X-ray diffraction results from Mars Science Laboratory: Mineralogy of Rocknest at Gale CraterShow others and affiliations
2013 (English)In: Science, ISSN 0036-8075, E-ISSN 1095-9203, Vol. 341, no 6153, article id 1238932Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
The Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity scooped samples of soil from the Rocknest aeolian bedform in Gale crater. Analysis of the soil with the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) x-ray diffraction (XRD) instrument revealed plagioclase (~An57), forsteritic olivine (~Fo62), augite, and pigeonite, with minor K-feldspar, magnetite, quartz, anhydrite, hematite, and ilmenite. The minor phases are present at, or near, detection limits. The soil also contains 27 ± 14 weight percent x-ray amorphous material, likely containing multiple Fe3+- and volatile-bearing phases, including possibly a substance resembling hisingerite. The crystalline component is similar to the normative mineralogy of certain basaltic rocks from Gusev crater on Mars and of martian basaltic meteorites. The amorphous component is similar to that found on Earth in places such as soils on the Mauna Kea volcano, Hawaii.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2013. Vol. 341, no 6153, article id 1238932
National Category
Aerospace Engineering
Research subject
Atmospheric science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-4067DOI: 10.1126/science.1238932ISI: 000324894600002PubMedID: 24072925Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84885654210Local ID: 1edf6508-01ad-4955-a55b-bb1ba2dc5a56OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ltu-4067DiVA, id: diva2:976929
Note
Upprättat; 2013; Bibliografisk uppgift: Javier Martín-Torres ingår i the MSL Science Team.; 20150224 (ninhul)
2016-09-292016-09-292019-05-14Bibliographically approved