Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufm.p44b..06c&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #P44B-06
Other
[5410] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Composition, [5419] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Hydrology And Fluvial Processes, [5420] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Impact Phenomena, Cratering, [5464] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Remote Sensing
Scientific paper
Impact cratering is a key process when studying Mars’s past aqueous environments. It is a widespread and dynamic process which has been active throughout Mars’s history, especially during the Noachian era. Noachian-aged hydrated minerals have been reported on Mars (e.g. [1, 2]) and provide strong constrains on the alleged early wet Martian environment [3]. Our knowledge of this early wet environment will be greatly improved if we understand how hydrated minerals are formed, modified or destroyed by impact processes. One main consequence of impact cratering is the excavation of buried material. Excavated material is found in walls, ejecta and central uplifts in the case of large complex craters. It may originate from the deeply buried crust or subsurface, depending on crater size [4]. In this case craters act as natural boreholes that allow orbital spectroscopic inquiry of otherwise hidden material and is of great importance when investigating the aqueous alteration of Mars. This process has proven particularly useful when studying the northern crust of Mars which is covered by a thick mantling unit [5]. Large craters have penetrated the cover and exhumed buried hydrated crustal material, including the low-grade metamorphic mineral prehnite and there is evidence that the ancient crust has been altered by water down to kilometer depths, both in the northern plains and southern highlands [6]. Using the OMEGA and CRISM [7, 8] near-infrared hyperspectral instruments currently in orbit around Mars we have mapped surface exposures of hydrated minerals and found that many are associated with impact structures [9]. Here we report how detailed analysis of these sites reveal exposures of various hydrated minerals including phyllosilicates, zeolites and sulfates, associated with crater central uplifts, floors, walls, rims and ejecta. We focus on the heavily cratered Tyrrhena Terra region of Mars as well as the large northern plain craters. In both cases, excavation of buried, pre-existing phyllosilicates is thought to be the driving process. Other hydrated mineral formation pathways linked with impact cratering include impact-induced hydrothermal alteration [10-12], shock-induced and post-impact changes to mineral composition. [1]Poulet et al., Nature 438, 623 (2005). [2]Murchie et al., J. Geophys. Res. 114, E00D06 (2009). [3]Bibring et al., Science 312, 5772 (2006). [4]Baratoux et al., J. Geophys. Res. 112, E08S05 (2007). [5]Tanaka et al., J. Geophys. Res. 108, (E4), 8043 (2003). [6]Carter et al., Science 328, 1682 (2010). [7]Bibring et al., Eur. Space Agency Spec. Pub. 1240, 37 (2004). [8]Murchie et al., J. Geophys. Res. 114, E00D07 (2009). [9]Carter et al., Proc. Lunar Planet. Sci. Conf. 40, abstr. 2028 (2009). [10]Abramov and Kring, J. Geophys. Res. 110, (E12), E12S09 (2005). [11]Schwenzer and Kring, Geology 37, 1091 (2009). [12]Marzo et al., Icarus 208, 667-683 (2010).
Bibring J.
Carter Jennifer
Loizeau Damien
Poulet François
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