HR: 09:00h
AN: P11E-05    [Abstracts]
TI: Juxtaposition of Layered Sulfate and Phyllosilicate Deposits, Meridiani Planum, Mars
AU: * Wiseman, S M
EM: sandraw@levee.wustl.edu
AF: Dept Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, 1 Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1169, Saint Louis, MO 63130, United States
AU: Arvidson, R E
EM: arvidson@rsmail.wustl.edu
AF: Dept Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, 1 Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1169, Saint Louis, MO 63130, United States
AU: Murchie, S
EM: Scott.Murchie@JHUAPL.edu
AF: Applied Physics Lab, The John Hopkins University, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, United States
AU: Poulet, F
EM: francois.poulet@ias.u-psud.fr
AF: Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, Batiment 121, Orsay Cedex, 91405, France
AU: Morris, R V
EM: richard.v.morris@NASA.gov
AF: NASA Johnson Space Center, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston, TX 77058, United States
AU: McEwen, A S
EM: mcewen@pirl.lpl.arizona.edu
AF: Lunar and Planetary Lab, University of Arizona, Sonett Space Sciences Annex, 1541 E. University Blvd, Tucson, AZ 85721, United States
AU: Andrews-Hanna, J C
EM: jhanna@MIT.edu
AF: Dept. Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, MIT, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
AU: CRISM Science Team, T
AB: Analysis of hyperspectral MRO CRISM and MEX OMEGA data from the fluvially-dissected Noachian cratered terrain to the south and west of the layered sedimentary sulfate deposits explored by the Opportunity rover shows clear evidence for phyllosilicate deposits. Specifically, exposures exhibit spectral features resulting from an Fe/Mg-OH vibration at ~ 2.3 microns and bound H₂O at ~1.9 microns. In several locations, the phyllosilicates (ex. -3.1N°,-8.0E° and -3.4N°,-5.6E°) are located within ~20 kilometers of the edge of the hematite-bearing plains unit investigated by the Opportunity rover ~150km to the northeast. This is one of the few regions on Mars where a clear stratigraphic relationship between the phyllosilicate exposures and layered sulfates is observed, and this may record the transition to acid sulfate conditions on Mars. Continued analyses of the mineralogical composition and mapping of the spatial distribution of these phyllosilicate and sulfate deposits in Meridiani with CRISM, OMEGA, CTX, and HiRISE images will constrain the relative timing of the change in climatic and hydrologic regimes on Mars from fluvial conditions to an acid sulfate groundwater system. The spatial juxtaposition of phyllosilicate and sulfate deposits also provides a potentially important site for exploration by the Mars Science Laboratory, ExoMars, and other upcoming rover-based missions.
DE: 5464 Remote sensing
DE: 5470 Surface materials and properties
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting