Volatile, Isotope, and Organic Analysis of Martian Fines with the Mars Curiosity Rover
@article{Leshin2013VolatileIA, title={Volatile, Isotope, and Organic Analysis of Martian Fines with the Mars Curiosity Rover}, author={Laurie A. Leshin and Paul R. Mahaffy and Christopher R. Webster and Michel Cabane and Patrice Coll and Pamela G. Conrad and Paul Douglas Archer and Sushil Atreya and Anna E Brunner and A. Buch and Jennifer L. Eigenbrode and Gregory J. Flesch and Heather B. Franz and Caroline Freissinet and Daniel P. Glavin and Amy C. McAdam and Kristen E. Miller and Doug W. Ming and Richard V. Morris and R. Navarro‐Gonzalez and Paul B. Niles and Tobias C. Owen and Robert O. Pepin and Steven W. Squyres and Andrew Steele and Jennifer C. Stern and Roger Everett Summons and Dawn Y. Sumner and Brad Sutter and Cyril Szopa and Samuel Teinturier and Melissa G. Trainer and James J. Wray and John P. Grotzinger}, journal={Science}, year={2013}, volume={341} }
Samples from the Rocknest aeolian deposit were heated to ~835°C under helium flow and evolved gases analyzed by Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite. H2O, SO2, CO2, and O2 were the major gases released. Water abundance (1.5 to 3 weight percent) and release temperature suggest that H2O is bound within an amorphous component of the sample. Decomposition of fine-grained Fe or Mg carbonate is the likely source of much of the evolved CO2. Evolved O2 is coincident with the release of…
360 Citations
Volatile and Organic Compositions of Sedimentary Rocks in Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars
- GeologyScience
- 2014
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 chlorinatedHydrocarbons is not definitively of martian origin.
Abundances and implications of volatile‐bearing species from evolved gas analysis of the Rocknest aeolian deposit, Gale Crater, Mars
- Geology, Environmental Science
- 2014
The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity detected evolved gases during thermal analysis of soil samples from the Rocknest aeolian deposit in…
Sulfur-Bearing Phases Detected by Evolved Gas Analysis of the Rocknest Aeolian Deposit, Gale Crater, Mars
- Geology
- 2014
The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite detected SO2, H2S, OCS, and CS2 from ~450 to 800°C during evolved gas analysis (EGA) of materials from the Rocknest aeolian deposit in Gale Crater,…
Hydrogen Isotopic Systematics of Nominally Anhydrous Phases in Martian Meteorites
- Geology
- 2015
Introduction: It has long been recognized that the martian atmosphere has a D/H ratio that is ~5-6 times higher than that of terrestrial water reservoirs (e.g., [1]) Analyses by the Sample Analysis…
Major Volatiles Evolved From Eolian Materials in Gale Crater
- GeologyGeophysical Research Letters
- 2018
The Sample Analysis at Mars on the Curiosity rover analyzed the major volatile content of four eolian samples at three locations in Gale crater. The Rocknest sample was taken from an inactive sand…
Hydrogen Isotopic Variations in the Shergottites
- Geology
- 2020
Hydrogen isotopes in the shergottite Martian meteorites are among the most varied in Mars laboratory samples. By collating results of previous studies on major hydroxyl, deuterium, and H2O bearing…
Tracing the fate of carbon and the atmospheric evolution of Mars
- Environmental Science, GeologyNature communications
- 2015
A family of solutions exist for the climate of Mars that invoke no missing reservoirs or loss processes, and are fully testable with data from the MAVEN mission and further studies of the isotopic composition of carbonate in the Martian rock record through time.
Volatile Detections in Gale Crater Sediment and Sedimentary Rock
- Environmental ScienceVolatiles in the Martian Crust
- 2019
Organic matter preserved in 3-billion-year-old mudstones at Gale crater, Mars
- Environmental ScienceScience
- 2018
In situ detection of organic matter preserved in lacustrine mudstones at the base of the ~3.5-billion-year-old Murray formation at Pahrump Hills, Gale crater, by the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite onboard the Curiosity rover is reported.
Oxidation of manganese in an ancient aquifer, Kimberley formation, Gale crater, Mars
- Environmental Science, Geology
- 2016
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…
References
SHOWING 1-10 OF 52 REFERENCES
Stable Isotope Measurements of Martian Atmospheric CO2 at the Phoenix Landing Site
- Geology, Environmental ScienceScience
- 2010
Measurements of the isotopic composition of the martian atmospheric CO2, made in situ by the Mars Phoenix Lander, indicate that CO2 is heavily influenced by modern volcanic degassing and equilibration with liquid water, which suggests that low-temperature water-rock interactions have been dominant on Mars.
Isotope Ratios of H, C, and O in CO2 and H2O of the Martian Atmosphere
- Environmental Science, GeologyScience
- 2013
Comparison between measurements in the modern atmosphere and those of martian meteorites such as ALH 84001 implies that the martian reservoirs of CO2 and H2O were largely established ~4 billion years ago, but that atmospheric loss or surface interaction may be still ongoing.
Magmatic carbon in Martian meteorites: attempts to constrain the carbon cycle on Mars
- GeologyInternational Journal of Astrobiology
- 2004
One of the current goals of Martian exploration is to find evidence for extinct (or even extant) life. Carbon (an essential ingredient of life on Earth) is known to occur on Mars as CO2 in the…
Abundance and Isotopic Composition of Gases in the Martian Atmosphere from the Curiosity Rover
- Environmental Science, GeologyScience
- 2013
Agreement between the isotopic ratios measured by SAM with those of martian meteorites, measured in laboratories on Earth, confirms the origin of these meteorites and implies that the current atmospheric reservoirs of CO2 and H2O were largely established after the period of early atmospheric loss some 4 billion years ago.
Is the Martian lithosphere sulfur rich
- Environmental Science, Geology
- 1979
It is proposed that the high sulfur measured in Martian fines may represent more than enrichment by upward migration of soluble sulfate salts. It may in fact reflect intrinsic surface abundances of S…
Microscale carbon isotope variability in ALH84001 carbonates and a discussion of possible formation environments
- Geography, Geology
- 2005
The search for organic substances and inorganic volatile compounds in the surface of Mars
- Geology
- 1977
A total of four Martian samples, one surface and one subsurface sample at each of the two Viking landing sites, Chryse Planitia and Utopia Planitia, have been analyzed for organic compounds by a gas…
A Reduced Organic Carbon Component in Martian Basalts
- GeologyScience
- 2012
Measurements of organic material in 11 martian meteorites, including the Tissint meteorite, are presented, implying that the organics formed as the magma melt crystallized and are thus of abiotic origin.
Curiosity at Gale Crater, Mars: Characterization and Analysis of the Rocknest Sand Shadow
- GeologyScience
- 2013
The Rocknest aeolian deposit is similar to aeOLian features analyzed by the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity and implies locally sourced, globally similar basaltic materials or globally and regionally sourced basALTic components deposited locally at all three locations.