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Title: Oxidation of manganese in an ancient aquifer, Kimberley formation, Gale crater, Mars

Journal Article · · Geophysical Research Letters
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [4];  [6];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9];  [10];  [11];  [12];  [11];  [5];  [1];  [13];  [14] more »;  [15];  [16];  [13];  [17];  [18];  [9];  [12];  [13];  [19];  [14];  [19];  [20];  [13];  [21];  [7];  [22];  [1];  [23];  [13];  [24];  [25];  [5];  [26];  [27] « less
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  2. Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States). Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences
  3. Space Science Inst., Boulder, CO (United States)
  4. California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
  5. Univ. of Guelph, ON (Canada)
  6. Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States). Dept. of Geosciences
  7. NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX (United States)
  8. Western Washington Univ., Bellingham, WA (United States). Geology Dept.
  9. Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ (United States). School of Earth and Space Exploration
  10. Univ. of Western Ontario, London, ON (Canada). Dept. of Earth Sciences
  11. California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), La Canada Flintridge, CA (United States). Jet Propulsion Lab.
  12. Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States). Applied Physics Lab.
  13. Univ. Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UPS), Toulouse (France). Observatoire Midi-Pyrenees (OMP), Inst. for Research in Astrophysics and Planetology (IRAP)
  14. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, CA (United States)
  15. Univ. de Lorraine, Nancy (France). GeoRessources Lab.
  16. Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States). College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences
  17. Univ. of Copenhagen (Denmark). The Niels Bohr Inst.
  18. U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis Maryland (United States). Aerospace Engineering
  19. Univ. de Nantes, Nantes (France)
  20. Lulea Univ. of Technology, Kiruna (Sweden). Dept. of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering; Univ. of Granada (Spain). Andalusian Inst. of Earth Sciences (CSIC-UGR)
  21. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States). Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science
  22. Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States). Inst. of Meteoritics
  23. Natural History Museum ( IMPMC), Paris (France).
  24. Univ. of New Brunswick, Fredericton NB (Canada). Planetary and Space Science Centre
  25. Lunar and Planetary Inst., Houston Texas (United States)
  26. Planetary Science Inst., Tucson, AZ (United States)
  27. Lulea Univ. of Technology, Kiruna (Sweden). Dept. of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering; Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB), Madrid (Spain)
+ Show Author Affiliations

We report that 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. In conclusion, 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.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1304809
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-15-20086
Journal Information:
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 43, Issue 14; ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (43)

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Manganese-oxidizing photosynthesis before the rise of cyanobacteria journal June 2013
High manganese concentrations in rocks at Gale crater, Mars journal August 2014
Mineralogical record of the redox conditions on early Mars journal June 2016
Volcanism on Mars controlled by early oxidation of the upper mantle journal June 2013
Evidence for direct molecular oxygen production in CO 2 photodissociation journal October 2014
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Cited By (11)

Diverse Lithologies and Alteration Events on the Rim of Noachian-Aged Endeavour Crater, Meridiani Planum, Mars: In Situ Compositional Evidence journal May 2018
Solar Models with Dynamic Screening and Early Mass Loss Tested by Helioseismic, Astrophysical, and Planetary Constraints journal July 2018
Highly Oxidizing Aqueous Environments on Early Mars Inferred From Scavenging Pattern of Trace Metals on Manganese Oxides journal May 2019
The next frontier for planetary and human exploration journal January 2019
Insights into microbial involvement in desert varnish formation retrieved from metagenomic analysis: The desert varnish microbiome journal March 2018
Oxygen isotope analysis of bacterial and fungal manganese oxidation journal April 2018
The potential science and engineering value of samples delivered to Earth by Mars sample return: International MSR Objectives and Samples Team (iMOST) journal March 2019
The origin of life as a planetary phenomenon journal February 2020
The potential science and engineering value of samples delivered to Earth by Mars sample return journal March 2019
The potential science and engineering value of samples delivered to Earth by Mars sample return text January 2019
Solar Models with dynamic screening and early mass loss tested by helioseismic, astrophysical, and planetary constraints text January 2018

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