Journal ArticleDOI
Mineralogic and petrologic implications of viking geochemical results from Mars: interim report.
A. K. Baird,Priestley Toulmin,Benton C. Clark,Harry J. Rose,Klaus Keil,R. P. Christian,James L. Gooding +6 more
TLDR
The mafic nature of the present martian fines (distributed globally) and their probable source rocks seems to preclude large-scale planetary differentiation of a terrestrial nature as discussed by the authors, and a mineralogic model, derived from computer mixing studies and laboratory analog preparations, suggests that Mars fines could be an intimate mixture of about 80 percent iron-rich clay, about 10 percent magnesium sulfate (kieserite?), about 5 percent carbonate (calcite), and about five percent iron oxides (hematite, magnetite, maghemite, goethite?).Abstract:
Chemical results from four samples of martian fines delivered to Viking landers 1 and 2 are remarkably similar in that they all have high iron; moderate magnesium, calcium, and sulfur; low aluminum; and apparently very low alkalies and trace elements. This composition is best interpreted as representing the weathering products of mafic igneous rocks. A mineralogic model, derived from computer mixing studies and laboratory analog preparations, suggests that Mars fines could be an intimate mixture of about 80 percent iron-rich clay, about 10 percent magnesium sulfate (kieserite?), about 5 percent carbonate (calcite), and about 5 percent iron oxides (hematite, magnetite, maghemite, goethite?). The mafic nature of the present fines (distributed globally) and their probable source rocks seems to preclude large-scale planetary differentiation of a terrestrial nature.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
The chemical composition of Martian soil and rocks returned by the mobile alpha proton x-ray spectrometer : Preliminary results from the x-ray mode
R. Rieder,Thanasis E. Economou,Heinrich Wänke,A. Turkevich,Joy A. Crisp,J. Brückner,Gerlind Dreibus,Harry Y. McSween +7 more
TL;DR: The alpha proton x-ray spectrometer (APXS) on board the rover of the Mars Pathfinder mission measured the chemical composition of six soils and five rocks at the Ares Vallis landing site, finding rocks are similar in composition to terrestrial andesites and close to the mean composition of Earth's crust.
Journal ArticleDOI
Chemical composition of Martian fines
Benton C. Clark,Alex K. Baird,Ray J. Weldon,Donald M. Tsusaki,Lorraine Schnabel,Magell P. Candelaria +5 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyzed 21 samples acquired for the Viking X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, 17 were analyzed to high precision, and they found that the Martian fines are lower in Al, higher in Fe, and much higher in S and Cl concentrations.
Journal ArticleDOI
Geochemical and mineralogical interpretation of the Viking inorganic chemical results
Priestley Toulmin,A. K. Baird,Benton C. Clark,Klaus Keil,Harry J. Rose,R. P. Christian,P. H. Evans,Warren C. Kelliher +7 more
TL;DR: In this article, the current status of geochemical, mineralogical, petrological interpretation of refined Viking Lander data is reviewed, and inferences that can be drawn from data on the composition of Martian surface materials are presented.
Journal ArticleDOI
Mars and Earth: Origin and Abundance of Volatiles
Edward Anders,Tobias Owen +1 more
TL;DR: The perspective gained through the present investigation suggests that this is not a necessary condition for planets at the distance of Mars from a solar-type central star, and if it turns out that Mars is completely devoid of life, this does not mean that the zones around stars in which habitable planets can exist are much narrower than has been thought.
Journal ArticleDOI
Detection and discrimination of sulfate minerals using reflectance spectroscopy
Edward A. Cloutis,Frank C. Hawthorne,Stanley A. Mertzman,Katherine Krenn,M. A. Craig,Dionne Marcino,Michelle Methot,Johnathon Strong,John F. Mustard,Diana L. Blaney,James F. Bell,Faith Vilas +11 more
TL;DR: In this article, a suite of sulfate minerals were characterized spectrally, compositionally, and structurally in order to develop spectral reflectance and structural relations for this group of minerals.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Search for organic and volatile inorganic compounds in two surface samples from the chryse planitia region of Mars.
Klaus Biemann,John Oro,Priestley Toulmin,Leslie E. Orgel,Alfred O. Nier,D. M. Anderson,Peter Simmonds,Donald A. Flory,A. V. Diaz,D. R. Rushneck,J. A. Biller +10 more
TL;DR: Two surface samples collected from the Chryse Planitia region of Mars were heated to temperatures up to 500�C, and the volatiles that they evolved were analyzed with a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer, and only water and carbon dioxide were detected.
Journal ArticleDOI
Inorganic analyses of martian surface samples at the viking landing sites.
Benton C. Clark,A. K. Baird,Harry J. Rose,Priestley Toulmin,Klaus Keil,Angelo J. Castro,Warren C. Kelliher,Catherine D. Rowe,Peter H. Evans +8 more
TL;DR: Elemental analyses of fines in the Martian regolith at two widely separated landing sites, Chryse Planitia and Utopia Planitia, produced remarkably similar results.
Journal ArticleDOI
The minerals of bentonite and related clays and their physical properties1
Clarence S. Ross,Earl V. Shannon +1 more
TL;DR: A large number of analyses of the clay minerals from bentonite indicate that the most widespread of these is montmorillonite with the formula (Mg, Ca)O A1203 5SiO2, nH20 as mentioned in this paper.
Journal ArticleDOI
A ferroan nontronite from the red sea geothermal system
TL;DR: A smectite rich in ferrous iron and low in aluminum occurs abundantly in the Red Sea Geothermal Deposits, and appear to be forming at present as discussed by the authors, and chemical analyses and M/Assbauer spectra indicate the mineral is intermediate in composition between nontronite and the as yet undescribed three-dimensional ferrous-iron end member.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Surface of Mars: There View from the Viking 1 Lander
Thomas A. Mutch,Alan B. Binder,Friedrich O. Huck,Elliott C. Levinthal,Sidney Liebes,Elliott C. Morris,William R. Patterson,James B. Pollack,Carl Sagan,Glenn R. Taylor +9 more
TL;DR: Viking 2 lander began imaging the surface of Mars at Utopia Planitia on 3 September 1976, finding a boulder-strewn reddish desert cut by troughs that probably form a polygonal network.