首页 | 本学科首页   官方微博 | 高级检索  
相似文献
 共查询到20条相似文献，搜索用时 36 毫秒
1.
Horton E. Newsom 《Icarus》1980,44(1):207-216
A model of the interaction of water with an impact melt sheet is constructed to explain the presence of hydrothermal alteration, fluid flow channels, and the redistribution of volatile elements in terrestrial melt sheets. A calculation of the amount of water vaporized beneath a melt sheet with a large fraction of melt results in a maximum total steam/melt sheet ratio of 23% by weight. The model also applies to Martian impact melt sheets, which have a total volume greater than a global layer 60 m thick. Hydrothermal circulation of steam in Martian melt sheets may have produced iron-rich alteration clays, ferric hydroxides, and near-surface accumulations of salts. The ability of vapor-dominated hydrothermal systems of concentrate sulfate relative to chloride is consistent with the high sulfate to chloride ratio found in the Martian soil by the Viking landers. A major fraction of the Martian soil may consist of the erosion products of hydrothermally altered impact melt sheets.  相似文献   

2.
Analyses of Martian surface soil by Viking and Earth-based telescopes have been interpreted as indicating a regolith dominated by the weathering products of mafic or ultramafic rocks. Basaltic glass has previously been proposed as a more likely precursor than crystalline rock, given the low efficiency of surface weathering under present Martian conditions. On Earth large volumes of basaltic glass formed by quenching of magma by water. A similar interaction, between magma and ground ice, may have been a common occurrence on Mars. On the basis of this scenario palagonite, the alteration product of basaltic sideromelane glass, was studied as a possible analog to Martian soil. Samples from Iceland, Alaska, Antarctica, Hawaii, and the desert of New Mexico and Mexico were examined by optical and scanning electron microscopy, electron microprobe analysis, X-ray diffraction, spectrophotometry, and magnetic and thermogravimetric analysis. We suggest that palagonite is a good analog to the surface soil of Mars in chemical composition, particle size, spectral signature, and magnetic properties. Our model for the formation of fine-grained Martian surface soil begins with eruptions of basaltic magma through ground ice, forming deposits of glassy tuff. Individual glass shards are then altered by low-temperature hydrothermal systems to palagonitic material. Dehydration and aeolian abrasion strip the alteration rinds from the glass, and wind storms distribute the silt-sized palagonitic fragments in a planet-wide deposit.  相似文献   

3.
Abstract– Xenon‐isotopic ratios, step‐heating release patterns, and gas concentrations of mineral separates from Martian shergottites Roberts Massif (RBT) 04262, Dar al Gani (DaG) 489, Shergotty, and Elephant Moraine (EET) 79001 lithology B are reported. Concentrations of Martian atmospheric xenon are similar in mineral separates from all meteorites, but more weathered samples contain more terrestrial atmospheric xenon. The distributions of xenon from the Martian and terrestrial atmospheres among minerals in any one sample are similar, suggesting similarities in the processes by which they were acquired. However, in opaque and maskelynite fractions, Martian atmospheric xenon is released at higher temperatures than terrestrial atmospheric xenon. It is suggested that both Martian and terrestrial atmospheric xenon were initially introduced by weathering (low temperature alteration processes). However, the Martian component was redistributed by shock, accounting for its current residence in more retentive sites. The presence or absence of detectable 129Xe from the Martian atmosphere in mafic minerals may correspond to the extent of crustal contamination of the rock’s parent melt. Variable contents of excess 129Xe contrast with previously reported consistent concentrations of excess 40Ar, suggesting distinct sources contributed these gases to the parent magma.  相似文献   

4.
James L. Gooding 《Icarus》1978,33(3):483-513
Chemical weathering on Mars is examined theoretically from the standpoint of heterogeneous equilibrium between solid mineral phases and gaseous O2, H2O, and CO2 in the Martian atmosphere. Thermochemical calculations are performed in order to identify important gas-solid decomposition reactions involving the major mineral constituents of mafic igneous rocks. Where unavailable in the thermochemical literature, Gibbs free energy and enthalpy of formation are estimated for certain minerals and details of these estimation procedures are given. Partial pressure stability diagrams are presented to show pertinent mineral reaction boundaries at 298 and at 240°K. In the present Martian environment, the thermodynamically stable products of gas-solid weathering of individual minerals at 240°K should be Fe2O3, as hematite or maghemite (from fayalite, magnetite, and Fe-bearing pyroxenes), quartz (from all silicates), calcite (from Ca-bearing pyroxenes and plagioclase), magnesite (from forsterite and Mg-bearing pyroxenes), corundum (from all Al-bearing silicates), Ca-beidellite (from anorthite), and szomolnokite, FeSO4 or FeSO4·H2O (from iron sulfides). Albite, microcline, and apatite should be stable with respect to gas-solid decomposition, suggesting that gas-solid weathering products on Mars may be depleted in Na, K, and P (and, possibly, Cl and F). Certain montmorillonite-type clay minerals are thermodynamically favorable intermediate gas-solid decomposition products of Al-bearing pyroxenes and may be metastable intermediate products of special mineral surface reaction mechanisms. However, the predicted high thermodynamic susceptibility of these clay minerals to subsequent gas-solid decomposition implies that they should ultimately decompose in the present Martian surface environment. Kaolinite is apparently the only clay mineral which should be thermodynamically stable over all ranges of temperature and water vapor abundance in the present environment at the Martian surface. Considering thermodynamic criteria, including possible gas-solid decomposition reactions, it is doubtful that significant amounts of goethite and clay minerals can be currently forming on Mars by mechanisms known to operate to Earth. If major amounts of goethite and clay minerals occur on Mars, they probably owe their existence to formation in an environment characterized by the presence of liquid water or by mechanism possibly unique to Mars. In any case, any goethite or montmorillonite-type clay mineral on Mars must ultimately decompose.  相似文献   

5.
Clay minerals, although ubiquitous on the ancient terrains of Mars, have not been observed in Martian meteorite Allan Hills (ALH) 84001, which is an orthopyroxenite sample of the early Martian crust with a secondary carbonate assemblage. We used a low‐temperature (20 °C) one‐dimensional (1‐D) transport thermochemical model to investigate the possible aqueous alteration processes that produced the carbonate assemblage of ALH 84001 while avoiding the coprecipitation of clay minerals. We found that the carbonate in ALH 84001 could have been produced in a process, whereby a low‐temperature (~20 °C) fluid, initially equilibrated with the early Martian atmosphere, moved through surficial clay mineral and silica‐rich layers, percolated through the parent rock of the meteorite, and precipitated carbonates (thereby decreasing the partial pressure of CO2) as it evaporated. This finding requires that before encountering the unweathered orthopyroxenite host of ALH 84001, the fluid permeated rock that became weathered during the process. We were able to predict the composition of the clay minerals formed during weathering, which included the dioctahedral smectite nontronite, kaolinite, and chlorite, all of which have been previously detected on Mars. We also calculated host rock replacement in local equilibrium conditions by the hydrated silicate talc, which is typically considered to be a higher temperature hydrothermal phase on Earth, but may have been a common constituent in the formation of Martian soils through pervasive aqueous alteration. Finally, goethite and magnetite were also found to precipitate in the secondary alteration assemblage, the latter associated with the generation of H2. Apparently, despite the limited water–rock interaction that must have led to the formation of the carbonates ~ 3.9 Ga ago, in the vicinity of the ALH 84001 source rocks, clay formation would have been widespread.  相似文献   

6.
A. Gaudin  E. Dehouck  N. Mangold 《Icarus》2011,216(1):257-268
Phyllosilicates on Mars are widespread in the ancient crust suggesting the presence of liquid water at the martian surface and therefore warmer conditions during its early history. However, the role of the ancient climate in the alteration process, which produced these phyllosilicates, remains under debate, because similar mineral assemblages can be produced by hydrothermal alteration at depth. This paper focuses on the origin of coincident outcrops of Fe/Mg bearing phyllosilicates and Al-bearing phyllosilicates, which are observed in several regions of Mars. We performed a detailed mineralogical comparison between a section in Nili Fossae, Mars, and a weathering profile located at Murrin Murrin, Western Australia. The Murrin Murrin profile is developed in Archaean serpentinized peridotite massifs over a ∼40 m thick sequence. It has three alteration zones: the serpentine mineral saprolite is found at the bottom, immediately overlain by Fe/Mg-bearing smectites and then Al-bearing phyllosilicates (kaolinite) mixed with iron hydroxides. This example illustrates how Al-dominated minerals can derive from the alteration of initially Al-poor ultramafic rocks by the intense leaching of Mg2+. This mineralogical sequence is very similar to that detected locally in Nili Fossae by orbital spectroscopy. By analogy, we propose that the mineral assemblage detected on Mars is the result of long-term weathering, and thus could be the best evidence of past weathering as a direct result of a climate significantly warmer than at present.  相似文献   

7.
Abstract– We present a case modeling study of impact crater formation in H2O‐bearing targets. The main goal of this work was to investigate the postimpact thermal state of the rock layers modified in the formation of hypervelocity impact craters. We present model results for a target consisting of a mixture of H2O‐ice and rock, assuming an ice/water content variable with depth. Our model results, combined with results from previous work using dry targets, indicate that for craters larger than about 30 km in diameter, the onset of postimpact hydrothermal circulation is characterized by two stages: first, the formation of a mostly dry, hot central uplift followed by water beginning to flow in and circulate through the initially dry and hot uplifted crustal rocks. The postimpact thermal field in the periphery of the crater is dependent on crater size: in midsize craters, 30–50 km in diameter, crater walls are not strongly heated in the impact event, and even though ice present in the rock may initially be heated enough to melt, overall temperatures in the rock remain below melting, undermining the development of a crater‐wide hydrothermal circulation. In large craters (with diameters more than 100 km or so), the region underneath the crater floor and walls is heated well above the melting point of ice, thus facilitating the onset of an extended hydrothermal circulation. These results provide preliminary constraints in characterizing the many water‐related features, both morphologic and spectroscopic, that high‐resolution images of Mars are now detecting within many Martian craters.  相似文献   

8.
The hydrogen isotopic composition of planetary reservoirs can provide key constraints on the origin and history of water on planets. The sources of water and the hydrological evolution of Mars may be inferred from the hydrogen isotopic compositions of mineral phases in Martian meteorites, which are currently the only samples of Mars available for Earth‐based laboratory investigations. Previous studies have shown that δD values in minerals in the Martian meteorites span a large range of ?250 to +6000‰. The highest hydrogen isotope ratios likely represent a Martian atmospheric component: either interaction with a reservoir in equilibrium with the Martian atmosphere (such as crustal water), or direct incorporation of the Martian atmosphere due to shock processes. The lowest δD values may represent those of the Martian mantle, but it has also been suggested that these values may represent terrestrial contamination in Martian meteorites. Here we report the hydrogen isotopic compositions and water contents of a variety of phases (merrillites, maskelynites, olivines, and an olivine‐hosted melt inclusion) in Tissint, the latest Martian meteorite fall that was minimally exposed to the terrestrial environment. We compared traditional sample preparation techniques with anhydrous sample preparation methods, to evaluate their effects on hydrogen isotopes, and find that for severely shocked meteorites like Tissint, the traditional sample preparation techniques increase water content and alter the D/H ratios toward more terrestrial‐like values. In the anhydrously prepared Tissint sample, we see a large range of δD values, most likely resulting from a combination of processes including magmatic degassing, secondary alteration by crustal fluids, shock‐related fractionation, and implantation of Martian atmosphere. Based on these data, our best estimate of the δD value for the Martian depleted mantle is ?116 ± 94‰, which is the lowest value measured in a phase in the anhydrously prepared section of Tissint. This value is similar to that of the terrestrial upper mantle, suggesting that water on Mars and Earth was derived from similar sources. The water contents of phases in Tissint are highly variable, and have been affected by secondary processes. Considering the H2O abundances reported here in the driest phases (most likely representing primary igneous compositions) and appropriate partition coefficients, we estimate the H2O content of the Tissint parent magma to be ≤0.2 wt%.  相似文献   

9.
T.R. McGetchin  J.R. Smith 《Icarus》1978,34(3):512-536
The density of the Martian mantle is estimated to be about 3.55 g/cm3 (Reasenberg, 1977). Model mineral assemblages for the Martian mantle (at 30 kbar) were calculated using a modified CIPW norm scheme by adding FeO to model terrestrial mantle compositions. The density of the resulting mineral assemblages vary with increasing FeO content. With pyrolite starting compositions for the terrestrial mantle, the resulting model Martian mantle with density of 3.55 g/cm3 is not garnet-lherzolite like the Earth; rather it is an assemblage properly called oxide-garnet wehrlite: oxide (periclase-wüstite) 2%; garnet 11%; olivine 73%; clinopyroxene 12%; with no orthopyroxene. Partial melting of such an assemblage wouldyield iron-rich, ultrabasic lavas, with extremely low viscosities. Specifically, model partial melts, assuming production from the quaternary eutectic (inferred to be near: op7 g42 cpx43 ox8) yields an ultrabasic (SiO2, 41 to 44%) picritic alkali-basaltic melt (norm composition ne 2.5, plag 32, or 2.4, di 20, ol 37, mt 4.4 and ilm, tr), with a computed viscosity of about 12 P at 1200°C. This model for the composition of the Martian surface lavas (derived from geophysical data and petrologic arguments) is in remarkable agreement with a recently published model by Maderazzo and Huguenin (1977) (derived from reflection spectroscopy, experimental and theoretical models for weathering in the Martian environment). The result also appears to be consistent with recent interpretations (Rasool and Le Sergeant, 1977) of Viking atmospheric chemistry results, namely that the Martian crust is potassium poor. There are a number of geological implications which follow, including (1) superfluid lavas may account for some flood and erosional features observed on Mars; (2) the XRF inorganic chemistry experiment on Vikings 1 and 2 (Baird, 1976) indeed may be measuring compositions approaching primary lavas, contrary to current interpretations which favor a rather mature (weathered) soil; (3) ultrabasic (ferrokimberlitic) ash might be a major constituent of the Martian soil, especially if cosmological models concerning the incorporation of a much volatile material within the early accreting Mars are correct—a matter of current debate; (4) a number of mineral assemblages not previously considered are possible in the Martian mantle depending principally on the activity of volatile substances, (S, O, C, H); it is possible that some very unusual magmas are produced on partial melting; and (5) some ferro-granite melts might be produced by liquid immiscibility.  相似文献   

10.
A scanning and transmission electron microscope study of aluminosilicate glasses within melt inclusions from the Martian meteorite Nakhla shows that they have been replaced by berthierine, an aluminum‐iron serpentine mineral. This alteration reaction was mediated by liquid water that gained access to the glasses along fractures within enclosing augite and olivine grains. Water/rock ratios were low, and the aqueous solutions were circumneutral and reducing. They introduced magnesium and iron that were sourced from the dissolution of olivine, and exported alkalis. Berthierine was identified using X‐ray microanalysis and electron diffraction. It is restricted in its occurrence to parts of the melt inclusions that were formerly glass, thus showing that under the ambient physico‐chemical conditions, the mobility of aluminum and silicon were low. This discovery of serpentine adds to the suite of postmagmatic hydrous silicates in Nakhla that include saponite and opal‐A. Such a variety of secondary silicates indicates that during aqueous alteration compositionally distinct microenvironments developed on sub‐millimeter length scales. The scarcity of berthierine in Nakhla is consistent with results from orbital remote sensing of the Martian crust showing very low abundances of aluminum‐rich phyllosilicates.  相似文献   

11.
Abstract— Alteration of surficial suevites at Ries crater, Germany was studied by means of X‐ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Here, we discuss the origin of hydrous silicate (clay) phases in these suevites that have been previously interpreted as resulting from post‐impact hydrothermal processes. The results of this study indicate that the dominant alteration phases are dioctahedral Al‐Fe montmorillonite and halloysite, which are typical low temperature clay minerals. We suggest that the surficial suevites are not altered by hydrothermal processes and that alteration occurred by low temperature subsurface weathering processes. If the surficial suevites were indeed hydrothermally modified during the early stages of post‐impact cooling, then the alteration was of limited character and is completely masked by later weathering.  相似文献   

12.
Abstract— Mineralogical, petrographical and chemical determinations were made for 743 agate (banded variety of chalcedonic quartz) nodules (diameters from 5 mm to 5 cm) formed during postimpact, low-temperature hydrothermal activity as vesicle fillings in the melt rocks of the Sääksjärvi meteorite impact structure (diameter 5 km) in southwest Finland. Other hydrothermal vesicle fillings in the impact melt rocks include chlorite, mordenite, smectite and kaolinite. The agates were classified into two types, whose mineralogical properties and chemical compositions fall within the range of volcanic agates (basaltic and rhyolitic host rocks). The relatively high age (～510 Ma) of the Sääksjärvi impact melt rocks, however, is reflected by the presence of recrystallization textures, which are rare in younger volcanic agates. The Sääksjärvi structure was initially located after following the fortuitous discovery of agate “path-finders” in the glacial overburden. It is recommended that wherever volcanic type agates are found as float in Precambrian shield areas devoid of younger volcanic rocks, the possible presence of impact (or volcanic) craters in the vicinity should be considered.  相似文献   

13.
Cover     
Brecciated and hydrothermally altered orthogneiss‐amphibolite complex in the Maniitsoq structure, West Greenland. Inset: variably hydrothermally altered zircon with reset U‐Pb systematics, yielding a hydrothermal age of 3000.9 ± 1.9 Ma. The hydrothermal alteration of regional extent took place at upper amphibolite facies, and is interpreted as due to infl ux of (sea?) water and development of a crustal‐scale hydrothermal convection cell in a now deeply exhumed Archaean impact structure. A. Scherstén and A. A. Garde discuss the details in their paper on pp. 1472–1498. (Images courtesy of Adam Garde and Leif Johansson.)  相似文献   

14.
Abstract Petrographic, electron microprobe, and Raman spectrometric analyses of Yaxcopoil‐1 core samples from the Chicxulub crater indicate that the impact generated a hydrothermal system. Relative textural and vein crosscutting relations and systematic distribution of alteration products reveal a progression of the hydrothermal event in space and time and provide constraints on the nature of the fluids. The earliest calcite, halite, and gaylussite suggest that the impactite sequence was initially permeated by a low temperature saline brine. Subsequent development of a higher temperature hydrothermal regime is indicated by thermal metamorphic diopside‐hedenbergite (Aeg3Fs18‐33En32‐11Wo47‐53) after primary augite and widespread Na‐K for Ca metasomatic alkali exchange in plagioclase. Hydrothermal sphene, apatite, magnetite + (bornite), as well as early calcite (combined 3 to 8 vol%) were introduced with metasomatic feldspar. A lower temperature regime characterized by smectite after probable primary glass, secondary chlorite, and other pre‐existing mafic minerals, as well as very abundant calcite veins and open‐space fillings, extensively overprinted the early hydrothermal stage. The composition of early and late hydrothermal minerals show that the solution was chlorine‐rich (Cl/F >10) and that its Fe/Mg ratio and oxidation state increased substantially (4 to 5 logfO2 units) as temperature decreased through time. The most altered zone in the impactite sequence occurs 30 m above the impact melt. The lack of mineralogical zoning about the impact melt and convective modeling constraints suggest that this unit was too thin at Yaxcopoil‐1 to provide the necessary heat to drive fluids and implies that the hydrothermal system resulted from the combined effects of a pre‐existing saline brine and heat that traveled to the Yaxcopoil‐1 site from adjacent areas where the melt sheet was thicker. Limonite after iron oxides is more common toward the top of the sequence and suggests that the impactite section was subjected to weathering before deposition of the Tertiary marine cover. In addition, scarce latest anatase stringers, chalcopyrite, and barite in vugs, francolite after apatite, and recrystallized halite are the likely products of limited post‐hydrothermal ambient‐temperature diagenesis, or ocean and/or meteoric water circulation.  相似文献   

15.
Phyllosilicates, carbonates, zeolites, and sulfates on Mars give clues about the planet's past environmental conditions, but little is known about the specific conditions in which these minerals formed within the crust and at the surface. The aim of the present study was to gain increased understanding on the formation of secondary phases by hydrothermal alteration of basaltic glass. The reaction processes were studied under varying conditions (temperature, pCO2, water:rock ratio, and fluid composition) with relevance to aqueous hydrothermal alteration in fully and partly saturated Martian basalt deposits. Analyses made on reaction products using X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were compared with near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) to establish relative detectability and spectral signatures. This study demonstrates that comparable alteration minerals (phyllosilicates, carbonates, zeolites) form from vapor condensing on mineral surfaces in unsaturated sediments and not only in fully water‐saturated sediments. In certain environments where water vapor might be present, it can alter the basaltic bedrock to a suite of authigenic phases similar to those observed on the Martian surface. For the detection of the secondary phases, XRD and SEM‐EDS were found to be superior to NIR for detecting and characterizing zeolites. The discrepancy in detectability of zeolites between NIR and XRD/SEM‐EDS might indicate that zeolites on Mars are more abundant than previously thought.  相似文献   

16.
Abstract— Large impact events like the one that formed the Chicxulub crater deliver significant amounts of heat that subsequently drive hydrothermal activity. We report on numerical modeling of Chicxulub crater cooling with and without the presence of water. The model inputs are constrained by data from borehole samples and seismic, magnetic, and gravity surveys. Model results indicate that initial hydrothermal activity was concentrated beneath the annular trough as well as in the permeable breccias overlying the melt. As the system evolved, the melt gradually cooled and became permeable, shifting the bulk of the hydrothermal activity to the center of the crater. The temperatures and fluxes of fluid and vapor derived from the model are consistent with alteration patterns observed in the available borehole samples. The lifetime of the hydrothermal system ranges from 1.5 to 2.3 Myr depending on assumed permeability. The long lifetimes are due to conduction being the dominant mechanism of heat transport in most of the crater, and significant amounts of heat being delivered to the near‐surface by hydrothermal upwellings. The long duration of the hydrothermal system at Chicxulub should have provided ample time for colonization by thermophiles and/or hyperthermophiles. Because habitable conditions should have persisted for longer time in the central regions of the crater than on the periphery, a search for prospective biomarkers is most likely to be fruitful in samples from that region.  相似文献   

17.
Martian meteorite Elephant Moraine A79001 (EET 79001) has received considerable attention for the unusual composition of its shock melt glass, particularly its enrichment in sulfur relative to the host shergottite. It has been hypothesized that Martian regolith was incorporated into the melt or, conversely, that the S‐enrichment stems from preferential melting of sulfide minerals in the host rock during shock. We present results from an electron microprobe study of EET 79001 including robust measurements of major and trace elements in the shock melt glass (S, Cl, Ni, Co, V, and Sc) and minerals in the host rock (Ni, Co, and V). We find that both S and major element abundances can be reconciled with previous hypotheses of regolith incorporation and/or excess sulfide melt. However, trace element characteristics of the shock melt glass, particularly Ni and Cl abundances relative to S, cannot be explained either by the incorporation of regolith or sulfide minerals. We therefore propose an alternative hypothesis whereby, prior to shock melting, portions of EET 79001 experienced acid‐sulfate leaching of the mesostasis, possibly groundmass feldspar, and olivine, producing Al‐sulfates that were later incorporated into the shock melt, which then quenched to glass. Such activity in the Martian near‐surface is supported by observations from the Mars Exploration Rovers and laboratory experiments. Our preimpact alteration model, accompanied by the preferential survival of olivine and excess melting of feldspar during impact, explains the measured trace element abundances better than either the regolith incorporation or excess sulfide melting hypothesis does.  相似文献   

18.
Throughout the northern equatorial region of Mars, extensive areas have been uniformly stripped, roughly to a constant depth. These terrains vary widely in their relative ages. A model is described here to explain this phenomenon as reflecting the vertical distribution of H2O liquid and ice in the crust. Under present conditions the Martian equatorial regions are stratified in terms of the stability of water ice and liquid water. This arises because the temperature of the upper 1 or 2 km is below the melting point of ice and liquid is stable only at greater depth. It is suggested here that during planetary outgassing earlier in Martian history H2O was injected into the upper few kilometers of the crust by subsurface and surface volcanic eruption and lateral migration of the liquid and vapor. As a result, a discontinuity in the physical state of materials developed in the Martian crust coincident with the depth of H2O liquid-ice phase boundary. Material above the boundary remained pristine; material below underwent diagenetic alteration and cementation. Subsequently, sections of the ice-laden zone were erosionally stripped by processes including eolian deflation, gravitational slump and collapse, and fluvial transport due to geothermal heating and melting of the ice. The youngest plains which display this uniform stripping may provide a minimum stratigraphic age for the major period of outgassing of the planet. Viking results suggest that the total amount of H2O outgassed is less than half that required to fill the ice layer, hence any residual liquid eventually found itself in the upper permafrost zone or stored in the polar regions. Erosion stopped at the old liquid-ice interface due to increased resistance of subjacent material and/or because melting of ice was required to mobilize the debris. Water ice may remain in uneroded regions, the overburden of debris preventing its escape to the atmosphere. Numerous morphological examples shown in Viking and Mariner 9 images suggest interaction of impact, volcanic, and gravitational processes with the ice-laden layer. Finally, volcanic eruptions into ice produces a highly oxidized friable amorphous rock, palagonite. Based on spectral reflectance properties, these materials may provide the best analog to Martian surface materials. They are easily eroded, providing vast amounts of eolian debris, and have been suggested (Toulmin et al., 1977) as possible source rocks for the materials observed at the Viking landing sites.  相似文献   

19.
Recent studies have demonstrated that terrestrial subaqueous basalts and hyaloclastites are suitable microbial habitats. During subaqueous basaltic volcanism, glass is produced by the quenching of basaltic magma upon contact with water. On Earth, microbes rapidly begin colonizing the glassy surfaces along fractures and cracks that have been exposed to water. Microbial colonization of basaltic glass leads to the alteration and modification of the rocks and produces characteristic granular and/or tubular bioalteration textures. Infilling of the alteration textures by minerals such as phyllosilicates, zeolites and titanite may enable their preservation through geologic time. Basaltic rocks are a major component of the Martian crust and are widespread on other solar system bodies. A variety of lines of evidence strongly suggests the long-term existence of abundant liquid water on ancient Mars. Recent orbiter, lander and rover missions have found evidence for the presence of transient liquid water on Mars, perhaps persisting to the present day. Many other solar system bodies, notably Europa, Enceladus and other icy satellites, may contain (or have once hosted) subaqueous basaltic glasses. The record of terrestrial glass bioalteration has been interpreted to extend as far back as ∼3.5 billion years ago and is widespread in oceanic crust and its metamorphic equivalents. The terrestrial record of glass bioalteration strongly suggests that glassy or formerly glassy basaltic rocks on extraterrestrial bodies that have interacted with liquid water are high-value targets for astrobiological exploration.  相似文献   

20.
Viking images of Martian craters with rampart-bordered ejecta deposits reveal distinct impact ejecta morphology when compared to that associated with similar-sized craters on the Moon and Mercury. Topographic control of distribution, lobate and terraced margins, cross-cutting relationships, and multiple stratigraphic units are evidence for ejecta emplacement by surface flowage. It is suggested that target water explosively vaporized during impact alters initial ballistic trajectories of ejecta and produces surging flow emplacement. The dispersal of particulates during a series of controlled steam explosions generated by interaction of a thermite melt with water has been experimentally modeled. Preliminary results indicate that the mass ratio of water to melt and confining pressure control the degree of melt fragmentation (ejecta particle size) and the energy and mode of melt-ejecta dispersal. Study of terrestrial, lobate, volcanic ejecta produced by steam-blast explosions reveals that particle size and vapor to clast volume ratio are primary parameters characterizing the emplacement mechanism and deposit morphology. Martian crater ramparts are formed when ejecta surges lose fluidizing vapors and transported particles are deposited en masse. This deposition results from flow yield strength increasing above shear stress due to interparticle friction.  相似文献   

设为首页 | 免责声明 | 关于勤云 | 加入收藏

Copyright©北京勤云科技发展有限公司  京ICP备09084417号