The mineralogy of Mars is the chemical composition of rocks and

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debri ...

that encompass the surface of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

. Various orbital crafts have used

spectroscopic Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets the electromagnetic spectra that result from the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter as a function of the wavelength or frequency of the radiation. Matter wa ...

methods to identify the signature of some

minerals In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed ...

. The planetary landers performed concrete

chemical analysis Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to separate, identify, and quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute the entire analysis or be combined with another method. Separati ...

of the

in rocks to further identify and confirm the presence of other minerals. The only samples of Martian rocks that are on

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

are in the form of meteorites. The elemental and atmospheric composition along with planetary conditions is essential in knowing what minerals can be formed from these base parts.

Mineral composition

The surface

geology of Mars The geology of Mars is the scientific study of the surface, crust, and interior of the planet Mars. It emphasizes the composition, structure, history, and physical processes that shape the planet. It is analogous to the field of terrestrial geo ...

is somewhere between the

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predo ...

rocks on Earth. This led to the formation of minerals similar to what is found on Earth. The presence of iron oxide gives the surface the “rust” color that is associated with Mars, the Red Planet. The presence of

perchlorate A perchlorate is a chemical compound containing the perchlorate ion, . The majority of perchlorates are commercially produced salts. They are mainly used as oxidizers for pyrotechnic devices and to control static electricity in food packaging. Per ...

, in high percentages, forms highly

saline soils Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil; the process of increasing the salt content is known as salinization. Salts occur naturally within soils and water. Salination can be caused by natural processes such as mineral weathering or by the ...

, which could produce liquid water.Head, J.W., Marchant, D.R., and Kreslavsky, M.A., 2008, Formation of gullies on Mars: Link to recent climate history and insulation microenvironments implicate surface water flow origin: PNAS, vol. 105, p. 13258-13263 Chemical alteration of Martian rocks into

carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid (H2CO3), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word ''carbonate'' may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate ...

and

phyllosilicate Silicate minerals are rock-forming minerals made up of silicate groups. They are the largest and most important class of minerals and make up approximately 90 percent of Earth's crust. In mineralogy, silica (silicon dioxide, ) is usually consid ...

minerals occurred earlier in Mars history when water was present in large quantities.Mustard, J.F., Pelkey, S.M., Ehlmann, B.L., Roach, L., et al., 2008, Hydrated silicate minerals on Mars observed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter CRISM instrument: Nature, Vol. 454, p. 305-309. Orbital instruments and Landers not only identified new minerals but in some cases also confirmed the presence of minerals detected by the others. ;Phyllosilicates * Kaolinite (} *

Montmorillonite Montmorillonite is a very soft phyllosilicate group of minerals that form when they precipitate from water solution as microscopic crystals, known as clay. It is named after Montmorillon in France. Montmorillonite, a member of the smectite gro ...

() * Mica () * Serpentine () ;Felsic minerals *

Quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical ...

() *

Feldspar Feldspars are a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagioclase'' (sodium-calcium) felds ...

() *

Maskelynite Maskelynite is a glassy material found in some meteorites and meteorite impact craters. Typical samples are similar in composition to plagioclase feldspar, and revert to that mineral when melted and recrystallized. It was named after British geolog ...

;Salts *

Gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywal ...

() *Perchlorate () ;Carbonates (Ca rich) *

Ikaite Ikaite is the mineral name for the hexahydrate of calcium carbonate, CaCO3·6H2O. Ikaite tends to form very steep or spiky pyramidal crystals, often radially arranged, of varied sizes from thumbnail size aggregates to gigantic salient spurs. It ...

() *

Aragonite Aragonite is a carbonate mineral, one of the three most common naturally occurring crystal forms of calcium carbonate, (the other forms being the minerals calcite and vaterite). It is formed by biological and physical processes, including pre ...

() * Ankerite () ;Sulfates (Ca/Mg rich) *

Jarosite Jarosite is a basic hydrous sulfate of potassium and ferric iron (Fe-III) with a chemical formula of KFe3(SO4)2(OH)6. This sulfate mineral is formed in ore deposits by the oxidation of iron sulfides. Jarosite is often produced as a byproduct du ...

() *Other undetermined ;Mafic minerals *

Olivine The mineral olivine () is a magnesium iron silicate with the chemical formula . It is a type of nesosilicate or orthosilicate. The primary component of the Earth's upper mantle, it is a common mineral in Earth's subsurface, but weathers quickl ...

() * Pyroxene () * Augite () *

Pigeonite Pigeonite is a mineral in the clinopyroxene subgroup of the pyroxene group. It has a general formula of . The calcium cation fraction can vary from 5% to 25%, with iron and magnesium making up the rest of the cations. Pigeonite crystallizes in th ...

() *

Clinopyroxene The pyroxenes (commonly abbreviated to ''Px'') are a group of important rock-forming inosilicate minerals found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. Pyroxenes have the general formula , where X represents calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), iron (Fe I ...

;Iron oxides * Hematite () *

Magnetite Magnetite is a mineral and one of the main iron ores, with the chemical formula Fe2+Fe3+2O4. It is one of the oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetized to become a permanent magnet itself. With th ...

() *

Ilmenite Ilmenite is a titanium-iron oxide mineral with the idealized formula . It is a weakly magnetic black or steel-gray solid. Ilmenite is the most important ore of titanium and the main source of titanium dioxide, which is used in paints, printing ...

()

Orbital instruments

Orbital crafts sent to Mars provided data on surface geology mostly through spectroscopy. This data is used to determine possible minerals on the surface, and the types of instruments Landers would need in order to narrow down those minerals. Mars Global Surveyor Launched in 1996, it used the

Mars Orbiter Camera The Mars Orbiter Camera and Mars Observer Camera (MOC) were scientific instruments on board the Mars Observer and Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. The camera was built by Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) for NASA and the cost of the whole MOC s ...

(MOC), Mars Orbital Laser Altimeter, and

Thermal Emission Spectrometer The Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) is an instrument on board Mars Global Surveyor. TES collects two types of data, hyperspectral thermal infrared data from 6 to 50 micrometres (μm) and bolometric visible-NIR (0.3 to 2.9 μm) measurements. T ...

to show layering on the surface, presence of surface ice, and the mineral hematite. The presence of ice over the surface is essential to understanding why certain water bearing minerals are on Mars. Mars Odyssey Launched in 2001, although it carried multiple instruments only

Thermal Emission Imaging System The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) is a camera on board the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter. It images Mars in the visible and infrared parts of the electromagnetic spectrum in order to determine the thermal properties of the surface and to ...

was designed to look at minerals. This allowed it to detect the presence of quartz, olivine, and hematite. Mars Express Launched in 2003 the Visible and Infrared Mineralogical Mapping Spectrometer (OMEGA) observed montmorillonite and localized phyllosilicate minerals. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Launched in 2005 this orbiter carried multiple instruments which found the mineralogy to be dominated by

mafic A mafic mineral or rock is a silicate mineral or igneous rock rich in magnesium and iron. Most mafic minerals are dark in color, and common rock-forming mafic minerals include olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, and biotite. Common mafic rocks incl ...

minerals such as olivine, mica, pyroxene and smectite clays such as kaolinite. The

HiRISE High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is a camera on board the '' Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' which has been orbiting and studying Mars since 2006. The 65 kg (143 lb), US$40 million instrument was built under the direction ...

was used in determining the landing site for the

Phoenix Lander ''Phoenix'' was an uncrewed space probe that landed on the surface of Mars on May 25, 2008, and operated until November 2, 2008. ''Phoenix'' was operational on Mars for sols ( days). Its instruments were used to assess the local habitabilit ...

. Using the

CTX (camera) ''Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter'' (MRO) is a spacecraft designed to study the geology and climate of Mars, provide reconnaissance of future landing sites, and relay data from surface missions back to Earth. It was launched on August 12, 2005, an ...

and

CRISM The Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) is a visible-infrared spectrometer aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter searching for mineralogic indications of past and present water on Mars. The CRISM instrument team compris ...

instruments it was able to find phyllosilicate minerals, carbonate minerals, and oxides. The

SHARAD Sharad/Sarath/Sharath ( sa, शरद्)is the autumn season or ritu in the Hindu calendar. It roughly corresponds to the western months of mid-September to mid-November. Sharad is preceded by Varsha and followed by Hemant. The Hindu calendar c ...

was used to detect carbonate dust layers.Byrne, S., 2009, The Polar Deposits of Mars: Annual Review Earth Planet Science, vol. 37 p.535-560.

Landers

To date, mankind's only way of carrying out experiments on the Martian surface has been to send probes to it. The successful missions are able to carry out experiments that directly observe the composition of Martian soil and rocks. They are the key to verifying our observations of minerals, although currently they are limited to the uppermost area of the surface. Mars Pathfinder Mars Exploration Rover Mission Launched in 2003 it contained two separate rovers the

Spirit rover Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

and the

Opportunity rover ''Opportunity'', also known as MER-B (Mars Exploration Rover – B) or MER-1, is a robotic rover that was active on Mars from 2004 until 2018. ''Opportunity'' was operational on Mars for sols (). Launched on July 7, 2003, as part of NASA's ...

. Spirit One of its instruments the Mössbauer spectrometer (MIMOS II) was designed to look at the iron bearing minerals on mars. It is responsible for determining the presence of many specific iron oxides, which give the planet a red color.Morris, R.V., et al., 2004, Mineralogy at Gusev Crater from the Mossbauer Spectrometer on the Spirit Rover: Science, vol. 305, p.833 Opportunity Using the Mini-TES it was able to detect the presence of some calcium and magnesium rich sulfate minerals. It also found feldspar, jarosite, pigeonite, clinopyroxene, and maskelynite along with detecting the presence of minerals found by the orbiters and other rovers.Christensen, P.R., et al., 2004, Mineralogy at Meridiani Planum from the Mini-TES Experiment on the Opportunity Rover: Science, vol. 306, p. 1733 Phoenix Lander Most noted for landing in a polar region, it carries the WCL ( Wet Chemistry Laboratory), which is a part of the MECA (Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer) instrument suite. It is responsible for identifying perchlorate salts, and various cations such as magnesium, sodium, calcium, and potassium. Along with TEGA it showed the presence of calcium carbonate, and minute traces of

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Ea ...

. Due to the analytical limits of MECA, the Phoenix was unable to determine the sulfur-based minerals detected by the Opportunity.Goetz, W., 2010, Phoenix on Mars: American Scientist, vol. 98, p. 40-47

References

{{Portal bar, Geology, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Science

Geology of Mars Planetary science

Mineral composition

Orbital instruments

Landers

See also

References