Bound Surface Water and CO_2 Clouds on Mars

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Scientific paper

A revised calibration of the shortest wavelength channel (1.8 to 6.0 mu m) of the Mariner 6 and 7 infrared spectrometers provides a new description of the instrument response function from 1.8 to 3.7 mu m and accounts for the thermal contribution to the signal at longer wavelengths. This calibration allows the two segments from 1.8 to 6 mu m to be merged into a single spectrum. The broad water of hydration absorption spans these two segments and is examined in these merged spectra using a method of band integration. Unlike previous analyses, which rely on ratios at two wavelengths, the integration method can assess the band strength independently from the albedo in the near infrared. Spectra taken over the eastern end of the Valles Marineris were examined for variations of the band-integrated value and three distinct clusters were found. Within the estimated uncertainty, two clusters (both low and high albedo) have approximately the same integrated band depth. The third cluster (medium albedo, but overlapping the other clusters) has an integrated band depth about 10% higher. This difference cannot be systematically attributed to either surface or atmospheric parameters and suggests variation in the amount of water either chemically or physically bound in surface materials. The areas with higher integrated band depth are predominantly associated with chaotic terrain at the source of outflow channels. The calibration procedures have also been applied to the limb crossing observations. Simple reflectance models using the optical constants of solid CO_2 are able to fit the calibrated spectra, confirming the signature of CO_2 clouds in three limb observations (Herr and Pimentel, Science, 167, p.47, 1970).

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