Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Dec 2001
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001agufm.p22b0543p&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2001, abstract #P22B-0543
Mathematics
Logic
1000 Geochemistry, 3672 Planetary Mineralogy And Petrology (5410), 3675 Sedimentary Petrology, 5420 Impact Phenomena (Includes Cratering), 6225 Mars
Scientific paper
Fluid inclusions entrapped in mineral cements and healed microfractures represent an important source of information on the ambient environment during mineral precipitation. This includes minerals precipitated in relatively low-temperature, surficial environments, such as speleothems, chemosynthetic ('cold-seep') carbonates, evaporites and spring sinters. All of these environments have been identified as targets for exploration for life on the Martian surface, and inclusion studies should be incorporated in the exploration strategies. As inclusion fluids are sealed from alteration, they preserve a record of the environment at a time when water was present to precipitate the host mineral, either at the surface, or in the subsurface with subsequent exposure at the surface. The most direct value of inclusions would be in biochemical signatures in aqueous fluids, or physical remains of micro-organisms held in the fluids. Attempts to study bacteria/archaea in terrestrial inclusions have been mostly limited to large (up to mm) inclusions in halite, but technological advance should allow data to be collected from smaller inclusions in carbonate and silica precipitates. In some examples, inclusions are spatially related to microbial remains, so potentially could incorporate evidence for former life. Fluid inclusions also provide clues about geochemical environments which help to evaluate their potential to support life. For example, demonstration of methane-rich inclusion fluids at surface seepage sites indicates a setting with a readily exploitable energy source. The diverse approaches to analysing terrestrial inclusions include mechanical decrepitation to release inclusion fluids for organic geochemistry etc.: High-resolution sensors for organic molecules could analyse inclusion fluids released in situ on Mars. In addition to surficial environments, a major target for investigation must be fracture systems related to impact structures. High fracture porosity, due to lower gravity compaction, would promote circulation of fluids with ions that are available to both allow mineral deposition and as nutrients to support life, enhancing the widely observed relationship between microbial growth and mineral precipitation. Inclusion studies of terrestrial impact structures as analogues are therefore desirable.
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