Extensive phyllosilicate-bearing layer identified in northwestern Noachis Terra, Mars

Details Extensive phyllosilicate-bearing layer identified in northwestern Noachis Terra, Mars Extensive phyllosilicate-bearing layer identified in northwestern Noachis Terra, Mars

Dec 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufm.p21c..03b&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #P21C-03

Physics

[5410] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Composition, [5470] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Surface Materials And Properties, [6225] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Mars

Scientific paper

Noachis Terra is a highland cratered plain on Mars, extending from 20°S to 80°S latitude and 55°W to 30°E longitude. Evidence for a widespread phyllosilicate-bearing layer has been identified in a distinct region in northwest Noachis Terra, bound by Coprates and Eos Chasma to the north, Thaumasia Planum to the west and the Argyre basin to the south. Uzboi Vallis, a major Martian valley system, cuts through Noachis Terra and is the eastern boundary of our region of interest. In northwest Argyre a laterally extensive phyllosilicate-bearing deposit has been identified directly below a thin cap-rock. A layer of similar composition has been identified in the walls of eastern Coprates Chasma, although at significantly greater depth. It has been suggested that these outcrops represent the same material unit. If so, then the same phyllosilicate-bearing layer should be observable in the walls of valley systems and craters in the intervening Noachis Terra region, increasing with depth towards the north. Two small valley systems incise NW Noachis: Her Desher Vallis and Nirgal Vallis. Nirgal Vallis is a tributary of Uzboi Vallis, joining the larger system to the south of Holden crater. Her Desher Vallis is an isolated valley that does not seem to connect to any craters or larger valleys. CRISM multispectral mapping observations (mosaicked at ~230 m/pixel) indicate that a phyllosilicate-bearing layer is exposed along the length of both valley systems and in the interior rims of many craters in the region. Phyllosilicates have been positively identified in 20-40 m/pixel resolution CRISM hyperspectral targeted observations of the walls of Her Desher Valles and Nirgal Vallis; as indicated by the mapping data, there is a distinct phyllosilicate-bearing layer located only a few meters below the surface volcanics and extending laterally along the walls. A similar phyllosilicate-bearing layer is also identified running laterally in the interior walls of some nearby craters, located a comparable distance below the surface. However, craters more proximate to Coprates and Eos Chasma show evidence of phyllosilicates in their central peaks but not their walls, indicating that the putative phyllosilicate-bearing layer is being exhumed from greater depth. Spectra from all observations are comparable, with absorptions indicating a mixture of chlorite and Fe/Mg smectite.

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