An integrated view of the chemistry and mineralogy of martian soils

Citation

Yen AS, Gellert R, Schröder C, Morris RV, Bell III JF, Knudson AT, Clark BC, Ming DW, Crisp JA, Arvidson RE, Blaney D, Brueckner J, Christensen PR, DesMarais DJ & de Souza Jr PA (2005) An integrated view of the chemistry and mineralogy of martian soils. Nature, 436 (7047), pp. 49-54. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03637

Abstract
The mineralogical and elemental compositions of the martian soil are indicators of chemical and physical weathering processes. Using data from the Mars Exploration Rovers, we show that bright dust deposits on opposite sides of the planet are part of a global unit and not dominated by the composition of local rocks. Dark soil deposits at both sites have similar basaltic mineralogies, and could reflect either a global component or the general similarity in the compositions of the rocks from which they were derived. Increased levels of bromine are consistent with mobilization of soluble salts by thin films of liquid water, but the presence of olivine in analysed soil samples indicates that the extent of aqueous alteration of soils has been limited. Nickel abundances are enhanced at the immediate surface and indicate that the upper few millimetres of soil could contain up to one per cent meteoritic material.

Notes
Additional co-authors: Thanasis E Economou, Amitabha Ghosh, Brian C Hahn, Kenneth E Herkenhoff, Larry A Haskin, Joel A Hurowitz, Bradley L Joliff, Jeffrey R Johnson, Göstar Klingelhöfer, Morten Bo Madsen, Scott M McLennan, Harry Y McSween, Lutz Richter, Rudi Rieder, Daniel Rodionov, Larry Soderblom, Steven W Squyres, Nicholas J Tosca, Alian Wang, Michael Wyatt, Jutta Zipfel

Journal
Nature: Volume 436, Issue 7047

People

Dr Christian Schroeder

Senior Lecturer, Biological and Environmental Sciences