Evidence of sulfate‐rich fluid alteration in Jezero crater floor, Mars
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Sulfur plays a major role in martian geochemistry and sulfate minerals are important repositories of water. However, their hydration states on Mars are poorly constrained. Therefore, understanding the hydration and distribution of sulfate minerals on Mars is important for understanding its geologic, hydrologic, and atmospheric evolution as well as its habitability potential. NASA's Perseverance rover is currently exploring the Noachian-age Jezero crater, which hosts a fan-delta system associated with a paleolake. The crater floor includes two igneous units (the Séítah and Máaz formations), both of which contain evidence of later alteration by fluids including sulfate minerals. Results from the rover instruments Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemistry and Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry reveal the presence of a mix of crystalline and amorphous hydrated Mg-sulfate minerals (both MgSO4·[3–5]H2O and possible MgSO4·H2O), and anhydrous Ca-sulfate minerals. The sulfate phases within each outcrop may have formed from single or multiple episodes of water activity, although several depositional events seem likely for the different units in the crater floor. Textural and chemical evidence suggest that the sulfate minerals most likely precipitated from a low temperature sulfate-rich fluid of moderate pH. The identification of approximately four waters puts a lower constraint on the hydration state of sulfate minerals in the shallow subsurface, which has implications for the martian hydrological budget. These sulfate minerals are key samples for future Mars sample return.
Date Issued
2024-01-01
Date Acceptance
2023-12-23
Citation
Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 2024, 129 (1)
ISSN
2169-9100
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
Volume
129
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© 2024 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. Government sponsorship acknowledged.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
License URL
Identifier
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023JE007989
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e2023JE007989
Date Publish Online
2024-01-24