Characterization of LIBS emission lines for the identification of chlorides, carbonates, and sulfates in salt/basalt mixtures for the application to MSL ChemCam data: LIBS OF CL, C, S IN SALT-BASALT MIXTURES
[1];
[1];
[2];
[3];
[2];
[2];
[2];
[4];
[5];
- California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
- Inst. for Research in Astrophysics and Planetology (IRAP), Toulouse (France)
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA (United States). Dept. of Astronomy
- German Aerospace Center (DLR), Berlin (Germany)
Ancient environmental conditions on Mars can be probed through the identification of minerals on its surface, including water-deposited salts and cements dispersed in the pore space of sedimentary rocks. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) analyses by the Martian rover Curiosity's ChemCam instrument can indicate salts, and ChemCam surveys aid in identifying and selecting sites for further, detailed in situ analyses. Here, we performed laboratory LIBS experiments under simulated Mars conditions with a ChemCam-like instrument on a series of mixtures containing increasing concentrations of salt in a basaltic background to investigate the potential for identifying and quantifying chloride, carbonate, and sulfate salts found only in small amounts, dispersed in bulk rock with ChemCam, rather than concentrated in veins. The data then indicate that the presence of emission lines from the basalt matrix limited the number of Cl, C, and S emission lines found to be useful for quantitative analysis; nevertheless, several lines with intensities sensitive to salt concentration were identified. Detection limits for the elements based on individual emission lines ranged from ~20 wt % carbonate (2 wt % C), ~5–30 wt % sulfate (1–8 wt % S), and ~5–10 wt % chloride (3–6 wt % Cl) depending on the basaltic matrix and/or salt cation. Absolute quantification of Cl, C, and S in the samples via univariate analysis depends on the cation-anion pairing in the salt but appears relatively independent of matrices tested, following normalization. Our results are promising for tracking relative changes in the salt content of bulk rock on the Martian surface with ChemCam.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396; DGE-11444469
- OSTI ID:
- 1396140
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-17-27680
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets, Vol. 122, Issue 4; ISSN 2169-9097
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
Similar Records
Improving ChemCam LIBS long-distance elemental compositions using empirical abundance trends
Using ChemCam LIBS data to constrain grain size in rocks on Mars: Proof of concept and application to rocks at Yellowknife Bay and Pahrump Hills, Gale crater