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

Citation

Morris RV, Ruff SW, Gellert R, Ming DW, Arvidson RE, Clark BC, Golden DC, Siebach K, Klingelhoefer G, Schröder C, Fleischer I, Yen AS & Squyres SW (2010) Identification of Carbonate-Rich Outcrops on Mars by the Spirit Rover. Science, 329 (5990), pp. 421-424. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1189667

Abstract
Decades of speculation about a warmer, wetter Mars climate in the planet’s first billion years postulate a denser CO2-rich atmosphere than at present. Such an atmosphere should have led to the formation of outcrops rich in carbonate minerals, for which evidence has been sparse. Using the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, we have now identified outcrops rich in magnesium-iron carbonate (16 to 34 weight percent) in the Columbia Hills of Gusev crater. Its composition approximates the average composition of the carbonate globules in martian meteorite ALH 84001. The Gusev carbonate probably precipitated from carbonate-bearing solutions under hydrothermal conditions at near-neutral pH in association with volcanic activity during the Noachian era.

Journal
Science: Volume 329, Issue 5990

People

Dr Christian Schroeder

Senior Lecturer, Biological and Environmental Sciences