Phyllosilicates in the Mawrth Vallis Region, Mars, as Seen by OMEGA and HRSC/Mars Express

Details Phyllosilicates in the Mawrth Vallis Region, Mars, as Seen by OMEGA and HRSC/Mars Express Phyllosilicates in the Mawrth Vallis Region, Mars, as Seen by OMEGA and HRSC/Mars Express

Dec 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agufm.p23d0093l&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006, abstract #P23D-0093

Mathematics

Logic

3672 Planetary Mineralogy And Petrology (5410), 5410 Composition (1060, 3672), 5464 Remote Sensing, 5470 Surface Materials And Properties, 6225 Mars

Scientific paper

OMEGA/Mars Express has discovered large outcrops rich in phyllosilicates in the region of the outflow channel Mawrth Vallis, Mars (around 20deg.W, 25deg.N) [Poulet et al., 2005; Bibring et al., 2006]. The detection of phyllosilicates has been confirmed thanks to absorption bands at 1.4 and 1.9 μm, and at 2.2 or 2.3 μm. Comparison with laboratory spectra reveals similarities with smectites such as nontronite or montmorillonites. Those hydrated minerals are located exclusively on bright outcrops, mostly on the Noachian plateaus cut by the outflow channel, whereas the dark surfaces are rich in clinopyroxenes. On HRSC/MEx and MOC/MGS narrow angle visible images, the phyllosilicates-rich outcrops reveal strong erosion features such as numerous residual buttes and very few small craters, in favour of quite recent erosion. Several MOC images also reveal that those Noachian terrains display thin layers, formerly interpreted as sedimentary rocks [Malin and Edgett, 2000]. HRSC colour images reveal redder terrains for some phyllosilicates outcrops, helping to a finer mapping of those hydrated terrains. The phyllosilicates-rich eroded outcrops correspond to a geological unit with a thickness of more than 100 meters in many places. The horizontal extension reaches more than 300 km x 400 km. What OMEGA has detected would imply an important volume of altered rocks. Future lander missions could help to understand the processes of formation of the unit, very likely formed during the "phyllosian era" as called by Bibring et al. [2006].

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Phyllosilicates in the Mawrth Vallis Region, Mars, as Seen by OMEGA and HRSC/Mars Express does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Phyllosilicates in the Mawrth Vallis Region, Mars, as Seen by OMEGA and HRSC/Mars Express, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Phyllosilicates in the Mawrth Vallis Region, Mars, as Seen by OMEGA and HRSC/Mars Express will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-961626