Noachian and more recent phyllosilicates in impact craters on Mars

Alberto G Fairén; Vincent Chevrier; Oleg Abramov; Giuseppe A Marzo; Patricia Gavin; Alfonso F Davila; Livio L Tornabene; Janice L Bishop; Ted L Roush; Christoph Gross; Thomas Kneissl; Esther R Uceda; James M Dohm; Dirk Schulze-Makuch; J Alexis P Rodríguez; Ricardo Amils; Christopher P McKay

doi:10.1073/pnas.1002889107

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Noachian and more recent phyllosilicates in impact craters on Mars

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Noachian and more recent phyllosilicates in impact craters on Mars

Alberto G Fairén, Vincent Chevrier, Oleg Abramov, Giuseppe A Marzo, Patricia Gavin, Alfonso F Davila, Livio L Tornabene, Janice L Bishop, Ted L Roush, Christoph Gross, …

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.107(27), pp.12095-12100

07/06/2010

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1002889107

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https://hdl.handle.net/2376/115927

PMCID: PMC2901452

PMID: 20616087

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Abstract

Asbestos, Serpentine - chemistry

Kaolin - chemistry

Aluminum Silicates - analysis

Asbestos, Serpentine - analysis

Silicates - analysis

Ferric Compounds - chemistry

Minerals - analysis

Silicates - chemistry

Chlorides - analysis

Chlorides - chemistry

Hot Temperature

Ferric Compounds - analysis

Mars

Aluminum Silicates - chemistry

Time Factors

Spectrum Analysis - methods

Minerals - chemistry

Kaolin - analysis

Extraterrestrial Environment - chemistry

Hundreds of impact craters on Mars contain diverse phyllosilicates, interpreted as excavation products of preexisting subsurface deposits following impact and crater formation. This has been used to argue that the conditions conducive to phyllosilicate synthesis, which require the presence of abundant and long-lasting liquid water, were only met early in the history of the planet, during the Noachian period (> 3.6 Gy ago), and that aqueous environments were widespread then. Here we test this hypothesis by examining the excavation process of hydrated minerals by impact events on Mars and analyzing the stability of phyllosilicates against the impact-induced thermal shock. To do so, we first compare the infrared spectra of thermally altered phyllosilicates with those of hydrated minerals known to occur in craters on Mars and then analyze the postshock temperatures reached during impact crater excavation. Our results show that phyllosilicates can resist the postshock temperatures almost everywhere in the crater, except under particular conditions in a central area in and near the point of impact. We conclude that most phyllosilicates detected inside impact craters on Mars are consistent with excavated preexisting sediments, supporting the hypothesis of a primeval and long-lasting global aqueous environment. When our analyses are applied to specific impact craters on Mars, we are able to identify both pre- and postimpact phyllosilicates, therefore extending the time of local phyllosilicate synthesis to post-Noachian times.

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Title: Noachian and more recent phyllosilicates in impact craters on Mars
Creators: Alberto G Fairén - Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, 515 North Whisman Road, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.alberto.g.fairen@nasa.gov
Vincent Chevrier
Oleg Abramov
Giuseppe A Marzo
Patricia Gavin
Alfonso F Davila
Livio L Tornabene
Janice L Bishop
Ted L Roush
Christoph Gross
Thomas Kneissl
Esther R Uceda
James M Dohm
Dirk Schulze-Makuch
J Alexis P Rodríguez
Ricardo Amils
Christopher P McKay
Publication Details: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.107(27), pp.12095-12100
Academic Unit: UNKNOWN
Publisher: United States
Identifiers: 99900547505401842
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article