Secondary minerals and regolith profiles in basaltic rocks in northeastern US and in Svalbard, an Arctic Mars analogue site

Details Secondary minerals and regolith profiles in basaltic rocks in northeastern US and in Svalbard, an Arctic Mars analogue site Secondary minerals and regolith profiles in basaltic rocks in northeastern US and in Svalbard, an Arctic Mars analogue site

Dec 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufm.p34b..02b&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #P34B-02

Physics

[1039] Geochemistry / Alteration And Weathering Processes, [5415] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Erosion And Weathering

Scientific paper

Data reported from the Mars Rovers, previous missions, and remote sensing have yielded a body of exciting evidence documenting that a Critical Zone nourished by water may also exist or have existed on Mars. However, the extent to which weathering is responsible for secondary mineral formation on Mars is not clear. We are investigating plagioclase and pyroxene weathering and precipitation of iron oxyhydroxides and clays in regolith profiles developed on rocks of basaltic composition from three different sites (Pennsylvania, Virginia, Svalbard), located in very different climatic conditions. Two of these sites were formed under a cool temperate climate, while the Svalbard profile is formed in a dry polar climate that has been identified as a Mars analogue. The two sites located in the northeastern US show similar rates of plagioclase dissolution, while slower rates were observed at Svalbard. Depth of weathering is also much greater in Pennsylvania and Virginia than in Svalbard, where weathering has only proceeded since the last glaciation. Nonetheless, weathering in Svalbard is accelerated by spalling of altered surfaces, presumably due to temperature cycling. We are using a variety of techniques including Fe isotope measurements to better understand secondary mineral precipitation in regolith. Knowledge of the climatic effects upon these processes on Earth can ultimately be applied to better understand weathering mechanisms on Mars.

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