Diagenesis and Clay Mineral Formation at Gale Crater, Mars
The Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity found host rocks of basaltic composition and alteration assemblages containing clay minerals at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater. On the basis of the observed host rock and alteration minerals, we present results of equilibrium thermochemical modeling of the S...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets |
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ftleicester:oai:lra.le.ac.uk:2381/31724 2023-05-15T18:45:40+02:00 Diagenesis and Clay Mineral Formation at Gale Crater, Mars Bridges, John C. Schwenzer, S. P. Leveille, R. Westall, F. Wiens, R. C. Mangold, N. Bristow, T. Edwards, P. Berger, G. 2015-02-20T09:59:48Z http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014JE004757/full http://hdl.handle.net/2381/31724 https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JE004757 en eng American Geophysical Union (AGU), Wiley Journal of Geophysical Research, 2015, 120 (1), pp. 1-19 (19) 0148-0227 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014JE004757/full http://hdl.handle.net/2381/31724 doi:10.1002/2014JE004757 2156-2202 ©2014. The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. CC-BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC-BY Mars Mars Science Laboratory clay Yellowknife Bay diagenesis Journal Article Article 2015 ftleicester https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JE004757 2019-03-22T20:20:06Z The Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity found host rocks of basaltic composition and alteration assemblages containing clay minerals at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater. On the basis of the observed host rock and alteration minerals, we present results of equilibrium thermochemical modeling of the Sheepbed mudstones of Yellowknife Bay in order to constrain the formation conditions of its secondary mineral assemblage. Building on conclusions from sedimentary observations by the Mars Science Laboratory team, we assume diagenetic, in situ alteration. The modeling shows that the mineral assemblage formed by the reaction of a CO2-poor and oxidizing, dilute aqueous solution (Gale Portage Water) in an open system with the Fe-rich basaltic-composition sedimentary rocks at 10–50°C and water/rock ratio (mass of rock reacted with the starting fluid) of 100–1000, pH of ~7.5–12. Model alteration assemblages predominantly contain phyllosilicates (Fe-smectite, chlorite), the bulk composition of a mixture of which is close to that of saponite inferred from Chemistry and Mineralogy data and to that of saponite observed in the nakhlite Martian meteorites and terrestrial analogues. To match the observed clay mineral chemistry, inhomogeneous dissolution dominated by the amorphous phase and olivine is required. We therefore deduce a dissolving composition of approximately 70% amorphous material, with 20% olivine, and 10% whole rock component. J.C.B. and S.P.S. are funded by UKSA. S.P.S. was in part funded by an OU Research Investment Fellowship. Peer-reviewed Publisher Version Article in Journal/Newspaper Yellowknife University of Leicester: Leicester Research Archive (LRA) Yellowknife Yellowknife Bay ENVELOPE(-114.336,-114.336,62.367,62.367) Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 120 1 1 19 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Leicester: Leicester Research Archive (LRA) |
op_collection_id |
ftleicester |
language |
English |
topic |
Mars Mars Science Laboratory clay Yellowknife Bay diagenesis |
spellingShingle |
Mars Mars Science Laboratory clay Yellowknife Bay diagenesis Bridges, John C. Schwenzer, S. P. Leveille, R. Westall, F. Wiens, R. C. Mangold, N. Bristow, T. Edwards, P. Berger, G. Diagenesis and Clay Mineral Formation at Gale Crater, Mars |
topic_facet |
Mars Mars Science Laboratory clay Yellowknife Bay diagenesis |
description |
The Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity found host rocks of basaltic composition and alteration assemblages containing clay minerals at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater. On the basis of the observed host rock and alteration minerals, we present results of equilibrium thermochemical modeling of the Sheepbed mudstones of Yellowknife Bay in order to constrain the formation conditions of its secondary mineral assemblage. Building on conclusions from sedimentary observations by the Mars Science Laboratory team, we assume diagenetic, in situ alteration. The modeling shows that the mineral assemblage formed by the reaction of a CO2-poor and oxidizing, dilute aqueous solution (Gale Portage Water) in an open system with the Fe-rich basaltic-composition sedimentary rocks at 10–50°C and water/rock ratio (mass of rock reacted with the starting fluid) of 100–1000, pH of ~7.5–12. Model alteration assemblages predominantly contain phyllosilicates (Fe-smectite, chlorite), the bulk composition of a mixture of which is close to that of saponite inferred from Chemistry and Mineralogy data and to that of saponite observed in the nakhlite Martian meteorites and terrestrial analogues. To match the observed clay mineral chemistry, inhomogeneous dissolution dominated by the amorphous phase and olivine is required. We therefore deduce a dissolving composition of approximately 70% amorphous material, with 20% olivine, and 10% whole rock component. J.C.B. and S.P.S. are funded by UKSA. S.P.S. was in part funded by an OU Research Investment Fellowship. Peer-reviewed Publisher Version |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bridges, John C. Schwenzer, S. P. Leveille, R. Westall, F. Wiens, R. C. Mangold, N. Bristow, T. Edwards, P. Berger, G. |
author_facet |
Bridges, John C. Schwenzer, S. P. Leveille, R. Westall, F. Wiens, R. C. Mangold, N. Bristow, T. Edwards, P. Berger, G. |
author_sort |
Bridges, John C. |
title |
Diagenesis and Clay Mineral Formation at Gale Crater, Mars |
title_short |
Diagenesis and Clay Mineral Formation at Gale Crater, Mars |
title_full |
Diagenesis and Clay Mineral Formation at Gale Crater, Mars |
title_fullStr |
Diagenesis and Clay Mineral Formation at Gale Crater, Mars |
title_full_unstemmed |
Diagenesis and Clay Mineral Formation at Gale Crater, Mars |
title_sort |
diagenesis and clay mineral formation at gale crater, mars |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union (AGU), Wiley |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014JE004757/full http://hdl.handle.net/2381/31724 https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JE004757 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-114.336,-114.336,62.367,62.367) |
geographic |
Yellowknife Yellowknife Bay |
geographic_facet |
Yellowknife Yellowknife Bay |
genre |
Yellowknife |
genre_facet |
Yellowknife |
op_relation |
Journal of Geophysical Research, 2015, 120 (1), pp. 1-19 (19) 0148-0227 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014JE004757/full http://hdl.handle.net/2381/31724 doi:10.1002/2014JE004757 2156-2202 |
op_rights |
©2014. The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. CC-BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JE004757 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets |
container_volume |
120 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
1 |
op_container_end_page |
19 |
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1766236777079635968 |