CRISM: Iron-magnesium clays in Libya Montes

This image is located right along the rim of the Isidis impact basin, at the foot of Libya Montes. Here we see the interaction between olivine (red) and iron-magnesium phyllosilicates (green). The group of olivine minerals is known to have the simplest crystalline structure of all the silicate minerals and form at very high temperatures. Phyllosilicates are clay and clay-like minerals formed by chemical reactions with liquid water. They are very thin (microscopic) stacked layer crystal forms, also called sheet silicates…. [More at link]