skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Martian Eolian Dust Probed by ChemCam

Journal Article · · Geophysical Research Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL079210· OSTI ID:1477728
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [7]; ORCiD logo [8];  [1]; ORCiD logo [9]; ORCiD logo [10]; ORCiD logo [11]; ORCiD logo [2] more »;  [1];  [12]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [13];  [14]; ORCiD logo [15]; ORCiD logo [16]; ORCiD logo [17]; ORCiD logo [18] « less
  1. Univ. de Toulouse, Toulouse (France)
  2. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  3. Univ. de Lyon, Villeurbanne (France)
  4. Max-Planck-Institut fur Sonnensystemforschung, Gottingen (Germany)
  5. CalTech, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
  6. DLR, Berlin (Germany)
  7. Johns Hopkins Univ., Laurel, MD (United States)
  8. Univ. de Nantes (France)
  9. USGS, Flagstaff, AZ (United States)
  10. NASA JPL, Pasadena, CA (United States)
  11. Space Science Institute, Boulder, CO (United States)
  12. Lorraine Univ., Vandoeuvre (France)
  13. Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen (Denmark)
  14. Lulea Univ. of Technology, Lulea (Sweden); Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (UGR-CSIC), Granada (Spain)
  15. Univ. of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA (United States)
  16. Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States)
  17. Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris (France)
  18. Lulea Univ. of Technology, Lulea (Sweden); Centro de Astrobiologia (INTA-CSIC), Madrid (Spain)

Here, the ubiquitous eolian dust on Mars plays important roles in the current sedimentary and atmospheric processes of the planet. The ChemCam instrument retrieves a consistent eolian dust composition at the sub–mm scale from every first laser shot on Mars targets. Its composition presents significant differences with the Aeolis Palus soils and the Bagnold dunes as it contains lower CaO and higher SiO2. The dust FeO and TiO2 contents are also higher, probably associated with nanophase oxide components. The dust spectra show the presence of volatile elements (S, Cl), and the hydrogen content is similar to Bagnold sands, but lower than Aeolis Palus soils. Consequently, the dust may be a contributor to the amorphous component of soils but differences in composition indicate that the two materials are not equivalent.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1477728
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-18-28848
Journal Information:
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 45, Issue 20; ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 28 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (57)

Independent component analysis classification of laser induced breakdown spectroscopy spectra journal August 2013
Properties of dust in the Martian atmosphere from the Imager on Mars Pathfinder journal April 1999
Physical properties of the particles composing the Martian dust storm of 1971–1972 journal April 1977
Understanding the signature of rock coatings in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy data journal March 2015
Calibration of the Mars Science Laboratory Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer journal April 2012
Compositions of coarse and fine particles in martian soils at gale: A window into the production of soils journal March 2015
Overview of the magnetic properties experiments on the Mars Exploration Rovers journal January 2009
New insights into Martian dust distribution and water-ice cloud microphysics journal January 2002
Geochemical properties of rocks and soils in Gusev Crater, Mars: Results of the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer from Cumberland Ridge to Home Plate journal January 2008
Yearly and seasonal variations of low albedo surfaces on Mars in the OMEGA/MEx dataset: Constraints on aerosols properties and dust deposits journal April 2009
Indication of drier periods on Mars from the chemistry and mineralogy of atmospheric dust journal July 2005
Spectroscopic Identification of Carbonate Minerals in the Martian Dust journal August 2003
The ChemCam Instrument Suite on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Rover: Science Objectives and Mast Unit Description journal July 2012
The new Athena alpha particle X-ray spectrometer for the Mars Exploration Rovers: NEW APXS FOR MER journal November 2003
A new model for Mars atmospheric dust based upon analysis of ultraviolet through infrared observations from Mariner 9, Viking, and Phobos journal January 1995
Volatile, Isotope, and Organic Analysis of Martian Fines with the Mars Curiosity Rover journal September 2013
Mars Climate Sounder: An investigation of thermal and water vapor structure, dust and condensate distributions in the atmosphere, and energy balance of the polar regions journal January 2007
Curiosity at Gale Crater, Mars: Characterization and Analysis of the Rocknest Sand Shadow journal September 2013
Correcting for variable laser-target distances of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy measurements with ChemCam using emission lines of Martian dust spectra journal June 2014
The Medusae Fossae Formation as the single largest source of dust on Mars journal July 2018
Chemical composition of Martian fines journal January 1982
Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS): Results from Gusev crater and calibration report: APXS RESULTS FROM GUSEV CRATER journal January 2006
Mars Climate Sounder limb profile retrieval of atmospheric temperature, pressure, and dust and water ice opacity: MCS RETRIEVALS journal October 2009
Onboard calibration igneous targets for the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover and the Chemistry Camera laser induced breakdown spectroscopy instrument journal March 2011
Hydrogen detection with ChemCam at Gale crater journal March 2015
Ceramic ChemCam Calibration Targets on Mars Science Laboratory journal May 2012
Characterization and Calibration of the CheMin Mineralogical Instrument on Mars Science Laboratory journal June 2012
Soil Diversity and Hydration as Observed by ChemCam at Gale Crater, Mars journal September 2013
Quantification of water content by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy on Mars journal April 2017
The ChemCam Instrument Suite on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Rover: Body Unit and Combined System Tests journal June 2012
The Petrochemistry of Jake_M: A Martian Mugearite journal September 2013
Magnetic Properties Experiments on the Mars Exploration Rover mission: MAGNETIC PROPERTIES EXPERIMENTS ON MER journal December 2003
An integrated view of the chemistry and mineralogy of martian soils journal July 2005
REMS: The Environmental Sensor Suite for the Mars Science Laboratory Rover journal August 2012
Atmospheric Imaging Results from the Mars Exploration Rovers: Spirit and Opportunity journal December 2004
Pre-flight calibration and initial data processing for the ChemCam laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory rover journal April 2013
A global Mars dust composition refined by the Alpha‐Particle X‐ray Spectrometer in Gale Crater journal January 2016
X-ray Diffraction Results from Mars Science Laboratory: Mineralogy of Rocknest at Gale Crater journal September 2013
Application of distance correction to ChemCam laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy measurements journal June 2016
Viking Lander image analysis of Martian atmospheric dust journal January 1995
Recalibration of the Mars Science Laboratory ChemCam instrument with an expanded geochemical database journal March 2017
Constraints on dust aerosols from the Mars Exploration Rovers using MGS overflights and Mini-TES: DUST PROPERTIES-MER-MGS OVERFLIGHTS journal December 2006
Mineralogy of Martian atmospheric dust inferred from thermal infrared spectra of aerosols journal January 2005
ChemCam passive reflectance spectroscopy of surface materials at the Curiosity landing site, Mars journal March 2015
The ChemCam Remote Micro-Imager at Gale crater: Review of the first year of operations on Mars journal March 2015
Mössbauer mineralogy of rock, soil, and dust at Gusev crater, Mars: Spirit's journey through weakly altered olivine basalt on the plains and pervasively altered basalt in the Columbia Hills: MÖSSBAUER MINERALOGY AT GUSEV CRATER, MARS journal February 2006
Spectral evidence for zeolite in the dust on Mars journal March 2004
The Martian surface as imaged, sampled, and analyzed by the Viking landers journal January 1989
Mineralogy of an active eolian sediment from the Namib dune, Gale crater, Mars: In Situ Mineralogy of the Bagnold Dunes journal November 2017
MSL-APXS titanium observation tray measurements: Laboratory experiments and results for the Rocknest fines at the Curiosity field site in Gale Crater, Mars : MSL APXS TITANIUM OBSERVATION TRAY journal May 2014
Geochemistry of the Bagnold dune field as observed by ChemCam and comparison with other aeolian deposits at Gale Crater: ChemCam Results From Bagnold Dunes, Mars journal October 2017
Constraints on abundance, composition, and nature of X-ray amorphous components of soils and rocks at Gale crater, Mars: X-ray amorphous components at Gale journal December 2014
Chemistry, mineralogy, and grain properties at Namib and High dunes, Bagnold dune field, Gale crater, Mars: A synthesis of Curiosity rover observations: Bagnold Dune Sands Composition journal December 2017
Water Abundance of Dunes in Gale Crater, Mars From Active Neutron Experiments and Implications for Amorphous Phases journal December 2018
APXS-derived chemistry of the Bagnold dune sands: Comparisons with Gale Crater soils and the global Martian average: APXS-Bagnold Sands and Gale Soils journal December 2017
Igneous mineralogy at Bradbury Rise: The first ChemCam campaign at Gale crater: IGNEOUS MINERALOGY AT BRADBURY RISE journal January 2014
Evolved gas analyses of sedimentary rocks and eolian sediment in Gale Crater, Mars: Results of the Curiosity rover's sample analysis at Mars instrument from Yellowknife Bay to the Namib Dune: SAM-Evolved Gas Analysis at Gale Crater journal December 2017

Cited By (3)

Sample Collection and Return from Mars: Optimising Sample Collection Based on the Microbial Ecology of Terrestrial Volcanic Environments journal October 2019
The feasibility of CO₂‐laser‐induced breakdown spectroscopy for fast lead determination in glass cullet text January 2020
The feasibility of CO₂‐laser‐induced breakdown spectroscopy for fast lead determination in glass cullet journal November 2019

Figures / Tables (3)


Similar Records

Geochemistry of the Bagnold dune field as observed by ChemCam and comparison with other aeolian deposits at Gale Crater
Journal Article · Tue Jun 27 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets · OSTI ID:1477728

Constraints on iron sulfate and iron oxide mineralogy from ChemCam visible/near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy of Mt. Sharp basal units, Gale Crater, Mars
Journal Article · Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · American Mineralogist · OSTI ID:1477728

Red/violet contrast reversal on Mars - significance for eolian sediments
Journal Article · Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1986 · Icarus; (United States) · OSTI ID:1477728