Evaluation of the Tindouf Basin region in Southern Morocco as an analog site for soil geochemistry on Noachian Mars
Locations on Earth that provide insights into processes that may be occurring or may have occurred throughout martian history are often broadly deemed ‘‘Mars analogue environments.’’ As no single locale can precisely represent a past or present martian environment, it is important to focus on charac...
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10023/17027 https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2016.1557 |
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ftstandrewserep:oai:research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk:10023/17027 2023-07-02T03:30:41+02:00 Evaluation of the Tindouf Basin region in Southern Morocco as an analog site for soil geochemistry on Noachian Mars Oberlin, Elizabeth A Claire, Mark W Kounaves, Sam University of St Andrews. School of Earth & Environmental Sciences University of St Andrews. St Andrews Centre for Exoplanet Science University of St Andrews. St Andrews Isotope Geochemistry 2019-02-09 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10023/17027 https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2016.1557 eng eng Astrobiology Oberlin , E A , Claire , M W & Kounaves , S 2018 , ' Evaluation of the Tindouf Basin region in Southern Morocco as an analog site for soil geochemistry on Noachian Mars ' , Astrobiology , vol. 18 , no. 8 . https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2016.1557 1531-1074 PURE: 252459423 PURE UUID: 7a5d66bd-85f5-4a91-a458-65480a720c85 RIS: urn:33C3A123FD5B00D2F17842BC5A35F6DA RIS: 20D52D8E-59B8-489E-BD52-E1F975485730 Scopus: 85054896084 ORCID: /0000-0001-9518-089X/work/42504531 WOS: 000424714500001 http://hdl.handle.net/10023/17027 https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2016.1557 Copyright 2018, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2016.1557 Mars analogs Antarctica Morocco Oxyanions Perchlorate Nitrate GE Environmental Sciences QD Chemistry QE Geology NDAS GE QD QE Journal article 2019 ftstandrewserep https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2016.1557 2023-06-13T18:29:12Z Locations on Earth that provide insights into processes that may be occurring or may have occurred throughout martian history are often broadly deemed ‘‘Mars analogue environments.’’ As no single locale can precisely represent a past or present martian environment, it is important to focus on characterization of terrestrial processes that produce analogous features to those observed in specific regions of Mars or, if possible, specific time periods during martian history. Here, we report on the preservation of ionic species in soil samples collected from the Tindouf region of Morocco and compare them with the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, the Atacama Desert in Chile, the martian meteorite EETA79001, and the in situ Mars analyses from the Phoenix Wet Chemistry Laboratory (WCL). The Moroccan samples show the greatest similarity with those from Victoria Valley, Beacon Valley, and the Atacama, while being consistently depleted compared to University Valley and enriched compared to Taylor Valley. The NO3/Cl ratios are most similar to Victoria Valley and Atacama, while the SO4/Cl ratios are similar to those from Beacon Valley, Victoria Valley, and the Atacama. While perchlorate concentrations in the Moroccan samples are typically lower than those found in samples of other analogue sites, conditions in the region are sufficiently arid to retain oxychlorines at detectable levels. Our results suggest that the Tindouf Basin in Morocco can serve as a suitable analogue for the soil geochemistry and subsequent aridification of the Noachian epoch on Mars. Postprint Peer reviewed Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys University of St Andrews: Digital Research Repository Beacon Valley ENVELOPE(160.650,160.650,-77.817,-77.817) McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Valley ENVELOPE(163.000,163.000,-77.617,-77.617) University Valley ENVELOPE(160.667,160.667,-77.867,-77.867) Victoria Valley ENVELOPE(162.000,162.000,-77.383,-77.383) Astrobiology 18 10 1318 1328 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of St Andrews: Digital Research Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftstandrewserep |
language |
English |
topic |
Mars analogs Antarctica Morocco Oxyanions Perchlorate Nitrate GE Environmental Sciences QD Chemistry QE Geology NDAS GE QD QE |
spellingShingle |
Mars analogs Antarctica Morocco Oxyanions Perchlorate Nitrate GE Environmental Sciences QD Chemistry QE Geology NDAS GE QD QE Oberlin, Elizabeth A Claire, Mark W Kounaves, Sam Evaluation of the Tindouf Basin region in Southern Morocco as an analog site for soil geochemistry on Noachian Mars |
topic_facet |
Mars analogs Antarctica Morocco Oxyanions Perchlorate Nitrate GE Environmental Sciences QD Chemistry QE Geology NDAS GE QD QE |
description |
Locations on Earth that provide insights into processes that may be occurring or may have occurred throughout martian history are often broadly deemed ‘‘Mars analogue environments.’’ As no single locale can precisely represent a past or present martian environment, it is important to focus on characterization of terrestrial processes that produce analogous features to those observed in specific regions of Mars or, if possible, specific time periods during martian history. Here, we report on the preservation of ionic species in soil samples collected from the Tindouf region of Morocco and compare them with the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, the Atacama Desert in Chile, the martian meteorite EETA79001, and the in situ Mars analyses from the Phoenix Wet Chemistry Laboratory (WCL). The Moroccan samples show the greatest similarity with those from Victoria Valley, Beacon Valley, and the Atacama, while being consistently depleted compared to University Valley and enriched compared to Taylor Valley. The NO3/Cl ratios are most similar to Victoria Valley and Atacama, while the SO4/Cl ratios are similar to those from Beacon Valley, Victoria Valley, and the Atacama. While perchlorate concentrations in the Moroccan samples are typically lower than those found in samples of other analogue sites, conditions in the region are sufficiently arid to retain oxychlorines at detectable levels. Our results suggest that the Tindouf Basin in Morocco can serve as a suitable analogue for the soil geochemistry and subsequent aridification of the Noachian epoch on Mars. Postprint Peer reviewed |
author2 |
University of St Andrews. School of Earth & Environmental Sciences University of St Andrews. St Andrews Centre for Exoplanet Science University of St Andrews. St Andrews Isotope Geochemistry |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Oberlin, Elizabeth A Claire, Mark W Kounaves, Sam |
author_facet |
Oberlin, Elizabeth A Claire, Mark W Kounaves, Sam |
author_sort |
Oberlin, Elizabeth A |
title |
Evaluation of the Tindouf Basin region in Southern Morocco as an analog site for soil geochemistry on Noachian Mars |
title_short |
Evaluation of the Tindouf Basin region in Southern Morocco as an analog site for soil geochemistry on Noachian Mars |
title_full |
Evaluation of the Tindouf Basin region in Southern Morocco as an analog site for soil geochemistry on Noachian Mars |
title_fullStr |
Evaluation of the Tindouf Basin region in Southern Morocco as an analog site for soil geochemistry on Noachian Mars |
title_full_unstemmed |
Evaluation of the Tindouf Basin region in Southern Morocco as an analog site for soil geochemistry on Noachian Mars |
title_sort |
evaluation of the tindouf basin region in southern morocco as an analog site for soil geochemistry on noachian mars |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/17027 https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2016.1557 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(160.650,160.650,-77.817,-77.817) ENVELOPE(163.000,163.000,-77.617,-77.617) ENVELOPE(160.667,160.667,-77.867,-77.867) ENVELOPE(162.000,162.000,-77.383,-77.383) |
geographic |
Beacon Valley McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Valley University Valley Victoria Valley |
geographic_facet |
Beacon Valley McMurdo Dry Valleys Taylor Valley University Valley Victoria Valley |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica McMurdo Dry Valleys |
op_relation |
Astrobiology Oberlin , E A , Claire , M W & Kounaves , S 2018 , ' Evaluation of the Tindouf Basin region in Southern Morocco as an analog site for soil geochemistry on Noachian Mars ' , Astrobiology , vol. 18 , no. 8 . https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2016.1557 1531-1074 PURE: 252459423 PURE UUID: 7a5d66bd-85f5-4a91-a458-65480a720c85 RIS: urn:33C3A123FD5B00D2F17842BC5A35F6DA RIS: 20D52D8E-59B8-489E-BD52-E1F975485730 Scopus: 85054896084 ORCID: /0000-0001-9518-089X/work/42504531 WOS: 000424714500001 http://hdl.handle.net/10023/17027 https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2016.1557 |
op_rights |
Copyright 2018, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2016.1557 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2016.1557 |
container_title |
Astrobiology |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
1318 |
op_container_end_page |
1328 |
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