The Temperature and Composition of the Mantle Sources of Martian Basalts

Collinet, Max; Plesa, Ana‐Catalina; Ruedas, Thomas; Schwinger, Sabrina; Breuer, D.

doi:10.1029/2023gl103537

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 89 publications

(169 reference statements)

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“…The different clasts have variable mineralogies and compositions, showing that they do not originate from the same parental magmas and have undergone different degrees of fractionation [4,5]. Their different texture and mineralogy (aphanitic versus phaneritic texture, as well as the occurrence of pyroxene exsolutions) show that these clasts represent intrusive and extrusive processes, both magmatic-and impact-related.…”

Section: Martian Meteoritesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most Martian meteorites are young (<2.4 Ga) and belong to the shergottite-nakhlite-chassignite (SNC) group. SNCs have mafic compositions (SiO 2 < 52 wt.%), with basaltic and gabbroic sub-groups, as well as olivine and pyroxene cumulates, respectively (e.g., [3][4][5][6][7] and references therein). Yet, the most ancient igneous clasts, discovered in a Martian meteorite called Northwest Africa (NWA) 7034 and its paired rocks dated at 4.41 Ga [8], have basaltic to trachytic and monzonitic compositions [9][10][11][12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Igneous Diversity of the Early Martian Crust

Payré,

Udry,

Fraeman

2024

Minerals

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Mars missions and Martian meteorites revealed how complex the Martian crust is. The occurrence of both alkaline and sub-alkaline igneous rocks of Noachian age (>3.7 Ga) in Gale crater indicates diverse magmatic processes, with sub-alkaline rocks likely formed through the partial melting of hydrous mafic rocks, as commonly observed on Earth. The orbital discovery of excavated evolved igneous rocks scattered in Noachian terrains raise questions about the petrology of the ancient Martian crust, long thought to be basaltic. A possibly evolved crust beneath a mafic cover is supported by geophysical and seismic measurements from the Insight lander that indicate the bulk crust has a lower density than expected if it were homogeneously basaltic. If localized magmatic processes could form evolved terrains, the detection of abundant intermediate to felsic Noachian crustal exposures through remote sensing suggest regional- to global-scale processes that produced evolved crustal component(s) that are now buried below mafic materials. Due to the lack of centimetric to millimetric textural imaging and compositional measurements, the petrology of such crust is ambiguous. Future orbiter, rover, and aerial missions should focus on Noachian exposed regions exhibiting evolved crustal characteristics to unfold the petrology of the Martian crust and its formation.

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Section: Martian Meteoritesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Igneous Diversity of the Early Martian Crust

Payré,

Udry,

Fraeman

2024

Minerals

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Estimating Primary Magmas From Mars With PRIMARSMELT: Implications for the Petrogenesis of Some Martian Rocks and the Thermal Evolution of Mars

Hernández‐Montenegro,

Asimow,

Herzberg

2024

JGR Planets

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Primary magmas form by partial melting in the mantle of a terrestrial planet and represent the starting material for building its crust. The compositions of primary magmas are critical for understanding the thermal history of planetary interiors, as they can be used to estimate mantle potential temperatures (TP) and track changes in the conditions of mantle partial melting over time. Here, we introduce PRIMARSMELT, a new member of the PRIMELT software family, calibrated to estimate the composition of Martian primary magmas and their formation conditions. We applied PRIMARSMELT to a comprehensive database of basaltic compositions from Mars. Our results are consistent with their petrology, requiring olivine addition to restore fractionated compositions to their primary parents and olivine subtraction from cumulate rocks. Individual primary magma solutions provide insights into the petrogenesis of specific Martian meteorites, with implications for the near‐primary nature of some primitive meteorites and the relationship between lithologies A and B in meteorite EETA 79001. Taken together, our results suggest nearly constant or potentially increasing mantle potential temperatures throughout the geological history of Mars. The average TP for young shergottite meteorites is ∼1,442 ± 40°C, similar to ambient mantle temperatures inferred from geophysical models. In contrast, older basaltic rocks record potential temperatures as low as ∼1,320 ± 48°C for igneous clasts in meteorites NWA 7034/7533. We suggest that, rather than plume‐related magmatism, shergottite meteorites record ambient mantle temperatures, with the thermal evolution trend possibly resulting from inefficient heat loss, as expected for a planet in stagnant‐lid mode.

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Mineralogy of the Martian mantle inferred from bulk chemical compositions

Yang,

Humayun,

Righter

2024

Meteorit & Planetary Scien

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Understanding the mineralogy of the Martian mantle is essential for constructing geochemical and geophysical models of Mars. This study employs the pMELTS program to determine the mineralogy at the solidus from 11 published bulk silicate Mars (BSM) compositions, within a pressure range of 2–5 GPa. The pMELTS results align with experimental data and calculations from another thermodynamic program (Perple_X/stx11). Mineral modes from compositional models based on Martian meteorite geochemistry show relatively consistent abundances modes (olivine: 48–56 wt%, orthopyroxene: 20–25 wt%, clinopyroxene: 15–17 wt%, garnet: 6–9 wt%). In contrast, mineral modes from compositional models that are not based on Martian meteorite geochemistry exhibit a wider range of olivine and garnet abundances. Additionally, we constrained the mineral modes of the Martian mantle using trace element partitioning and partial melting models. Our calculations indicate that melts derived from mantle sources with a hypothesized garnet content of 5–10 wt% closely match the analyzed compositions of shergottites, validating the garnet mode (6–9 wt%) constrained in our pMELTS calculations. Extracting low‐degree (<4 wt%) melts from a BSM to form depleted Martian mantle (DMM) does not significantly alter the mineralogical modes of solid residues, but it does lead to substantial trace elemental depletion in the DMM. Therefore, enriched, intermediate, and depleted shergottite sources are likely characterized by similar mineral modes yet differ in incompatible element abundances.

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The Temperature and Composition of the Mantle Sources of Martian Basalts

Cited by 3 publications

References 89 publications

Igneous Diversity of the Early Martian Crust

Igneous Diversity of the Early Martian Crust

Estimating Primary Magmas From Mars With PRIMARSMELT: Implications for the Petrogenesis of Some Martian Rocks and the Thermal Evolution of Mars

Mineralogy of the Martian mantle inferred from bulk chemical compositions

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