Mineralogy and stratigraphy of phyllosilicate-bearing and dark mantling units in the greater Mawrth Vallis/west Arabia Terra area: Constraints on geological origin

Journal of Geophysical Research
By: , and 

Links

Abstract

Analyses of MRO/CRISM images of the greater Mawrth Vallis region of Mars affirm the presence of two primary phyllosilicate assemblages throughout a region ∼1000 × 1000 km. These two units consist of an Fe/Mg-phyllosilicate assemblage overlain by an Al-phyllosilicate and hydrated silica assemblage. The lower unit contains Fe/Mg-smectites, sometimes combined with one or more of these other Fe/Mg-phyllosilicates: serpentine, chlorite, biotite, and/or vermiculite. It is more than 100 m thick and finely layered at meter scales. The upper unit includes Al-smectite, kaolin group minerals, and hydrated silica. It is tens of meters thick and finely layered as well. A common phyllosilicate stratigraphy and morphology is observed throughout the greater region wherever erosional windows are present. This suggests that the geologic processes forming these units must have occurred on at least a regional scale. Sinuous ridges (interpreted to be inverted channels) and narrow channels cut into the upper clay-bearing unit suggesting that aqueous processes were prevalent after, and possibly during, the deposition of the layered units. We propose that layered units may have been deposited at Mawrth Vallis and then subsequently altered to form the hydrated units. The Fe/Mg-phyllosilicate assemblage is consistent with hydrothermal alteration or pedogenesis of mafic to ultramafic rocks. The Al-phyllosilicate/hydrated silica unit may have formed through alteration of felsic material or via leaching of basaltic material through pedogenic alteration or a mildly acidic environment. These phyllosilicate-bearing units are overlain by a darker, relatively unaltered, and indurated material that has probably experienced a complex geological history.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Mineralogy and stratigraphy of phyllosilicate-bearing and dark mantling units in the greater Mawrth Vallis/west Arabia Terra area: Constraints on geological origin
Series title Journal of Geophysical Research
DOI 10.1029/2009JE003351
Volume 115
Issue E7
Year Published 2010
Language English
Publisher American Geophysical Union
Contributing office(s) Crustal Geophysics and Geochemistry Science Center
Description Article E00D19: 27 p.
Other Geospatial Mars
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details