Characterization of Sulfate and Clay Mixtures Using Visible/Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Mathematics – Logic

Scientific paper

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[5464] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Remote Sensing, [5470] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Surface Materials And Properties

Scientific paper

Previous studies of the martian surface utilizing the OMEGA visible-near infrared (VNIR) imaging spectrometer indicated the widespread occurrence of sulfate minerals on Mars and more recent spectral data from the CRISM VNIR imaging spectrometer also confirmed the presence of both monohydrated and polyhydrated sulfates. Another major contribution made by OMEGA and CRISM has been the discovery of clay minerals in ancient Noachian terrains of Mars. Gale Crater, which has been selected as one of four final candidate lading sites for the 2011 MSL rover, contains both of sulfate and clay minerals in its central sedimentary mound. A recent study by Milliken et al. [2009] using CRISM data covering Gale Crater shows evidence “for clay-bearing rocks overlain by and potentially interbedded with sulfate-bearing units in the stratigraphic sequence”. Milliken et al. [2009] also found that sulfates appear to underlie the clay-bearing unit as well in the canyon around this region. It is therefore possible that sub-pixel resolution mixtures of sulfates and clays may exist on Mars. Therefore, we conducted a study to determine if mixtures of sulfates and clays exhibit diagnostic spectra features. The objective of this study is to characterize the infrared spectral features of mixtures of sulfates and clays mixed in different proportions. Using a Nicolet 6700 FTIR spectrometer we have acquired the VNIR reflectance (0.8-2.5μm) and mid-IR emissivity (400-2000 cm-1) spectra for mineral mixtures of five different sulfates and nontronite (a Fe-bearing smectite) in various proportions [Fig. 1]. Our spectral results show distinct change trends for all five mixture minerals and they also provide important information for (1) the analysis of possible distribution of these clay-sulfate-mixtures on the surface of Mars in future; (2) the study the climatic and geologic environmental events occurring during Noachian and Hesperian epochs that may affect the formation of and transition between clay and sulfate deposition environments.

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