The Search of Carbonates in Martian Dust

Details The Search of Carbonates in Martian Dust The Search of Carbonates in Martian Dust

Jul 2000

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2000came.work..229m&link_type=abstract

Concepts and Approaches for Mars Exploration, p. 229

Computer Science

Mars Surface, Dust, Mars Missions, Spacecraft Instruments, Carbonates, Planetary Geology, Mission Planning

Scientific paper

The carbonates budget on Mars remains one of the most controversial problems. Although carbonates of different types are generally believed to be present on Mars surface, there are no successful experiments for their indication. Earth-based spectroscopy gives only upper limit (few percent) for calcium carbonate. The Viking experiments were obviously unsuccessful due to low temperature for decomposition of carbonates. Pollak et al. suggested that too high a concentration of carbonates in airborne dust (one to three percent). Meantime the Martian dust should represent the mixture of different minerals formed by wind abrasive. In the first approximation, the mineral composition of the dust should correspond to the average mineral composition of Martian surface. Therefore, the attempt to determine carbonates in samples of the dust from the surface looks promising. For future experiments on the Martian surface, we propose a simple, highly-sensitive method for the determination of the sorbtion-desorbtion processes of carbon dioxide on the particles of Martian regolith as well as the determination of carbonates with a level of sensitivity from 10 to 100 ppb. The so called method of thermostimulated desorbtion will use the measurement of the change in partial pressure of carbon dioxide during the step heating of the sample. The instrument will consist of a dust sampler, a pyrolitical cell with a temperature range from ambient up to 900 to 1000 C. The collection of dust particles should be processed with TV camera control. The total weight of this type of instrument should be no more than 500 g.

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