Targeting mixtures of jarosite and clay minerals for Mars exploration
| العنوان: | Targeting mixtures of jarosite and clay minerals for Mars exploration |
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| المؤلفون: | Roberto P. Anitori, Malcolm R. Walter, Ruth M. Henneberger, Charles Doc Richardson, Virginia C. Gulick, Janice L. Bishop, Lindsay A. MacKenzie, G. Berlanga, Nancy W. Hinman, Paige Morkner, Jill R. Scott, Peter L. Bergquist, J. Michelle Kotler Dettmann |
| المصدر: | American Mineralogist. 106:1237-1254 |
| بيانات النشر: | Mineralogical Society of America, 2021. |
| سنة النشر: | 2021 |
| مصطلحات موضوعية: | Mars Exploration Program, engineering.material, 010502 geochemistry & geophysics, Exploration of Mars, 01 natural sciences, Astrobiology, Geophysics, Geochemistry and Petrology, 0103 physical sciences, Jarosite, engineering, Clay minerals, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Geology, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences |
| الوصف: | Terrestrial thermal environments can serve as analogs for subsurface environments in the search for life because they regularly host microbial communities, which may leave behind biosignatures. This study focused on an acid-sulfate hydrothermal site as an analog for a potentially habitable environment on Mars. A weathered boulder in the thermal area was dissected, revealing an interior marked with disconnected horizons of differently colored materials, very low pH, and increasing temperature. The mineralogy comprised weathering products from andesite (kaolinite, quartz, clinoptilolite) along with sulfate salts (alunite, jarosite, tschermigite, and copiapite) formed by oxidation of sulfide and ferrous iron. Characterization of organic matter in this boulder and several soil samples yielded interesting but surprising results. Both mass spectrometry and Raman spectroscopy identified organic compounds in portions of the soils and the boulder. Jarosite-associated samples showed more numerous and diverse organic signatures than did Al-bearing silicate samples, despite the lower total organic carbon content of the jarosite-associated soils (0.69 ± 0.07 wt% Corg) compared to the Al-bearing samples (1.28 ± 0.13 wt% Corg). Results from our geochemical, mineralogical, and spectroscopic study of hydrothermal alteration products and salts inform the heterogeneous distribution of inorganic and organic materials that could delineate habitats and demonstrate the limits on organic matter detectability using different analytical techniques. Furthermore, we relate our measurements and results directly to current and upcoming martian missions, and we provide recommendations for detection and characterization of minerals and organics as biosignatures on Mars using instruments on future missions. |
| تدمد: | 1945-3027 0003-004X |
| URL الوصول: | https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::301792d6e98959c925df85ca0b46b613 https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2021-7415 |
| رقم الأكسشن: | edsair.doi...........301792d6e98959c925df85ca0b46b613 |
| قاعدة البيانات: | OpenAIRE |
| تدمد: | 19453027 0003004X |
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