Title: Characterization of Hydrogen in Basaltic Materials With Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) for Application to MSL ChemCam Data

Abstract

Here, the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, is equipped with ChemCam, a laser–induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument, to determine the elemental composition of nearby targets quickly and remotely. We use a laboratory sample set including prepared mixtures of basalt with systematic variation in hydrated mineral content and compositionally well–characterized, altered basaltic volcanic rocks to measure hydrogen by characterizing the H–alpha emission line in LIBS spectra under Martian environmental conditions. The H contents of all samples were independently measured using thermogravimetric analysis. We found that H peak area increases with weight percent H for our laboratory mixtures with basaltic matrices. The increase is linear with weight percent H in the mixtures with structurally bound H up to about 1.25 wt.% H and then steepens for higher H–content samples, a nonlinear trend not previously reported but potentially important for characterizing high water content materials. To compensate for instrument, environmental, and target matrix–related effects on quantification of H content from the LIBS signal, we examined multiple normalization methods. The best performing methods utilize O 778– and C 248–nm emission lines. The methods return comparable results when applied to ChemCam data of H–bearing materials on Mars. The calibration and normalization methods tested here willmore » aid in investigations of H by LIBS on Mars with ChemCam and SuperCam. Further laboratory work will aid quantification across different physical matrices and heterogeneous textures because of differences we observed in H in pelletized and natural rock samples of the same composition.« less

Authors:

Thomas, N. H.  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Thomas, N. H."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-1989-4860"

Ehlmann, Bethany L.  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-2745-3240"

Anderson, D. E.  ^[1];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-8310-0554"

Clegg, Samuel M.  ^[2];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-0338-0948"

Forni, O.  ^[3];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-6772-9689"

Schröder, S. ^[4]; Rapin, W.  ^[1];

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Meslin, P. -Y.  ^[3];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-0703-3951"

Lasue, J.  ^[3];

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Delapp, Dorothea Marcia  ^[2];

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Dyar, M. D.  ^[5];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-4272-793X"

Gasnault, Olivier  ^[3];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-6979-9012"

Wiens, Roger Craig  ^[2];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-3409-7344"

Maurice, Sylvestre ^[3]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
2. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
3. Univ. de Toulouse, Toulouse (France)
4. Univ. de Toulouse, Toulouse (France); German Aerospace Center (DLR), Berlin (Germany)
5. Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA (United States)

Publication Date:

Tue Jul 10 00:00:00 EDT 2018

Research Org.:

Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); USDOE

OSTI Identifier:

1484668

Report Number(s):

LA-UR-18-28849
Journal ID: ISSN 2169-9097

Grant/Contract Number:  

89233218CNA000001

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 123; Journal Issue: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 2169-9097

Publisher:

American Geophysical Union

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

58 GEOSCIENCES; Planetary Sciences