Cen preclplLaLe as waLer evaporaLes away

Some form ln acldlc envlronmenLs

lndex lndlcaLes Lhe depLh of Lhe 2.2 mlcron absorpuon
!"#$%&$' !)*+,)
ueLalled specLral analysls Lo
resolve specLral amblgulLy [3]
Amblguous unlL ad[acenL Lo
a gypsum bearlng surface -
a polyhydraLed sulfaLe
Spaual conLexL Lells us LhaL
sulfaLes would be more
llkely Lo form LogeLher Lhan
wlLh a zeollLe
Correlaung Aqueous Composluons and
Surface Morphologles on Mars
nancy P. 1homas, !oshua L. 8andeld and Llena S. Amador, unlverslLy of WashlngLon
1he analysls of specLral daLaseLs from Mars spacecra ls provldlng new deLalls
abouL Lhe aqueous mlneralogy of Lhe planeL. We are examlnlng deposlLs uslng vlslble/
near-lnfrared daLa from Lhe CompacL 8econnalssance lmaglng SpecLromeLer for Mars
(C8lSM). 8y correlaung C8lSM specLral slgnaLures wlLhln Lhese reglons wlLh
morphologlcal feaLures on Lhe Maruan surface plcLured ln M8C ConLexL Camera (C1x)
lmages, we are able Lo provlde conLexL for Lhe surface mlneralogy.
Spaual assoclauon of mlnerals lmproves our undersLandlng of Lhe condluons
presenL aL Lhe ume of Lhelr formauon. 8y comblnlng Lhe morphologlcal and
mlneraloglcal lnformauon, we have sLronger and more deLalled evldence of Lhe
presence of llquld waLer on Mars. 1hls allows for a more compleLe undersLandlng of Lhe
formauon of aqueously alLered maLerlals on Mars and subsequenL lnLerpreLauons of
Lhe pasL hablLablllLy of Lhe planeL.
lnLroducuon
-.'.&#,/0,*)1234)*),5 6-0278 9*)' :)&.+*# ;<,=+)"%,+,)
C8lSM: CompacL 8econnalssance lmaglng SpecLromeLer for Mars
~0.3 Lo 3 m wavelengLh range
370 vlslble and near lnfrared bands
Spaual resoluuon: as hlgh as 18 meLers/plxel
MuluspecLral observauons (MS) wlLh resoluuon of 100 or 200 meLers/plxel
Sensluve Lo Lransluon meLals and varlous forms of hydrauon
!72;9 >)"=,''.3?
lull specLral resoluuon observauons (l81, P8L, P8S) and muluspecLral
observauons (MS) are used
uaLa are correcLed for aLmospherlc gases uslng Lhe volcano scan meLhod [3],
Lhen desLrlped and desplked
Mlneral lndlces are consLrucLed ln a manner slmllar Lo elkey !" $%&' ())* +,-
Areas of lnLeresL are valldaLed by examlnauon of l/l specLra and rauo
8eglonal mapplng wlLh comparlson MS lndex lmages
Spaually correlaLed uslng @9A7; [2]
MeLhods
WaLer bearlng, amorphous SlC
2
Speclc Lype of hydraLed slllca lndlcaLes
durauon of exposure Lo waLer
B,'+,)3 C,##*' D*'.3
ln WesLern Pellas 8asln hlgh abundances
of amorphous slllca phases have been
ldenued uslng 1hermal lnfrared daLa [4]
1hese unlLs are also colncldenL wlLh
hydraLed slllca as ldenued by C8lSM
PydraLed Slllca
1PLMlS uCS mosalc bands 8-7-3 pro[ecLed
as 8C8 - hlgh slllca deLecuon ln yellow
~13 km
Above and Le: C8lSM
PydraLed Slllca lndlces
n
Plgh
ueLecuon
Weak
ueLecuon
lorm ln many aqueous envlronmenLs on LarLh
1he speclc Lype of zeollLe lndlcaLes speclc deLalls abouL lLs formauon
envlronmenL
ueLalled observauons ln layerlng feaLures ln -*##,' 9*).3,).'
lndex lndlcaLes Lhe depLh of Lhe 2.6 mlcron absorpuon
ZeollLes
E,F: C8lSM
zeollLe lndex
map from valles
Marlnerls
7.?G+: SpecLra
ldenufylng
zeollLe ln C8lSM
l81 lmage
PydraLed SulfaLes
Spaual assoclauon of mlnerals provldes cruclal conLexLual lnformauon. Care musL
be Laken Lo undersLand Lhe composluon lnLerpreLed by C8lSM daLa, as well as Lhe
morphology, LexLure, and parucle slze of unlLs ln quesuon Lo besL lnLerpreL Lhe aqueous
mlneralogy of a reglon.
ln Lhe case of Columbus CraLer, spaual assoclauon of ad[acenL mlneralogles led Lo a
more denluve lnLerpreLauon of Lhe evaporluc aqueous envlronmenL. Slmllar
meLhodologles applled Lo WesLern Pellas 8asln have led Lo a new undersLandlng of Lhe
exLenL of hydraLed slllca deposlLs. WavelengLh reglons provlde unlque and lmporLanL
mlneraloglcal conLexL Lo Lhe sLudy of aqueous processes on Mars and are lnvaluable ln
undersLandlng Lhe pasL and presenL hablLablllLy of Mars
ulscusslon and Concluslons
7,4,),3=,'
[1] elkey !" $%&' ./0' ,,(' ,)&,)(12())3.4))(56,' ())' [2] hup: // [mars.asu.edu, [3] Wray !" $%&' ./0' ,,3' 4),)),' 789:,)&,)(12(),).4))631;' (),)
[4] 8andeld, C8L, 33, L12203, dol:10.1029/2008CL033807, 2008, [3] McCulre, eL al., laneLary and Space Sclences, 10.1016/[.pss.2009.03.007, 2009
n
C8lSM l81s: 2.3 m Absorpuon
SLrengLh lndlces draped on ConLexL
Camera (C1x) lmage
WavelengLh (mlcrons)
8
e

e
c
L
a
n
c
e
(
o

s
e
L
fo
r
c
la
r
lL
y
)

C8lSM 8auoed SpecLrum
Plgh ueLecuon Weak ueLecuon
n
C8lSM rauoed specLrum from WesLern Pellas wlLh specLrum
of hydraLed slllca ldenued ln Syrus Ma[or for comparlson
ZeollLe Lab SpecLrum
~ 3 km
~ 23 km