Volatile and Organic Compositions of Sedimentary Rocks in Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Ming, Douglas W., Archer, P. D., Glavin, D. P., Eigenbrode, J. L., Franz, H. B., Sutter, B., Brunner, A. E., Stern, J. C., Freissinet, Caroline, Mcadam, A. C., Mahaffy, P. R., Cabane, Michel, Coll, Patrice, Campbell, J. L., Atreya, S. K., Niles, P. B., Bell, J. F., Bish, D. L., Brinckerhoff, W. B., Buch, A., Conrad, P. G., Des Marais, D. J., Ehlmann, Bethany, Fairen, A. G., Farley, K., Flesch, G. J., Francois, P., Gellert, R., Grant, J. A., Grotzinger, John P., Gupta, S., Herkenhoff, K. E., Hurowitz, J. A., Leshin, L. A., Lewis, K. W., Mclennan, S. M., Miller, K. E., Moersch, J., Morris, R. V., Navarro-Gonzalez, R., Pavlov, A. A., Perrett, G. M., Pradler, I., Squyres, S. W., Summons, R. E., Steele, A., Stolper, E. M., Sumner, D. Y., Szopa, Cyril, Teinturier, S.
• Other Authors: NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), NASA, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology GSFC (CRESST), PLANETO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques (LISA (UMR_7583)), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Department of Physics Guelph, University of Guelph, Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences Ann Arbor (AOSS), University of Michigan Ann Arbor, University of Michigan System-University of Michigan System, ASU School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE), Arizona State University Tempe (ASU), Laboratoire de Génie des Procédés et Matériaux - EA 4038 (LGPM), CentraleSupélec, Space Science and Astrobiology Division at Ames, NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences Pasadena, California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), NASA-California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), Department of Astronomy Ithaca, Cornell University New York, Center for Earth and Planetary Studies Washington (CEPS), Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution-Smithsonian Institution, Department of Earth Science and Technology Imperial College London, Imperial College London, United States Geological Survey Reston (USGS), Department of Geosciences Stony Brook, Stony Brook University SUNY (SBU), State University of New York (SUNY)-State University of New York (SUNY), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Princeton University, State University of New York (SUNY), Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences MIT, Cambridge (EAPS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Knoxville, The University of Tennessee Knoxville, Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares Mexico, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México = National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Geophysical Laboratory Carnegie Institution, Carnegie Institution for Science, Department of Earth and Planetary Science UC Berkeley (EPS), University of California Berkeley (UC Berkeley), University of California (UC)-University of California (UC), NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2014
• Subjects: [SDU.ASTR.EP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Earth and Planetary Astrophysics [astro-ph.EP]; [SDU.ASTR.SR]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Solar and Stellar Astrophysics [astro-ph.SR]; Yellowknife; Yellowknife Bay
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01238192; https://hal.science/hal-01238192/document; https://hal.science/hal-01238192/file/Ming_et%20al_2013_Science_Sheepbed%20Volatiles_Accepted.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1245267

International audience H 2 O, CO 2 , SO 2 , O 2 , H 2 , H 2 S, HCl, chlorinated hydrocarbons, NO, and other trace gases were evolved during pyrolysis of two mudstone samples acquired by the Curiosity rover at Yellowknife Bay within Gale crater, Mars. H 2 O/OH-bearing phases included 2:1 phyllosilicate(s), bassanite, akaganeite, and amorphous materials. Thermal decomposition of carbonates and combustion of organic materials are candidate sources for the CO 2 . Concurrent evolution of O 2 and chlorinated hydrocarbons suggests the presence of oxychlorine phase(s). Sulfides are likely sources for sulfur-bearing species. Higher abundances of chlorinated hydrocarbons in the mudstone compared with Rocknest windblown materials previously analyzed by Curiosity suggest that indigenous martian or meteoritic organic carbon sources may be preserved in the mudstone; however, the carbon source for the chlorinated hydrocarbons is not definitively of martian origin.