Soil diversity and hydration as observed by ChemCam at Gale crater, Mars
Science
By: P.-Y. Meslin, O. Gasnault, O. Forni, S. Schroder, A. Cousin, G. Berger, S.M. Clegg, J. Lasue, S. Maurice, V. Sautter, S. Le Mouélic, R. C. Wiens, C. Fabre, W. Goetz, D.L. Bish, N. Mangold, B. Ehlmann, N. Lanza, A.-M. Harri, Ryan Anderson, E. Rampe, T.H. McConnochie, P. Pinet, D. Blaney, Leveille, D. Archer, B. Barraclough, S. Bender, D. Blake, J.G. Blank, N. Bridges, B. C. Clark, L. DeFlores, D. Delapp, G. Dromart, M.D. Dyar, M. R. Fisk, B. Gondet, J. Grotzinger, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, J. Johnson, J.-L. Lacour, Y. Langevin, L. Leshin, E. Lewin, M.B. Madsen, N. Melikechi, Alissa Mezzacappa, M.A. Mischna, J.E. Moores, H. Newsom, A. Ollila, Perez, N. Renno, J.B. Sirven, R. Tokar, M. de la Torre, L. d'Uston, D. Vaniman, and A. Yingst
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Abstract
The ChemCam instrument, which provides insight into martian soil chemistry at the submillimeter scale, identified two principal soil types along the Curiosity rover traverse: a fine-grained mafic type and a locally derived, coarse-grained felsic type. The mafic soil component is representative of widespread martian soils and is similar in composition to the martian dust. It possesses a ubiquitous hydrogen signature in ChemCam spectra, corresponding to the hydration of the amorphous phases found in the soil by the CheMin instrument. This hydration likely accounts for an important fraction of the global hydration of the surface seen by previous orbital measurements. ChemCam analyses did not reveal any significant exchange of water vapor between the regolith and the atmosphere. These observations provide constraints on the nature of the amorphous phases and their hydration.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Soil diversity and hydration as observed by ChemCam at Gale crater, Mars |
| Series title | Science |
| DOI | 10.1126/science.1238670 |
| Volume | 341 |
| Issue | 6153 |
| Year Published | 2013 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| Contributing office(s) | Astrogeology Science Center |
| Description | 11 p. |
| Larger Work Type | Article |
| Larger Work Subtype | Journal Article |
| Larger Work Title | Science |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |