Soil Diversity and Hydration as Observed by ChemCam at Gale Crater, Mars

P.-Y Meslin; O. Gasnault; S. Schröder; A. Cousin; G. Berger; S.M. Clegg; J. Lause; S. Maurice; V. Sautter; Morten Bo Madsen

doi:10.1126/science.1238670

Soil Diversity and Hydration as Observed by ChemCam at Gale Crater, Mars

P.-Y Meslin, O. Gasnault, S. Schröder, A. Cousin, G. Berger, S.M. Clegg, J. Lause, S. Maurice, V. Sautter, Morten Bo Madsen

Astrophysics and Planetary Science

178 Citations (Scopus)

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.

Original language	English
Journal	Science
Volume	341
Issue number	6153
ISSN	0036-8075
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1238670
Publication status	Published - 27 Sept 2013

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title = "Soil Diversity and Hydration as Observed by ChemCam at Gale Crater, Mars",

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.",

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T1 - Soil Diversity and Hydration as Observed by ChemCam at Gale Crater, Mars

AU - Meslin, P.-Y

AU - Gasnault, O.

AU - Schröder, S.

AU - Cousin, A.

AU - Berger, G.

AU - Clegg, S.M.

AU - Lause, J.

AU - Maurice, S.

AU - Sautter, V.

AU - Madsen, Morten Bo

PY - 2013/9/27

Y1 - 2013/9/27

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

U2 - 10.1126/science.1238670

DO - 10.1126/science.1238670

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 24072924

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 341

JO - Science

JF - Science

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ER -

Soil Diversity and Hydration as Observed by ChemCam at Gale Crater, Mars

Abstract

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