Reproducing hydrogeochemical conditions triggering the formation of carbonate and phyllosilicate alteration mineral assemblages on Mars (Nili Fossae region)

Berk, Wolfgang van; Fu, Yunjiao

doi:10.1029/2011je003886

Cited by 18 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 27 publications

(69 reference statements)

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“…One possibility is that the clay and carbonate units formed simultaneously in a single deep hydrothermal system in zones of different temperature and fluid composition (Brown et al 2010;van Berk and Fu 2011). A second variant of the hydrothermal model is that the Mg carbonate formed in the shallow subsurface due to diagenetic or low-T hydrothermal alteration of olivine, sometimes in the presence of CO 2 ; this may be consistent with the occasional detection of serpentine associated with the olivine unit ).…”

Section: Carbonates Detected On the Surface By Remote Sensingmentioning

confidence: 56%

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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Section: Carbonates Detected On the Surface By Remote Sensingmentioning

confidence: 56%

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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“…Following the ideas of Michalski and Niles, they proposed a subsurface formation model that was driven by heat from Syrtis Major lavas, resulting in thermal metamorphism and assimilation of the carbonates and eventually production of portlandite. Finally, van Berk and Fu (2011) produced a dynamical geochemical model to study the subsurface layering caused by low temperature reactions under a thick CO 2 atmosphere. This model was later used by Edwards and Ehlmann (2015) to suggest that low temperature carbonate sequestration was not likely to have removed sufficient CO 2 from an early Mars atmosphere capable of causing a global greenhouse.…”

Section: Martian Carbonate Depositsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this scenario, one might consider the variable carbonatization problematic, unless it is due to variable exposure of the olivine-carbonate lithology. The variability may occur due to CO 2 -rich fluids traveling downward in veins that connect the atmosphere with the subsurface (van Berk & Fu, 2011).…”

Section: Post-emplacement Carbonatization Eventmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We have thus made a qualitative assessment of the ability of each scenario to address the findings of this study, based on current scenarios in the literature. At this time, we do not have the required data to (Hamilton & Christensen, 2005;Tornabene et al, 2008), by dyke driven volcanism (Bramble et al, 2017) with accompanying deuteric alteration; serpentinization reactions driven by heat of volcanic emplacement (Brown et al, 2010;Viviano et al, 2013) √√√ √√√ √√√ Lava flow units in stratigraphic section, potentially cumulate clast textures and large grain sizes Impact-driven hydrothermal activity by a melt sheet (Hoefen et al, 2003;Mustard et al, 2007Mustard et al, , 2009) serpentinization reactions driven by hydrothermal activity from heat of impact (Osinski et al, 2013) √√ √√√ √√ Superposed impact melt sheet Emplacement by olivine-rich pyroclastic ash flow at low temperature (Kremer et al, 2019;Mandon et al 2019) √√√ √ Pyroclastic ash unit in stratigraphic section, small grain sizes Subsurface alteration under thicker CO 2 atmosphere; serpentinization reactions driven by diagenesis and upper crustal hydrothermal processes (Edwards & Ehlmann, 2015;van Berk & Fu, 2011) √√√ √√√ Indicators of subsurface alteration in carbonate and zoning (van Berk & Fu, 2011) Hydrothermal alteration in thermal springs environment (Walter & Des Marais, 1993) or alteration of volcanic tephra by ephemeral waters (Ruff et al, 2014) √√√ √√ Mineralogical and physical evidence of tephra-like deposits showing hydrothermal alteration Deep subsurface reservoir of carbonate exposed by meteor impact (Glotch & Rogers, 2013;Michalski & Niles, 2010) √√√ √√ Layering, exposure in deep crater walls or peaks Cold ophiolite-hosted serpentinization, as in the terrestrial analogs in California (Campbell et al, 2002;Schulte et al, 2006) or the Oman ophiolite (Paukert et al, 2012) √√ √√ √√ Low temperature serpentinization minerals…”

Section: Proposed Olivine-carbonate Lithology Formation Scenariosmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Olivine‐Carbonate Mineralogy of the Jezero Crater Region

Brown¹,

2020

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A well‐preserved, ancient delta deposit, in combination with ample exposures of carbonate outcrops, makes Jezero Crater in Nili Fossae a compelling astrobiological site. We use Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) observations to characterize the surface mineralogy of the crater and surrounding watershed. Previous studies have documented the occurrence of olivine and carbonates in the Nili Fossae region. We focus on correlations between these two well‐studied lithologies in the Jezero crater watershed. We map the position and shape of the olivine 1 μm absorption band and find that carbonates are found in association with olivine which displays a 1 μm band shifted to long wavelengths. We then use Thermal Emission Imaging Spectrometer (THEMIS) coverage of Nili Fossae and perform tests to investigate whether the long wavelength shifted (redshifted) olivine signature is correlated with high thermal inertia outcrops. We find that there is no consistent correlation between thermal inertia and the unique olivine signature. We discuss a range of formation scenarios for the olivine and carbonate associations, including the possibility that these lithologies are products of serpentinization reactions on early Mars. These lithologies provide an opportunity for deepening our understanding of early Mars and, given their antiquity, may provide a framework to study the timing of valley networks and the thermal history of the Martian crust and interior from the early Noachian to today.

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“…Step 1 requires the presence of aqueous silica available in significant amounts, dissolved from mafic rocks as predicted by McLennan [2003]. The "alternate" step 1 results in the production of magnetite, though petrographic studies of hydrothermally altered peridotites indicate significant magnetite formation may not begin until more than 60% of the primary rock is serpentinized [Bach et al, 2004]. Furthermore, although magnetite has a distinctively low albedo and small abundances would certainly affect the spectral characteristics of magnetite-bearing material, the mineral has no characteristic absorption features that significantly deviate from the apparent continuum in the visible and near-infrared wavelength ranges, and would difficult to identify if present.…”

Section: Serpentine and Carbonate Assemblagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implications for early hydrothermal environments on Mars through the spectral evidence for carbonation and chloritization reactions in the Nili Fossae region

2013

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[1] Previous identification of serpentine and magnesium carbonate in the eastern Nili Fossae region of Mars indicates hydrothermal alteration of an olivine-rich protolith. Here we characterize Fe/Mg phyllosilicates associated with these units and present spectral evidence for the presence of a talc component, distinguishable from saponite. Locations with magnesium carbonate are exclusively associated with talc-related phyllosilicates. In the westernmost portions of the Nili Fossae region, where a mafic protolith dominates, Fe/ Mg phyllosilicates display spectral evidence for a wide degree of chloritization. We propose that Noachian Fe/Mg smectites were uniformly buried by Hesperian lava flows that initiated hydrothermal alteration in the eastern Nili Fossae region. The chloritization of smectites may have produced silica-rich fluids necessary for the serpentinization of olivine; temperature and depth constraints indicated by their distribution also suggest a hydrothermal system was present. The subsequent carbonation of serpentine and/or olivine in eastern Nili Fossae, while requiring an additional CO 2 source, provides an explanation for the limited occurrence of serpentine and the colocation of carbonate and talc-bearing material throughout this area. The consequence of the hypothesized carbonation reaction and the presence of serpentine provides geochemical constraints for the proportion of CO 2 present in the fluids that interacted with the protolith. If this carbonation reaction was a widespread phenomenon, it may have been an important process in the ancient Martian carbon cycle and could have provided a sink for CO 2 in the past.Citation: Viviano, C. E., J. E. Moersch, and H. Y. McSween (2013), Implications for early hydrothermal environments on Mars through the spectral evidence for carbonation and chloritization reactions in the Nili Fossae region,

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Reproducing hydrogeochemical conditions triggering the formation of carbonate and phyllosilicate alteration mineral assemblages on Mars (Nili Fossae region)

Cited by 18 publications

References 27 publications

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

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

Olivine‐Carbonate Mineralogy of the Jezero Crater Region

Implications for early hydrothermal environments on Mars through the spectral evidence for carbonation and chloritization reactions in the Nili Fossae region

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