The magnetic properties of Rio Tinto Basin sediments (Spain): a step towards Martian enviromagnetics

Details The magnetic properties of Rio Tinto Basin sediments (Spain): a step towards Martian enviromagnetics The magnetic properties of Rio Tinto Basin sediments (Spain): a step towards Martian enviromagnetics

Dec 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufmgp23a..04m&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #GP23A-04

Physics

0424 Biosignatures And Proxies, 1512 Environmental Magnetism, 1540 Rock And Mineral Magnetism, 6225 Mars

Scientific paper

Exploration by the NASA rover Opportunity revealed sulphate-and haematite-rich sedimentary rocks exposed in surface features of Meridiani Planum, Mars. Sediments of the Rio Tinto Basin, Spain, provide at least a partial analog of Meridiani rocks, thereby facilitating an understanding of mineral precipitation and diagenesis on the Martian surface. Here we present the results of a mineral magnetic study of river terrace deposits of the Rio Tinto system, the deposits ranging from Modern to Plio-Pleistocene in age. A broad range of temperature- and field-dependent measurements have been made which have identified the presence of goethite, haematite and sulphides. Seasonally driven processes are thought to lead to the precipitation of nano-phase goethite which increases in crystallinity with age, eventually being replaced by haematite. Diverse micro-organism populations inhabit the acidic and seasonally dry environments, although organic matter does not persist in the sediments. However, biosignatures are left as casts and molds in the iron oxide minerals. The potential for recognizing their characteristic magnetic signatures, and their extrapolation to Martian environments, will be discussed.

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