Sulfate Brine Stability Under a Simulated Martian Atmosphere

Details Sulfate Brine Stability Under a Simulated Martian Atmosphere Sulfate Brine Stability Under a Simulated Martian Atmosphere

Sep 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.6105c&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #61.05; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.603

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Brines have long been suggested to account for possible current liquid water activity on the surface of Mars. Recently obtained spectral data by Mars Express and Mars Exploration Rovers has added additional support to evidence that dates back to the Viking era of the presence of sulfates on the Martian surface. In order to investigate the stability of MgSO4 brines under simulated Martian conditions and elucidate their potential for serving as a possible source of subsurface water a series of evaporative experiments was performed in the Andromeda chamber, a vacuum chamber designed to simulate the martian surface environment. Brine concentrations ranged from 5 to 25 wt% MgSO4. The evaporation rates of the lesser concentrated brines (5-15 wt%) correlated well with the predicted rates for sulfate brines under the exact same conditions based on a modification of the classic Ingersol equation to account for the sulfates affect on the water activity. However the high wt% solutions (20-25 wt%) exhibited a dramatic decrease in evaporation rate. This decrease was greater than what was predicted by simply altering the Ingersol equation to account for the presence of the sulfates. In addition crystallization of the sulfates was observed within these highly concentrated brines. We hypothesize that the crystallization process itself affects the evaporation rate of the brine solutions. These results suggest that highly concentrated brines have a dramatic effect on the stability of water under Martian conditions. This study provides initial evidence that sulphate minerals could conceivably serve as a reservoir of subsurface water on the Martian surface.
This program was funded by The W.M. Keck Foundation, NASA, and the University of Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences.

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