Tag Archives: jarosite

HiRISE: Possible jarosite on a plateau in Nili Fossae

Posted on July 31, 2019 by rburnham

Possible jarosite on a plateau in Nili Fossae. Recent analyses of CRISM data have discovered jarosite in this portion of the trough wall, possibly within a previously identified aluminum clay unit. Jarosite is a sulfate mineral also detected by the … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Colorful Mawrth Vallis

Posted on March 7, 2019 by rburnham

Mawrth Vallis is a place on Mars that has fascinated scientists because of the clays and other hydrated minerals detected from orbit. In this image, the enhanced black colors are most likely basaltic sands and rocks, while the green, yellow, … Continue reading →

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Potassium-argon dating of Mojave2 sample by Curiosity finds Amazonian-age jarosite

Posted on February 7, 2018 by rburnham

On the basis of studies of impact crater densities on Mars’s surface, scientists have separated the Red Planet’s geologic history into three broad divisions, the most recent of which is the Amazonian epoch. Because of the lack of available samples … Continue reading →

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HiRISE: Jarosite in Noctis Labyrinthus

Posted on January 29, 2016 by rburnham

This image shows the western side of an elongated pit depression in eastern Noctis Labyrinthus. Along the pit’s upper wall is a light-toned layered deposit. CRISM spectra extracted from the light-toned deposit are consistent with the mineral jarosite, which is … Continue reading →

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Hunt for signs of Mars life might erase them

Posted on February 20, 2015 by rburnham

Scientists have discovered that the mineral jarosite breaks down organic compounds when it is flash-heated… Jarosite is an iron sulphate and it is one of several minerals that NASA’s Curiosity rover is searching for, as its presence could indicate ancient … Continue reading →

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Curiosity takes second bite of Mt. Sharp

Posted on February 6, 2015 by rburnham

The second bite of a Martian mountain taken by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover hints at long-ago effects of water that was more acidic than any evidenced in the rover’s first taste of Mount Sharp, a layered rock record of ancient … Continue reading →

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Could Mars gypsum preserve microbes?

Posted on July 24, 2014 by rburnham

Sulfate minerals, such as calcium sulfates (gypsum), are common in areas on Mars, having been documented with data from satellites, landers, and rovers. Could these minerals also preserve the remains of ancient life, ask Kathleen Counter Benison and Francis Karmanocky III … Continue reading →

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“Blueberries” could date when Meridiani rocks were last wet

Posted on June 20, 2012 by rburnham

The relative amount of three chemical elements contained in Martian “blueberries” might offer scientists a way to date when these spherules were last inundated with water, according to recent research. Rich in the iron mineral hematite, blueberries are small concretions, … Continue reading →

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Jarosite: key to ancient temperatures?

Posted on October 21, 2011 by rburnham

The water-related mineral jarosite is occurs both on Earth and in sediments on Meridiani Planum, Mars. Scientists have found that by measuring the isotope ratio of argon-40 to argon-39 in the rock — a technique that can be applied to … Continue reading →

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