Multiple mineral horizons in layered outcrops at Mawrth Vallis, Mars, signify changing geochemical environments on early Mars.

ABSTRACT: Refined calibrations of CRISM images are enabling identification of smaller deposits of unique aqueous materials on Mars that reveal changing environmental conditions at the region surrounding Mawrth Vallis. Through characterization of these clay-sulfate assemblages and their association with the layered, phyllosilicate units of this region, more details of the aqueous geochemical history can be gleaned. A stratigraphy including five distinct mineral horizons is mapped using compositional data from CRISM over CTX and HRSC imagery across 100s of km and from CRISM over HiRISE imagery across 100s of meters. Transitions in mineralogic units were characterized using visible/near-infrared (VNIR) spectral properties and surface morphology. We identified and characterized complex "doublet" type sp

SUBMITTER: Bishop JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8152300 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature