Using Mineralchemistry in Gale Crater Sedimentary Rocks to Constrain Ancient Igneous Processes on Mars

Payre, V ; Siebach, K L ; Dasgupta, R ; Rampe, E B

关键词: LASER-INDUCED BREAKDOWN SPECTROSCOPY;    PLANETARY GEOLOGY;    BRECCIA;    CRATERS;    MARS SURFACE;    SEDIMENTARY ROCKS;    MINERALOGY;    PLAGIOCLASE;    PYROXENES;    MINERALS;   

RP-ID  :  JSC-E-DAA-TN66077

学科分类：天文学(综合)

美国|英语

来源: NASA Technical Reports Server

【 摘 要 】

Over the last decade, various datasets have shown evidence for unexpected Noachian felsic materials at the surface of Mars. The Martian meteorite NWA 7034, also well-known as Black Beauty, has been identified as a regolith breccia containing mafic clasts along with remarkable felsic igneous clasts dated at 4.43 Gyr and classified as monzonitic [1-2]. In addition, the Curiosity rover has been analyzing felsic materials within Gale crater since its landing in 2012 [3-4]. The X-ray diffractometer (XRD) in the CheMin instrument and the laser induced breakdown spectrometer (LIBS) ChemCam onboard Curiosity identified plagioclase and K-spar along with augite and pigeonite [3-5]. In sedimentary rocks, those minerals are detrital, coming from a magmatic source of Noachian age that was sufficiently evolved to form K-spar [1,6]. Several igneous materials analyzed by Chem- Cam have been classified as part of the alkaline trend including Harrison, a trachy-andesite [7].