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Oxidation of manganese in an ancient aquifer, Kimberley formation, Gale crater, Mars
- Source :
- Geophysical Research Letters. 43:7398-7407
- Publication Year :
- 2016
- Publisher :
- American Geophysical Union (AGU), 2016.
-
Abstract
- The Curiosity rover observed high Mn abundances (>25 wt % MnO) in fracture-filling materials that crosscut sandstones in the Kimberley region of Gale crater, Mars. The correlation between Mn and trace metal abundances plus the lack of correlation between Mn and elements such as S, Cl, and C, reveals that these deposits are Mn oxides rather than evaporites or other salts. On Earth, environments that concentrate Mn and deposit Mn minerals require water and highly oxidizing conditions; hence, these findings suggest that similar processes occurred on Mars. Based on the strong association between Mn-oxide deposition and evolving atmospheric dioxygen levels on Earth, the presence of these Mn phases on Mars suggests that there was more abundant molecular oxygen within the atmosphere and some groundwaters of ancient Mars than in the present day.
- Subjects :
- 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Evaporite
Mineralogy
chemistry.chemical_element
Manganese
Mars Exploration Program
01 natural sciences
Atmosphere
Geophysics
Planetary science
Deposition (aerosol physics)
chemistry
13. Climate action
0103 physical sciences
General Earth and Planetary Sciences
Trace metal
010303 astronomy & astrophysics
Earth (classical element)
Geology
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 00948276
- Volume :
- 43
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........636303eae4a4ad5713db18b4727c9600