Soil diversity and hydration as observed by ChemCam at Gale crater, Mars

P.-Y. Meslin; O. Gasnault; O. Forni; S. Schroder; A. Cousin; G. Berger; S.M. Clegg; J. Lasue; S. Maurice; V. Sautter; S. Le Mouélic; R. C. Wiens; C. Fabre; W. Goetz; D.L. Bish; N. Mangold; B. Ehlmann; N. Lanza; A.-M. Harri; Ryan B. Anderson; E. Rampe; T.H. McConnochie; P. Pinet; D. Blaney; Leveille; D. Archer; B. Barraclough; S. Bender; D. Blake; J.G. Blank; N. Bridges; B. C. Clark; L. DeFlores; D. Delapp; G. Dromart; M.D. Dyar; M. R. Fisk; B. Gondet; J. Grotzinger; Kenneth E. Herkenhoff; J. Johnson; J.-L. Lacour; Y. Langevin; L. Leshin; E. Lewin; M.B. Madsen; N. Melikechi; Alissa Mezzacappa; M.A. Mischna; J.E. Moores; H. Newsom; A. Ollila; Perez; N. Renno; J.B. Sirven; R. Tokar; M. de la Torre; L. d’Uston; D. Vaniman; A. Yingst

doi:10.1126/science.1238670

Soil diversity and hydration as observed by ChemCam at Gale crater, Mars

Science

By: P.-Y. Meslin, O. Gasnault, O. Forni, S. Schroder, A. Cousin, G. Berger, S.M. Clegg, J. Lasue, S. Maurice, V. Sautter, S. Le Mouélic, R. C. Wiens, C. Fabre, W. Goetz, D.L. Bish, N. Mangold, B. Ehlmann, N. Lanza, A.-M. Harri, Ryan B. Anderson, E. Rampe, T.H. McConnochie, P. Pinet, D. Blaney, Leveille, D. Archer, B. Barraclough, S. Bender, D. Blake, J.G. Blank, N. Bridges, B. C. Clark, L. DeFlores, D. Delapp, G. Dromart, M.D. Dyar, M. R. Fisk, B. Gondet, J. Grotzinger, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, J. Johnson, J.-L. Lacour, Y. Langevin, L. Leshin, E. Lewin, M.B. Madsen, N. Melikechi, Alissa Mezzacappa, M.A. Mischna, J.E. Moores, H. Newsom, A. Ollila, Perez, N. Renno, J.B. Sirven, R. Tokar, M. de la Torre, L. d’Uston, D. Vaniman, and A. Yingst

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1238670

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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.

Suggested Citation

Meslin, P., Gasnault, O., Forni, O., Schroder, S., Cousin, A., Berger, G., Clegg, S., Lasue, J., Maurice, S., Sautter, V., Le Mouélic, S., Wiens, R.C., Fabre, C., Goetz, W., Bish, D., Mangold, N., Ehlmann, B., Lanza, N., Harri, A., Anderson, R.B., Rampe, E., McConnochie, T., Pinet, P., Blaney, D., Leveille, Archer, D., Barraclough, B., Bender, S., Blake, D., Blank, J., Bridges, N., Clark, B., DeFlores, L., Delapp, D., Dromart, G., Dyar, M., Fisk, M.R., Gondet, B., Grotzinger, J., Herkenhoff, K.E., Johnson, J., Lacour, J., Langevin, Y., Leshin, L., Lewin, E., Madsen, M., Melikechi, N., Mezzacappa, A., Mischna, M., Moores, J., Newsom, H., Ollila, A., Perez, Renno, N., Sirven, J., Tokar, R., de la Torre, M., d’Uston, L., Vaniman, D., Yingst, A., 2013, Soil diversity and hydration as observed by ChemCam at Gale crater, Mars: Science, v. 341, no. 6153, 11 p., https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1238670.

Additional publication details
Publication type	Article
Publication Subtype	Journal Article
Title	Soil diversity and hydration as observed by ChemCam at Gale crater, Mars
Series title	Science
DOI	10.1126/science.1238670
Volume	341
Issue	6153
Year Published	2013
Language	English
Publisher	American Association for the Advancement of Science
Contributing office(s)	Astrogeology Science Center
Description	11 p.
Larger Work Type	Article
Larger Work Subtype	Journal Article
Larger Work Title	Science