Testing evidence of recent hydration state change in sulfates on Mars - Université Pierre et Marie Curie Access content directly
Journal Articles Journal of Geophysical Research Year : 2009

Testing evidence of recent hydration state change in sulfates on Mars

L. H. Roach
  • Function : Author
J. F. Mustard
  • Function : Author
S. L. Murchie
  • Function : Author
J. -P. Bibring
  • Function : Author
K. W. Lewis
  • Function : Author
O. Aharonson
  • Function : Author
M. Vincendon
  • Function : Author
J. L. Bishop
  • Function : Author

Abstract

The East Candor Interior Layered Deposit (ILD) has signatures of mono- and polyhydrated sulfate in alternating layers that give insight into the processes which formed these layered deposits and on the environmental conditions acting on them since then. We use orbital data to explore multiple hypotheses for how these deposits formed: (1) sulfate-bearing ILDs experience hydration changes on seasonal to a few years timescales under current Mars environmental conditions; (2) the deposits experience hydration under recent Mars conditions but require the wetter climate of high obliquity; and (3) the kieserite could be an original or diagenetic part of a complex evaporite mineral assemblage. Modeled climatology shows recent Mars environmental conditions might pass between multiple sulfate fields. However, comparison of Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces et l'Activité (OMEGA) and Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer (CRISM) observations of the same ILD do not show changes in hydration over 2 Mars years. Low temperatures might slow the kinetics of that transition; it is likely that more clement conditions during periods of high obliquity are needed to overcome mineral metastability and hydrate kieserite-bearing deposits. We find the alternate model, that the deposit is a cyclic evaporite sequence of mono- and polyhydrated sulfates, also plausible but with an unexplained dearth of Fe sulfates.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
Journal of Geophysical Research Planets - 2009 - Roach - Testing evidence of recent hydration state change in sulfates on.pdf (573.08 Ko) Télécharger le fichier
Origin : Publisher files allowed on an open archive

Dates and versions

hal-04113611 , version 1 (02-06-2023)

Licence

Copyright

Identifiers

Cite

L. H. Roach, J. F. Mustard, S. L. Murchie, J. -P. Bibring, F. Forget, et al.. Testing evidence of recent hydration state change in sulfates on Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research, 2009, 114, ⟨10.1029/2008JE003245⟩. ⟨hal-04113611⟩
9 View
1 Download

Altmetric

Share

Gmail Facebook Twitter LinkedIn More