Tag Archives: CRISM

Scientists detect impact glass on Martian surface

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has detected deposits of glass within impact craters on Mars. Though formed in the searing heat of a violent impact, such deposits might provide a delicate window into the possibility of past life on the … Continue reading

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CRISM: Phyllosilicates near Syrtis Major

This image shows a site near Syrtis Major, an expansive volcanic structure. This CRISM image displays olivine-rich rocks in red and rocks rich in iron-magnesium- containing clay-like minerals called phyllosilicates in various other colors. Olivine is present in most places … Continue reading

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CRISM: Olivine & phylosilicates near Syrtis Major

This image shows a site near Syrtis Major, an expansive volcanic structure. This CRISM image displays olivine-rich rocks in red and rocks rich in iron/magnesium-containing clay-like minerals called phyllosilicates in various other colors. Olivine is present in most places on … Continue reading

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CRISM: Fe/Mg phyllosilicates near Mawrth Vallis

This image shows iron/ magnesium-bearing hydrated minerals called phyllosilicates in a white/red color. 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. The … Continue reading

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CRISM: Iron-magnesium clays at Isidis Basin rim

This image is located right along the rim of the Isidis impact basin, at the foot of Libya Montes. Here we see iron-magnesium phyllosilicates (cyan). Phyllosilicates are clay and clay-like minerals formed by chemical reactions with liquid water. They are … Continue reading

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CRISM: Hydrated minerals near Nili Fossae

This image shows a site near Nili Fossae, a group of long, narrow tectonic depressions called graben. Mars’ crust is mostly made up of igneous rock and mafic materials, shown here with red denoting olivine. There are also aqueously-altered minerals … Continue reading

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CRISM: Comet nucleus in infrared

The Compact Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) observed comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring as the comet sped close to Mars on Oct. 19. CRISM recorded imaging data in 107 different wavelengths, showing the inner part of the cloud of dust, … Continue reading

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CRISM: Carbonate minerals near Huygens Crater

Here we see Fe/Ca carbonates (pink) along the southeastern wall of an unnamed crater’s central pit. Because these carbonates are seen in the central pit, it is thought that they were formed in the subsurface (underground) but then brought up … Continue reading

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CRISM: From the surface up

These CRISM images are mostly used to study the different gases and aerosols within Mars’s atmosphere, but they also give a great perspective on how thin the atmosphere really is. Surface features from the bottom of the image can be … Continue reading

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CRISM: Extensional features from the horizon

The image shows a limb (meaning a view of the horizon) of the planet where the surface can be seen at the bottom, the atmosphere in the middle, and space is above in black. In order to make these observations, … Continue reading

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