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Mobile element studies in rocks (rat) from columbia hills/west spur at gusev
| Content Provider | NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
|---|---|
| Author | Nyquist, L. E. Garrison, D. H. Sutton, S. R. Rao, M. N. |
| Copyright Year | 2007 |
| Description | Using elemental abundances determined by SPIRIT APX spectrometer on rocks and soils at Gusev Plains and Columbia Hills/ West Spur regions, the Athena Team discussed the aqueous geochemical implications at these sites on Mars. They suggested that these rocks were exposed to variable degrees of aqueous alteration (low to high) at Gusev crater. Earlier, we developed analytical procedures for studying aqueous geochemical behavior of fluids on rocks at Meridiani. In the present study, we apply these methods to rocks at Columbia Hills/West Spur in order to understand the significance of the Gusev rock results in reference to aqueous geochemical processes on Mars . The data analysis procedure is based on treating SO3 ("a") and Cl ("b") as two variables and tracking the relationship between "a" and "b" when the fluids undergo evaporation. This process of evaporation leads to concentration changes in these two elements finally producing salt assemblages on Martian rocks. In some cases on plotting "a"/ "b" versus "b" in salt assemblages, they yield a hyperbolic distribution. The relationship is transformed into a straight line when "a"/"b" is again plotted against 1/"b" in the system. Earlier, we used this procedure in the case of Merdiani rock abrasion tool (RAT) rocks and in this study, we discuss the application of this procedure to Gusev rocks. This study shows that the Gusev Plains rocks were exposed to low SO3/Cl solutions (sulfate-poor) for short period of time (weak interaction), whereas solutions with high SO3/Cl ratios (sulfate-rich) seem to have pervasively interacted with Columbia Hills/ West Spur rocks (strong interaction) at Gusev crater. Our conclusions seem to be consistent with the Mossbauer results given for these rocks |
| File Size | 84498 |
| Page Count | 2 |
| File Format | |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://archive.org/details/NASA_NTRS_Archive_20080013255 |
| Archival Resource Key | ark:/13960/t0tr0w665 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher Date | 2007-01-01 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration Water Planetary Geology Mars Craters Spectrometers Geochemistry Rocks Mars Surface Evaporation Sulfur Oxides Mars Roving Vehicles Ntrs Nasa Technical Reports Server (ntrs) Nasa Technical Reports Server Aerodynamics Aircraft Aerospace Engineering Aerospace Aeronautic Space Science |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
