnal and spring/summer increases in oxygen have been documented, and these variations parallel biologically induced fluctuations on Earth. Data from the Viking biological experiments also support active biology, though these results have been disputed. Although there is no conclusive proof of current or past life on Mars, organic matter has been detected and specimens resembling green algae / cyanobacteria, lichens, stromatolites, and open apertures and fenestrae for the venting of oxygen produced via photosynthesis have been observed. These life-like specimens include thousands of lichen-mushroom-shaped structures with thin stems, attached to rocks, topped by bulbous caps, and oriented skyward similar to photosynthesizing organisms. If these specimens are living, fossilized or abiogenic is unknown. If biological, they may be producing and replenishing atmospheric oxygen. Abiogenic processes might also contribute to oxygenation via sublimation and seasonal melting of subglacial water-ice deposits coupled with UV splitting of water molecules; a process of abiogenic photosynthesis that could have significantly depleted oceans of water and subsurface ice over the last 4.5 billion years.

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Chlorate/Fe‐Bearing Phase Mixtures as a Possible Source of Oxygen and Chlorine Detected by the Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument in Gale Crater, Mars

Cited by 30 publications

References 53 publications

High‐Temperature HCl Evolutions From Mixtures of Perchlorates and Chlorides With Water‐Bearing Phases: Implications for the SAM Instrument in Gale Crater, Mars

High‐Temperature HCl Evolutions From Mixtures of Perchlorates and Chlorides With Water‐Bearing Phases: Implications for the SAM Instrument in Gale Crater, Mars

Abiotic Input of Fixed Nitrogen by Bolide Impacts to Gale Crater During the Hesperian: Insights From the Mars Science Laboratory

Mars: Life, Subglacial Oceans, Abiogenic Photosynthesis, Seasonal Increases and Replenishment of Atmospheric Oxygen

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