Tag Archives: phyllosilicates

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 … Continue reading

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CRISM: Phyllosilicate minerals at Isidis rim

This image is located right along the rim of the Isidis impact basin, at the foot of Libya Montes. Here we see the stratigraphy (layering) of different iron-magnesium phyllosilicates (white and pink). Phyllosilicates are clay and clay-like minerals formed by … Continue reading

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CRISM: Phyllosilicate minerals near Marwth Vallis

This image shows iron/magnesium-bearing hydrated minerals called phyllosilicates in a white/yellow 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 CRISM … Continue reading

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CRISM: Phyllosilicates in 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: Carbonate and phyllosilicates in Leighton Crater

This image shows alteration products in the central peak of Leighton Crater, a 65-kilometer diameter crater in the Tyrrhena Terra region of the southern highlands. This CRISM image reveals the presence of hydrated iron-magnesium phyllosilicate and carbonate minerals (shown in … Continue reading

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CRISM image: phyllosilicates in a Tyrrhena Terra crater rim

This image shows layers clays and clay-like minerals called phyllosilicates that are exposed in Tyrrhena Terra, part of Mars’ ancient, heavily-cratered southern highlands. Tyrrhena Terra is roughly 2,300 kilometers (1,430 miles) across, about the size of Earth’s continent of Antarctica! … Continue reading

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Ancient watery environments at Endeavour Crater

A new paper in Science from a team led by Raymond Arvidson (Washington University) and Steven Squyres (Cornell University) reports on water-related minerals found by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, which reached Endeavour Crater in August 2011. The paper is … Continue reading

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Hardened arteries in Nili and Nilo

Water seeping through conduits and cracks in the deep subsurface rocks of Nilosyrtis and Nili Fossae left behind minerals, like hard-water deposits that collect in the plumbing of your house. (Or cholesterol in your arteries.) Then as the softer rocks … Continue reading

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Changing times in Syrtis Major

Early Mars appears to have been highly unlike today, being warmer and wetter. To find out why and how the environment changed, scientists look for inflection points in Martian history, where one geological regime gives way to another. A report … Continue reading

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Mars mineral bonanza?

If you could go to only one location on Mars, where would you find the most complete assortment of known Martian minerals? A new report, with lead author Patrick Thollot (Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique, CNRS), in the Journal of … Continue reading

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