Minerals found in samples of material from Antarctica could give scientists a better understanding of the surface and subsurface environment of Mars.
Minerals found in samples of material from Antarctica could give scientists a better understanding of the surface and subsurface environment of Mars, and indicate locations of potentially habitable subsurface locations., lead author Elizabeth C. Sklute, a researcher at the Planetary Science Institute, explains that in Antarctica’s Taylor Glacier brine flows out from a subsurface body of water that has been isolated for possibly thousands of years.
After scientists from the University of Tennessee collected samples of intermittent brine discharge, Sklute’s team tested them using Fourier transform infrared, Raman, visible to near-infrared, and Mössbauer spectroscopies. “We took dry samples and we analyzed them by shining light of different wavelengths at them,” Sklute said. “Each wavelength of light makes the bonds and atoms in a sample react in a different way. Using them all together, it lets us figure out what is there.”
“Combining these techniques, we have determined the detailed mineralogical assemblage of this Mars analog site and we have learned that the deposit is mostly carbonates and that the red color of Bloody Falls is from the oxidation of dissolved ferrous ions as they are exposed to air, likely in combination with other ions,” the scientist explained.
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