In Situ Detection of Boron by ChemCam on Mars

Gasda, Patrick J.; Haldeman, Ethan Brian; Wiens, Roger Craig; Rapin, William; Bristow, Thomas; Bridges, John C.; Schwenzer, Suzanne C.; Clark, Benton; Herkenhoff, Kenneth; Frydenvang, Jens; Lanza, Nina Louise; Maurice, Sylvestre; Clegg, Samuel; Delapp, Dorothea Marcia; Sanford, Veronica; Bodine, Madeleine Rose; McInroy, Rhonda

doi:10.1002/2017GL074480

Title: In Situ Detection of Boron by ChemCam on Mars

Journal Article · Tue Sep 05 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Geophysical Research Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL074480· OSTI ID:1394983

^[1]; Haldeman, Ethan Brian ^[2];

^[1]; Rapin, William ^[3]; Bristow, Thomas ^[4]; Bridges, John C. ^[5]; Schwenzer, Suzanne C. ^[6]; Clark, Benton ^[7]; Herkenhoff, Kenneth ^[8]; Frydenvang, Jens ^[9];

^[1]; Maurice, Sylvestre ^[10];

^[1];

^[1]; Sanford, Veronica ^[2]; Bodine, Madeleine Rose ^[1]; McInroy, Rhonda ^[1]

Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Ursinus College, Collegeville, PA (United States). Chemistry Dept.
California Inst. of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), Moffett Field, Mountain View, CA (United States)
Univ. of Leicester (United Kingdom). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
Open Univ., Milton Keynes (United Kingdom). Dept. of Earth Science
Space Science Inst., Boulder, CO (United States)
US Geological Survey (USGS) Flagstaff, AZ (United States)
Univ. of Copenhagen (Denmark). Natural History Museum of Denmark
Centre National d'etudes spatiales (CNES), Paris (France)

Here, we report the first in situ detection of boron on Mars. Boron has been detected in Gale crater at levels <0.05 wt % B by the NASA Curiosity rover ChemCam instrument in calcium-sulfate-filled fractures, which formed in a late-stage groundwater circulating mainly in phyllosilicate-rich bedrock interpreted as lacustrine in origin. We also consider two main groundwater-driven hypotheses to explain the presence of boron in the veins: leaching of borates out of bedrock or the redistribution of borate by dissolution of borate-bearing evaporite deposits. Our results suggest that an evaporation mechanism is most likely, implying that Gale groundwaters were mildly alkaline. On Earth, boron may be a necessary component for the origin of life; on Mars, its presence suggests that subsurface groundwater conditions could have supported prebiotic chemical reactions if organics were also present and provides additional support for the past habitability of Gale crater.

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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:: 1394983

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-17-24987

Journal Information:: Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 44, Issue 17; ISSN 0094-8276

Publisher:: American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 43 works

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