Assumptions about the presence of natural glasses on Mars

Details Assumptions about the presence of natural glasses on Mars Assumptions about the presence of natural glasses on Mars

Oct 1993

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1993jgr....9818719b&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 98, no. E10, p. 18,719-18,725

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

10

Glass, Mars (Planet), Meteorite Craters, Volcanology, Weathering, Climatology, Infrared Astronomy, Reflectance, Remote Sensing, Thermal Emission, Time Dependence

Scientific paper

Natural glasses occur not only on Earth but also in lunar rocks and in some meteorites. On geological grounds, natural glasses could be expected on the surface of Mars and their presence would have important implications for the weathering and alteration of the near-surface layer. Ultramafic and mafic magmatism rich in iron and some volatiles appears to have been important on Mars as has been impact cratering, volcanism, and possibly hydrothermal alteration. Available data indicate that we can presume the past or present existence of volcanic basaltic glasses, impact glasses formed by thermal fusion of meteorite-impact targets, and diaplectic (mainly maskelynite) glasses. Conditions appear unsuitable for the formation of tektites on the Martian surface, and the production of measurable amounts of fulgurite or combustion glass seems improbable. Prospects for the remote and in-situ identification of Martian glasses and their subsequent weathering products are discussed and include orbital reflectance and thermal emission spectroscopic measurements and Mossbauer spectroscopy from a surface lander.

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