Identification of Carbonate-Rich Outcrops on Mars by the Spirit Rover

Morris, R. V.; Ruff, Steven W.; Gellert, R.; Ming, D. W.; Arvidson, R. E.; Clark, B. C.; Golden, D. C.; Siebach, K. L.; Klingelhöfer, G.; Schröder, Christian; Fleischer, I.; Yen, A. S.; Squyres, S. W.

doi:10.1126/science.1189667

Cited by 379 publications

(304 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…5.1.2). Other carbonate occurrences in the Bockfjord volcanic province of Spitsbergen are the highest fidelity terrestrial analogs to the Comanche carbonates in the Columbia Hills (Morris et al 2010. Occurrences of carbonate associated with volcanic rocks on the Sverrefjell volcano appear to be cements deposited by late-stage hydrothermal systems occupying volcanic pipes.…”

Section: Carbonatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Line markers for stoichiometric magnesite shown. Deviation from stoichiometry is due to Ca substituting for Mg in the structure (as shown by EMP analyses; identified in outcrops on the Mars surface by the Spirit rover in the Columbia Hills of Gusev crater (Morris et al 2010). The best analogs on Earth to the ALH84001 meteorite are ultramafic xenoliths found on the Spitsbergen archipelago (Treiman et al 2002), which contain carbonates with complex compositional zoning.…”

Section: Carbonatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Carbonates were first Fig. 31 Terra XRD pattern of "breccia cave carbonate" identified by Morris et al (2010 as the closest terrestrial analog to the Comanche carbonate in the Columbia Hills. Rietveld refinement of the data show 95 % magnesite and 5 % dolomite.…”

Section: Carbonatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Characterization and Calibration of the CheMin Mineralogical Instrument on Mars Science Laboratory

Blake¹,

Vaniman²,

Achilles³

et al. 2012

Mars Science Laboratory

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120

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A principal goal of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity is to identify and characterize past habitable environments on Mars. Determination of the mineralogical and chemical composition of Martian rocks and soils constrains their formation and alteration pathways, providing information on climate and habitability through time. The CheMin X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) instrument on MSL will return accurate mineralogical identifications and quantitative phase abundances for scooped soil samples and drilled rock powders collected at Gale Crater during Curiosity's 1-Marsyear nominal mission. The instrument has a Co X-ray source and a cooled charge-coupled device (CCD) detector arranged in transmission geometry with the sample. CheMin's angular range of 5 • to 50 • 2θ with < 0.35 • 2θ resolution is sufficient to identify and quantify virtually all minerals. CheMin's XRF requirement was descoped for technical and budgetary reasons. However, X-ray energy discrimination is still required to separate Co Kα from Co Kβ and Fe Kα photons. The X-ray energy-dispersive histograms (EDH) returned along with XRD for instrument evaluation should be useful in identifying elements Z > 13 that are contained in the sample. The CheMin XRD is equipped with internal chemical and mineralogical standards and 27 reusable sample cells with either Mylar ® or Kapton ® windows to accommodate acidic-to-basic environmental conditions. The CheMin flight model (FM) instrument will be calibrated utilizing analyses of common samples against a demonstrationmodel (DM) instrument and CheMin-like laboratory instruments. The samples include phyllosilicate and sulfate minerals that are expected at Gale crater on the basis of remote sensing observations.

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Section: Carbonatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Carbonatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Characterization and Calibration of the CheMin Mineralogical Instrument on Mars Science Laboratory

Blake¹,

Vaniman²,

Achilles³

et al. 2012

Mars Science Laboratory

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120

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“…Carbonate minerals have long been seen as powerful tools with which to explore these fundamental relationships as they are intimately tied to both the water and the inorganic carbon cycle. Our understanding of the distribution and character of carbonates on the surface of Mars is undergoing rapid changes as several discoveries from recent robotic missions have clarified our view Ehlmann et al 2008b;Morris et al 2010). The nature and distribution of carbonates on Mars remains somewhat uncertain and subject to speculation, but some constraints can now be added.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It now seems clear that carbonates do not exist as extensive, thick, laterally continuous bedrock units on the surface of the planet similar to those on Earth. Instead local deposits of carbonate have been discovered Ehlmann et al 2008b;Morris et al 2010), with the possibility of additional discoveries at smaller spatial scales or in mixed units excavated from the subsurface (Michalski and Niles 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geochemistry of Carbonates on Mars: Implications for Climate History and Nature of Aqueous Environments

Niles¹,

Catling²,

Berger³

et al. 2012

Quantifying the Martian Geochemical Reservoirs

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Ongoing research on martian meteorites and a new set of observations of carbonate minerals provided by an unprecedented series of robotic missions to Mars in the past 15 years help define new constraints on the history of martian climate with important cross- cutting themes including: the CO 2 budget of Mars, the role of Mg-, Fe-rich fluids on Mars, and the interplay between carbonate formation and acidity.Carbonate minerals have now been identified in a wide range of localities on Mars as well as in several martian meteorites. The martian meteorites contain carbonates in low abundances (<1 vol.%) and with a wide range of chemistries. Carbonates have also been identified by remote sensing instruments on orbiting spacecraft in several surface locations as well as in low concentrations (2-5 wt.%) in the martian dust. The Spirit rover also identified an outcrop with 16 to 34 wt.% carbonate material in the Columbia Hills of Gusev Crater that strongly resembled the composition of carbonate found in martian meteorite ALH 84001. Finally, the Phoenix lander identified concentrations of 3-6 wt.% carbonate in the soils of the northern plains.The carbonates discovered to date do not clearly indicate the past presence of a dense Noachian atmosphere, but instead suggest localized hydrothermal aqueous environments with limited water availability that existed primarily in the early to mid-Noachian followed by low levels of carbonate formation from thin films of transient water from the late Noachian to the present. The prevalence of carbonate along with evidence for active carbonate precipitation suggests that a global acidic chemistry is unlikely and a more complex relationship between acidity and carbonate formation is present.

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Sands at Gusev Crater, Mars

Cabrol

Herkenhoff

Knoll

et al. 2014

J. Geophys. Res. Planets

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Processes, environments, and the energy associated with the transport and deposition of sand at Gusev Crater are characterized at the microscopic scale through the comparison of statistical moments for particle size and shape distributions. Bivariate and factor analyses define distinct textural groups at 51 sites along the traverse completed by the Spirit rover as it crossed the plains and went into the Columbia Hills. Fine-to-medium sand is ubiquitous in ripples and wind drifts. Most distributions show excess fine material, consistent with a predominance of wind erosion over the last 3.8 billion years. Negative skewness at West Valley is explained by the removal of fine sand during active erosion, or alternatively, by excess accumulation of coarse sand from a local source. The coarse to very coarse sand particles of ripple armors in the basaltic plains have a unique combination of size and shape. Their distribution display significant changes in their statistical moments within the~400 m that separate the Columbia Memorial Station from Bonneville Crater. Results are consistent with aeolian and/or impact deposition, while the elongated and rounded shape of the grains forming the ripples, as well as their direction of origin, could point to Ma'adim Vallis as a possible source. For smaller particles on the traverse, our findings confirm that aeolian processes have dominated over impact and other processes to produce sands with the observed size and shape patterns across a spectrum of geologic (e.g., ripples and plains soils) and aerographic settings (e.g., wind shadows).

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Identification of Carbonate-Rich Outcrops on Mars by the Spirit Rover

Cited by 379 publications

References 39 publications

Characterization and Calibration of the CheMin Mineralogical Instrument on Mars Science Laboratory

Characterization and Calibration of the CheMin Mineralogical Instrument on Mars Science Laboratory

Geochemistry of Carbonates on Mars: Implications for Climate History and Nature of Aqueous Environments

Sands at Gusev Crater, Mars

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