Martian Chlorobenzene Identified by Curiosity in Yellowknife Bay: Evidence for the Preservation of Organics in a Mudstone on Mars
The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on the Curiosity rover is designed to determine the inventory of organic and inorganic volatiles thermally evolved from solid samples using a combination of evolved gas analysis (EGA), gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS), and tunable laser spectro...
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ftnasantrs:oai:casi.ntrs.nasa.gov:20150001959 2023-05-15T18:45:42+02:00 Martian Chlorobenzene Identified by Curiosity in Yellowknife Bay: Evidence for the Preservation of Organics in a Mudstone on Mars Steele, A. Dworkin, J. McAdam, A. Malespin, C. Pavlov, A. Eigenbrode, J. Ming, D. Brickerhoff, W. Squyres, S. Franz, H. Summons, R. Grotzinger, J. Miller, K. Mahaffy, P. Brunner, A. Atreya, S. Kashyap, S. Conrad, P. Martin, M. Archer, D. DesMarais, D. Freissinet, C. Buch, A. Glavin, D. Stern, J. Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available March 16, 2015 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20150001959 unknown Document ID: 20150001959 http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20150001959 Copyright, Distribution as joint owner in the copyright CASI Geophysics JSC-CN-32851 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference; 16-20 Mar. 2015; The Woodlands, TX; United States 2015 ftnasantrs 2019-07-21T00:18:27Z The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on the Curiosity rover is designed to determine the inventory of organic and inorganic volatiles thermally evolved from solid samples using a combination of evolved gas analysis (EGA), gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS), and tunable laser spectroscopy. The first sample analyzed by SAM at the Rocknest (RN) aeolian deposit revealed chlorohydrocarbons derived primarily from reactions between a martian oxychlorine phase (e.g. perchlorate) and terrestrial carbon from N-methyl-N-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl) trifluoroacetamide (MTBSTFA) vapor present in the SAM instrument background. No conclusive evidence for martian chlorohydrocarbons in the RN sand was found. After RN, Curiosity traveled to Yellowknife Bay and drilled two holes separated by 2.75 m designated John Klein (JK) and Cumberland (CB). Analyses of JK and CB by both SAM and the CheMin x-ray diffraction instrument revealed a mudstone (called Sheepbed) consisting of approx.20 wt% smectite clays, which on Earth are known to aid the concentration and preservation of organic matter. Last year at LPSC we reported elevated abundances of chlorobenzene (CBZ) and a more diverse suite of chlorinated hydrocarbons including dichloroalkanes in CB compared to RN, suggesting that martian or meteoritic organic compounds may be preserved in the mudstone. Here we present SAM data from additional analyses of the CB sample and of Confidence Hills (CH), another drill sample collected at the base of Mt. Sharp. This new SAM data along with supporting laboratory analog experiments indicate that most of the chlorobenzene detected in CB is derived from martian organic matter preserved in the mudstone. Other/Unknown Material Yellowknife NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) Yellowknife Yellowknife Bay ENVELOPE(-114.336,-114.336,62.367,62.367) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
op_collection_id |
ftnasantrs |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Geophysics |
spellingShingle |
Geophysics Steele, A. Dworkin, J. McAdam, A. Malespin, C. Pavlov, A. Eigenbrode, J. Ming, D. Brickerhoff, W. Squyres, S. Franz, H. Summons, R. Grotzinger, J. Miller, K. Mahaffy, P. Brunner, A. Atreya, S. Kashyap, S. Conrad, P. Martin, M. Archer, D. DesMarais, D. Freissinet, C. Buch, A. Glavin, D. Stern, J. Martian Chlorobenzene Identified by Curiosity in Yellowknife Bay: Evidence for the Preservation of Organics in a Mudstone on Mars |
topic_facet |
Geophysics |
description |
The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on the Curiosity rover is designed to determine the inventory of organic and inorganic volatiles thermally evolved from solid samples using a combination of evolved gas analysis (EGA), gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS), and tunable laser spectroscopy. The first sample analyzed by SAM at the Rocknest (RN) aeolian deposit revealed chlorohydrocarbons derived primarily from reactions between a martian oxychlorine phase (e.g. perchlorate) and terrestrial carbon from N-methyl-N-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl) trifluoroacetamide (MTBSTFA) vapor present in the SAM instrument background. No conclusive evidence for martian chlorohydrocarbons in the RN sand was found. After RN, Curiosity traveled to Yellowknife Bay and drilled two holes separated by 2.75 m designated John Klein (JK) and Cumberland (CB). Analyses of JK and CB by both SAM and the CheMin x-ray diffraction instrument revealed a mudstone (called Sheepbed) consisting of approx.20 wt% smectite clays, which on Earth are known to aid the concentration and preservation of organic matter. Last year at LPSC we reported elevated abundances of chlorobenzene (CBZ) and a more diverse suite of chlorinated hydrocarbons including dichloroalkanes in CB compared to RN, suggesting that martian or meteoritic organic compounds may be preserved in the mudstone. Here we present SAM data from additional analyses of the CB sample and of Confidence Hills (CH), another drill sample collected at the base of Mt. Sharp. This new SAM data along with supporting laboratory analog experiments indicate that most of the chlorobenzene detected in CB is derived from martian organic matter preserved in the mudstone. |
format |
Other/Unknown Material |
author |
Steele, A. Dworkin, J. McAdam, A. Malespin, C. Pavlov, A. Eigenbrode, J. Ming, D. Brickerhoff, W. Squyres, S. Franz, H. Summons, R. Grotzinger, J. Miller, K. Mahaffy, P. Brunner, A. Atreya, S. Kashyap, S. Conrad, P. Martin, M. Archer, D. DesMarais, D. Freissinet, C. Buch, A. Glavin, D. Stern, J. |
author_facet |
Steele, A. Dworkin, J. McAdam, A. Malespin, C. Pavlov, A. Eigenbrode, J. Ming, D. Brickerhoff, W. Squyres, S. Franz, H. Summons, R. Grotzinger, J. Miller, K. Mahaffy, P. Brunner, A. Atreya, S. Kashyap, S. Conrad, P. Martin, M. Archer, D. DesMarais, D. Freissinet, C. Buch, A. Glavin, D. Stern, J. |
author_sort |
Steele, A. |
title |
Martian Chlorobenzene Identified by Curiosity in Yellowknife Bay: Evidence for the Preservation of Organics in a Mudstone on Mars |
title_short |
Martian Chlorobenzene Identified by Curiosity in Yellowknife Bay: Evidence for the Preservation of Organics in a Mudstone on Mars |
title_full |
Martian Chlorobenzene Identified by Curiosity in Yellowknife Bay: Evidence for the Preservation of Organics in a Mudstone on Mars |
title_fullStr |
Martian Chlorobenzene Identified by Curiosity in Yellowknife Bay: Evidence for the Preservation of Organics in a Mudstone on Mars |
title_full_unstemmed |
Martian Chlorobenzene Identified by Curiosity in Yellowknife Bay: Evidence for the Preservation of Organics in a Mudstone on Mars |
title_sort |
martian chlorobenzene identified by curiosity in yellowknife bay: evidence for the preservation of organics in a mudstone on mars |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20150001959 |
op_coverage |
Unclassified, Unlimited, Publicly available |
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_source |
CASI |
op_relation |
Document ID: 20150001959 http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20150001959 |
op_rights |
Copyright, Distribution as joint owner in the copyright |
_version_ |
1766236817071276032 |