New Mars Express And Huygens Results, ESA conference - November 30, 2005 |
New Mars Express And Huygens Results, ESA conference - November 30, 2005 |
Guest_paulanderson_* |
Nov 22 2005, 06:15 PM
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Guests |
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMA96ULWFE_index_0.html
Relating to Mars Express: "At the same time, ESA’s Mars Express mission is continuing its investigations of Mars, painting a new picture of the 'red planet'. This includes the first ever probing below the surface of Mars, new geological clues with implications for the climate, newly-discovered surface and atmospheric features and, above all, traces of the presence of water on this world." |
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Guest_BruceMoomaw_* |
Dec 2 2005, 08:01 AM
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Guests |
I thought I remembered some earlier brief mentions of Mars Express finding phyllosilicates. Yep -- there are two abstracts mentioning it from the Septemeber DPS meeting, one of which has a bit more information.
http://www.aas.org/publications/baas/v37n3/dps2005/575.htm : "The hyperspectral imager OMEGA aboard Mars Express found hydrated minerals in the region of Mawrth Vallis, Mars, by the detection of the 1.9 μm hydration absorption band, caused by the H2O molecule inside the mineral structure. For these hydrated minerals, the combination bands due to the Fe-OH bond at 2.3 μm and the Al-OH bond at 2.2 μm reveal the presence of clay minerals: ferric smectites and montmorillonites (Poulet et al., this conference). HRSC images indicate that the clays correspond to bright outcrops on the plateaus each side of Mawrth Vallis. These plateaus are part of highly cratered Noachian terrain (> 3.7 Gy). On these bright clay rich outcrops, MOC images show light-toned layered deposits, as seen by Malin and Edgett (Science, 2000). The intense wind erosion of these outcrops implies that clays are not only surfacial, but that the bright sedimentary rock itself is made of clays. The observation of such a large amount of clays in this region implies extensive alteration of igneous rocks by water, and the subsequent deposition of clays." Moreover, it also turns out from the GSA meeting that MER-A has found one rock possibly containing phyllosilicates in the Columbia Hills. http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2005AM/finalprog...tract_95505.htm : " 'Wooly Patch' is an outcrop having unique characteristics, investigated by the Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit, along the rover's traverse to the Columbia Hills. It is the softest rock abraded by the Rock Abrasion Tool at Gusev through sol 291. It shows hardened material at the edges of surface fractures, potentially involving cementation/deposition by fluid. It shows cataclastic texture in the interior matrix and extremely fine porous cuttings. The rock interior has distinct Vis-NIR spectra, and a distinct Mössbauer spectrum with a paucity of Fe2+ in olivine and an intense Fe2+(VI) spectral doublet with parameters slightly different from the pyroxene/glass component within plains basalts. Compositionally, targets on Wooly Patch form the endmembers in three chemical trends of Gusev rocks, and its major silicate-related cation ratios [TC/ICT and ICS/(ICS+ICL)] suggest a medium degree of polymerization (e.g., phyllosilicates). A modified normative calculation based on igneous mineralogy indicates an excess of Al2O3 and SiO2 in its composition. Mass-balance mixing-model calculations suggest phyllosilicates plus remnants of primary basaltic minerals to be the essential constituents that make up this outcrop. Phyllosilicate groups possessing similar cation ratios to those implied by the Wooly Patch analysis spots include the kaolinite, serpentine, chlorite, and septechlorite groups. The potential existence of kaolinite type Al-rich phyllosilicates within the Wooly Patch outcrop suggests a mildly acidic environment (pH from 4 to 6) in the past, and an open hydrologic system." |
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