Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.p43b1407y&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #P43B-1407
Other
3616 Hydrothermal Systems (0450, 1034, 3017, 4832, 8135, 8424), 3620 Mineral And Crystal Chemistry (1042), 6225 Mars
Scientific paper
The formation process of the Martian soil is one of the most essential problems to understand the surface environment of the Mars. Especially, iron minerals in the Martian soil should be the key component to characterize the red planet. The major Martian volcanoes consist of iron-rich basaltic rocks. Volcanic activities of the Martian volcanoes should involve fluid rich in sulfuric components and CO2. CO2 may have more essential role in the alteration processes related to fluids in Martian volcanic activities than that in the terrestrial volcanoes. In this study, hydrothermal alteration experiments are conducted to elucidate the soil formation processes on the Martian surface. We carried out alteration experiments of the synthetic iron-rich basaltic material with sulfuric acid and CO2-bearing hydrothermal fluid. Experimental temperatures are 100 ~ 300°C. Acidities of the solutions are pH1.0, 3.0 or 7.0. Run durations are 4, 8 or 16 weeks (100°C) or 3, 6 or 12 weeks (150 ~ 300°C). CO2 are introduced to the experimental vessels by appropriate mass of dry ice (100 ~ 150°C) or silver oxalate (200 ~ 300°C) for approximately 1 MPa of CO2. We reported preliminary results of alteration experiments of mafic minerals with sulfuric acid-bearing hydrothermal fluid without CO2 (Yoshizawa and Isobe, 2007). In the run products of the preliminary experiments, we found characteristic hematite fine particles which may bring about reddish color of the Martian soil. Morphology of the hematite produced at 100 ~ 150°C was granular to spheroidal with diameters of 0.5 to 3 micron meters. Major run products of the experiments are clay minerals and iron oxide/hydroxide minerals. Run products of the alteration experiments show characteristic reddish to brown color depending on the acidity and temperature. Iron mineral species have distinctive color. SEM/EDS and XRD observations also revealed representative iron mineral species in the run products. Alteration products by CO2-bearing hydrothermal fluid are more oxidized than those by hydrothermal fluid without CO2. CO2 in acidic hydrothermal fluid may accelerate oxidative alteration of basaltic rocks. Acidic hydrothermal alteration may have essential role to form the Martian soil which is rich in iron oxide. Especially, iron mineral species and morphology strongly depend on temperatures and acidities of the hydrothermal fluid. Direct observation of the Martian soil may provide us information on the conditions of hydrothermal alteration related to the Martian volcanic activities.
Isobe Hiroaki
Yoshizawa Masahito
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