Mineralogy of the Martian North Polar Sand Sea from 1995 Hubble Space Telescope near-IR observations

Details Mineralogy of the Martian North Polar Sand Sea from 1995 Hubble Space Telescope near-IR observations Mineralogy of the Martian North Polar Sand Sea from 1995 Hubble Space Telescope near-IR observations

Mar 1997

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997lpi....28...87b&link_type=abstract

Conference Paper, 28th Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, p. .87.

Mathematics

Logic

4

Mars Surface, Planetary Composition, Mineralogy, Hubble Space Telescope, Infrared Imagery, Near Infrared Radiation, Spatial Resolution, Absorption Spectra, Pyroxenes

Scientific paper

Multispectral images of Mars obtained from the HST during 1995 provided the first calibrated, high spatial resolution measurements of unfrosted north polar terrains in the NIR (750 to 1050 nm). The images reveal that the dark, circumpolar annulus has a 25-30 percent deep absorption feature near 953 nm. This band is one of the strongest mineralogic absorption features yet detected on Mars. Because the band appears to be centered near 953 nm as opposed to 860 nm or greater than 1000 nm, we interpret its most likely origin as an Fe(2+) feature in a low-Ca pyroxene. However, alternate possibilities, such as a different pyroxene chemistry or the presence of various ferric phases, cannot be entirely discounted. We believe that the strength of the band is probably the result of coarser particle sizes and a more confined particle size range related to the known occurrence of sand dunes in this part of Mars. Alternate possibilities that may explain some or all of this effect include increased pyroxene abundances, variations in pyroxene chemistry that could lead to increased band depths, or less Fe(3+) oxidative weathering in this surface region.

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