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Evidence of Sulfate‐Rich Fluid Alteration in Jezero Crater Floor, Mars

2024; Wiley; Volume: 129; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1029/2023je007989

2169-9100

Sandra Siljeström, Andrew D. Czaja, Andrea Corpolongo, E. L. Berger, An Li, Emily Cardarelli, William Abbey, Sanford A. Asher, L. W. Beegle, Kathleen C. Benison, R. Bhartia, Benjamin L. Bleefeld, Aaron Burton, Sergei V. Bykov, B. C. Clark, Lauren DeFlores, B. L. Ehlmann, Teresa Fornaro, Allie Fox, Felipe Gómez, K. P. Hand, Nikole C. Haney, Keyron Hickman‐Lewis, William F. Hug, Samara Imbeah, Ryan S. Jakubek, Linda C. Kah, L. Kivrak, Carina Lee, Yang Liu, Jesús Martínez‐Frías, F. M. McCubbin, M. E. Minitti, Kelsey R. Moore, R. V. Morris, Jorge I. Núñez, Jeffrey T. Osterhout, Yu Yu Phua, Nicolas Randazzo, Joseph Razzell Hollis, Carolina Rodriguez Sánchez-Vahamonde, Ryan D. Roppel, Eva L. Scheller, Mark A. Sephton, Shiv K. Sharma, Sunanda Sharma, Kim Steadman, A. Steele, Michael M. Tice, Kyle Uckert, S. J. VanBommel, Amy J. Williams, Kenneth H. Williford, Katherine Winchell, Megan Wu, Anastasia Yanchilina, María‐Paz Zorzano,

Spaceflight effects on biology

Abstract Sulfur plays a major role in martian geochemistry and sulfate minerals are important repositories of water. However, their hydration states on Mars are poorly constrained. Therefore, understanding the hydration and distribution of sulfate minerals on Mars is important for understanding its geologic, hydrologic, and atmospheric evolution as well as its habitability potential. NASA's Perseverance rover is currently exploring the Noachian‐age Jezero crater, which hosts a fan‐delta system associated with a paleolake. The crater floor includes two igneous units (the Séítah and Máaz formations), both of which contain evidence of later alteration by fluids including sulfate minerals. Results from the rover instruments Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemistry and Planetary Instrument for X‐ray Lithochemistry reveal the presence of a mix of crystalline and amorphous hydrated Mg‐sulfate minerals (both MgSO 4 ·[3–5]H 2 O and possible MgSO 4 ·H 2 O), and anhydrous Ca‐sulfate minerals. The sulfate phases within each outcrop may have formed from single or multiple episodes of water activity, although several depositional events seem likely for the different units in the crater floor. Textural and chemical evidence suggest that the sulfate minerals most likely precipitated from a low temperature sulfate‐rich fluid of moderate pH. The identification of approximately four waters puts a lower constraint on the hydration state of sulfate minerals in the shallow subsurface, which has implications for the martian hydrological budget. These sulfate minerals are key samples for future Mars sample return.