Organics-bearing Clays from the Rio Tinto (spain): A Novel Analog for the Phyllosilicates Outcrops Seen By Omega-mex

Details Organics-bearing Clays from the Rio Tinto (spain): A Novel Analog for the Phyllosilicates Outcrops Seen By Omega-mex Organics-bearing Clays from the Rio Tinto (spain): A Novel Analog for the Phyllosilicates Outcrops Seen By Omega-mex

Dec 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007dps....39.4009b&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #39, #40.09; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.493

Biology

Scientific paper

The Rio Tinto (RT) is considered an important analog of Sinus Meridiani on Mars and an ideal model analog for a subsurface Martian setting [1]. The RT system comprises the upper sequence of an acid rock drainage system where weathered iron -rich rocks, overlain a massive-pyrite deposit.
The RT analog site is ideal for testing on the preservation of organics in hematite-rich vs. phyllosilicates-rich environments [3]. It is suggested here that RT near-surface rocks, which embed pockets of Clays, represent also a potential new model analog for the phyllosilicates-rich outcrops seen by OMEGA-MEx on the surface of Mars [5].
Results from the analysis of cores drilled under the 2005 Robotic experiment of the MARTE project (Borehole#7 Site 607cm) [2-3] are presented in this paper. Primary mineral assemblages include hematite, goethite, and Phyllosilicates e.g.,smectite, kaolinite, as quantified by X-ray diffraction [4].
Organic carbon is at low concentration (<0.05%) beneath the soil horizon in most cores dominated by iron minerals but is considerably higher in Phyllosilicate-rich levels i.e., 0.2-0.3Wt% at 385 -550 cm-depth [2-3].
Phyllosilicate-rich terrains have been identified OMEGA/MEx in the Nili Fossae, Mawrth Valles and Candor Chasma regions [e.g., 5]. These outcrops are surrounded by hematite-rich deposits, which are potentially barren in organics [6].
The potential of phyllosilicates to preserve higher amounts of organics/ biosignatures is well known for several Earth environments as well as the RT near subsurface. This potential brings a relevant element for the selection of candidate sites for the MSL mission [e.g., 1].
References: [1]Fernandez-Remolar et al.,2005 EPSL, 240,149-167; [2]Stoker et al., 2007; [3] Bonaccorsi et al., 2007; [4] Sutter et al., 2007 in Astrobiology,MARTE Spec. Issue; [5] Bibring et al., 2006, Science 312, 400-404; [6] Sumner, 2004, JGR 109.
Anknowlegments: NASA-Postdoctoral-Program/C.Stoker, B.Sutter, A.F Davila and the MARTE team for valuable suggestions.

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