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Abstract Uncertainty in desert dust composition poses a big challenge to understanding Earth’s climate across different epochs. Of particular concern is hematite, an iron-oxide mineral dominating the solar absorption by dust particles, for which current estimates of absorption capacity vary by over two orders of magnitude. Here, we show that laboratory measurements of dust composition, absorption, and scattering provide valuable constraints on the absorption potential of hematite, substantially narrowing its range of plausible values. The success of this constraint is supported by results from an atmospheric transport model compared with station-based measurements. Additionally, we identify substantial bias in simulating hematite abundance in dust aerosols with current soil mineralogy descriptions, underscoring the necessity for improved data sources. Encouragingly, the next-generation imaging spectroscopy remote sensing data hold promise for capturing the spatial variability of hematite. These insights have implications for enhancing dust modeling, thus contributing to efforts in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Bombardment by solar wind ions is one of the main drivers of space weathering on airless bodies. Here, we simulate the solar-wind-driven spectral alteration of loosely packed olivine powders by irradiation with 1.2 keV helium ions (He ^+ ). We measured the reflectance spectra of the olivine powder in the ultraviolet–visible–near-infrared (UV–Vis–NIR) wavelength range (0.2–2 μ m) as a function of ion fluence. In the Vis–NIR range, we observed spectral darkening, absorption band shallowing, and spectral reddening, in agreement with lunar-style space weathering and previous laboratory studies. In the UV–Vis, spectral darkening was also observed. However, a spectral bluing took place at wavelengths below 400 nm. As the simulated space weathering progressed, the spectral slopes shifted from steep-UV/shallow-NIR slopes to shallow-UV/steep-NIR slopes. Moreover, the change in the UV slope was almost 10 times larger than in the NIR, supporting the hypothesis that the UV spectral slope could be an earlier indicator of space weathering.

The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M ^3 ) on the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft provided nearly global 0.5–3 μ m imaging-spectroscopy data at 140 m pixel ^–1 in 85 spectral bands. Targeted locations were imaged at 70 m pixel ^–1 and higher spectral resolution. These data enable a detailed look at the mineralogy, hydroxyl, and water signatures exposed on the lunar surface. We find evidence for multiple processes, including probable solar wind implantation, excavation of hydroxyl-poor and water-poor material in cratering events, excavation of hydroxyl and water-rich materials from depth and global trends with rock type and latitude. Some water-rich areas display sharp boundaries with water-poor rocks but have a diffuse halo of hydroxyl surrounding the water-rich rocks indicating a weathering process of destruction of water, probably due to a regolith gardening process. Mapping for specific mineralogy shows evidence for absorptions near 2.2 μ m, probably associated with smectites, and near 1.9 μ m due to water. Lunar swirls are confirmed to be OH-poor, but we also find evidence that swirls are water-poor based on a weak 1.9 μ m water band. Some swirls show enhanced pyroxene absorption. “Diurnal” signatures are found with stable minerals. Pyroxene is shown to exhibit strong band depth changes with the diurnal cycle, which directly tracks the solar incidence angle and is consistent with changing composition and/or grain size with depth. Mapping of M ^3 data for the presence of iron oxides (e.g., hematite and goethite) is found to be a false signature in the M ^3 data due to scattered light in the instrument.

This paper presents far-ultraviolet through mid-infrared (0.12–20 μ m) reflectance spectra of 27 fine-particulate (

The Chemistry and Mineralogy X-ray diffraction (XRD) instrument aboard the Curiosity rover consistently identifies amorphous material at Gale Crater, which is compositionally variable, but often includes elevated sulfur and iron, suggesting that amorphous ferric sulfate (AFS) may be present. Understanding how desiccating ferric sulfate brines affect the spectra of Martian material analogs is necessary for interpreting complex/realistic reaction assemblages. Visible and near-infrared reflectance (VNIR), mid-infrared attenuated total reflectance (MIR, FTIR-ATR), and Raman spectra, along with XRD data are presented for basaltic glass, hematite, gypsum, nontronite, and magnesite, each at three grain sizes (