Chemistry and Crystallography of Diagenetic, Authigenic, and Igneous Potassium Feldspar: Implications for Sedimentary Petrology in Gale Crater, Mars

Ott, J P ; Rampe, E B ; Morris, R V ; Treiman, A H

关键词: MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY;    CURIOSITY ROVER;    MARS CRATERS;    MARS SURFACE SAMPLES;    PLANETARY GEOLOGY;    POTASSIUM;    CRYSTALLOGRAPHY;    MINERALOGY;    FELDSPARS;    IGNEOUS ROCKS;    SEDIMENTARY ROCKS;    PETROLOGY;   

RP-ID  :  JSC-E-DAA-TN66075

学科分类：天文学(综合)

美国|英语

来源: NASA Technical Reports Server

【 摘 要 】

The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity’s Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument performed X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of Gale Crater drill sample Windjana and found 21 wt.% nearly pure potassium feldspar in the disordered structural state of high-sanidine. The source of sanidine in Windjana is not clear – it could be detrital igneous, hydrothermal, or authigenic, with each possible source representing widely different implications for the sedimentary history of Gale Crater and igneous evolution of sediment sources. Here, we try to constrain the origin of the Windjana sanidine by determining unit-cell (UC) parameters and compositions of sanidines from a range of environments on Earth.