Pooling of water and the formation of evaporite minerals in the martian sub-surface

Needham, A.; Abel, R. L.; Tomkinson, T.; Johnson, D. and Grady, M. M. (2011). Pooling of water and the formation of evaporite minerals in the martian sub-surface. In: 42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 7-11 Mar 2011, Houston, TX, USA.

URL: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2011/pdf/2148...

Abstract

Fluids in a near-surface environment on Mars were responsible for the formation and alteration of many minerals in the nakhlite meteorites. Halite is one of a range of such secondary minerals that includes clays, carbonates, sulphates, oxides, and iron oxy-hydroxides which may have formed at different times, under different fluid flow regimes (groundwater, hydrothermal, crater lake), experiencing a range of water-rock ratios, evaporative histories, and varying degrees of interaction with the atmosphere and bedrock.

We present here the results of a combined computed tomography and electron microscopy investigation focusing on the formation of halite in the Nakhla meteorite.

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