Characterizing Hydrated Sulfates and Altered Phases in Jezero Crater Fan and Floor Geologic Units With SHERLOC on Mars 2020

The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover has explored fluvio‐lacustrine sedimentary rocks within Jezero crater. Prior work showed that igneous crater floor Séítah and Máaz formations have mafic mineralogy with alteration phases that indicate multiple episodes of aqueous alteration. In this work, we extend t...

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Published in:Journal of geophysical research. Planets 2024-07, Vol.129 (7), p.n/a
Main Authors: Phua, Yu Yu, Ehlmann, Bethany L., Siljeström, Sandra, Czaja, Andrew D., Beck, Pierre, Connell, Stephanie, Wiens, Roger C., Jakubek, Ryan S., Williams, Rebecca M. E., Zorzano, Maria‐Paz, Minitti, Michelle E., Pascuzzo, Alyssa C., Hand, Kevin P., Bhartia, Rohit, Kah, Linda C., Mandon, Lucia, Razzell Hollis, Joseph, Scheller, Eva L., Sharma, Sunanda, Steele, Andrew, Uckert, Kyle, Williford, Kenneth H., Yanchilina, Anastasia G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
anhydrite
Aridity
Calcium
Cations
Environmental conditions
fan delta
Geologic units
Habitability
hydrated sulfates
Hydration
Jezero Crater
Luminescence
Magnesium sulfate
Mars
Mars 2020
Mars craters
Mineralogy
Minerals
Raman spectroscopy
sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rocks
Sediments
SHERLOC
Spectroscopy
sulfate
Sulfates
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Summary:The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover has explored fluvio‐lacustrine sedimentary rocks within Jezero crater. Prior work showed that igneous crater floor Séítah and Máaz formations have mafic mineralogy with alteration phases that indicate multiple episodes of aqueous alteration. In this work, we extend the analyses of hydration to targets in the Jezero western fan delta, using data from the SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals) Raman spectrometer. Spectral features, for example, sulfate and hydration peak positions and shapes, vary within, and across the crater floor and western fan. The proportion of targets with hydration associated with sulfates was approximately equal in the crater floor and the western fan. All hydrated targets in the crater floor and upper fan showed bimodal hydration peaks at ∼3,200 and ∼3,400 cm−1. The sulfate symmetric stretch at ∼1,000 cm−1 coupled with a hydration peak at ∼3,400 cm−1 indicate that MgSO4·nH2O (2 
ISSN:2169-9097
2169-9100
2169-9100
DOI:10.1029/2023JE008251