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Morris RV, Vaniman DT, Blake DF, et al. Silicic volcanism on Mars evidenced by tridymite in high-SiO2 sedimentary rock at Gale crater. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016;113(26):7071-6doi: 10.1073/pnas.1607098113.
Morris, R. V., Vaniman, D. T., Blake, D. F., Gellert, R., Chipera, S. J., Rampe, E. B., Ming, D. W., Morrison, S. M., Downs, R. T., Treiman, A. H., Yen, A. S., Grotzinger, J. P., Achilles, C. N., Bristow, T. F., Crisp, J. A., Des Marais, D. J., Farmer, J. D., Fendrich, K. V., Frydenvang, J., Graff, T. G., Morookian, J. M., Stolper, E. M., & Schwenzer, S. P. (2016). Silicic volcanism on Mars evidenced by tridymite in high-SiO2 sedimentary rock at Gale crater. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113(26), 7071-6. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607098113
Morris, Richard V, et al. "Silicic volcanism on Mars evidenced by tridymite in high-SiO2 sedimentary rock at Gale crater." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America vol. 113,26 (2016): 7071-6. doi: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607098113
Morris RV, Vaniman DT, Blake DF, Gellert R, Chipera SJ, Rampe EB, Ming DW, Morrison SM, Downs RT, Treiman AH, Yen AS, Grotzinger JP, Achilles CN, Bristow TF, Crisp JA, Des Marais DJ, Farmer JD, Fendrich KV, Frydenvang J, Graff TG, Morookian JM, Stolper EM, Schwenzer SP. Silicic volcanism on Mars evidenced by tridymite in high-SiO2 sedimentary rock at Gale crater. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Jun 28;113(26):7071-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1607098113. Epub 2016 Jun 13. PMID: 27298370; PMCID: PMC4932983.
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Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Jun 28;113(26):7071-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1607098113. Epub 2016 Jun 13.

Silicic volcanism on Mars evidenced by tridymite in high-SiO2 sedimentary rock at Gale crater.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Richard V Morris, David T Vaniman, David F Blake, Ralf Gellert, Steve J Chipera, Elizabeth B Rampe, Douglas W Ming, Shaunna M Morrison, Robert T Downs, Allan H Treiman, Albert S Yen, John P Grotzinger, Cherie N Achilles, Thomas F Bristow, Joy A Crisp, David J Des Marais, Jack D Farmer, Kim V Fendrich, Jens Frydenvang, Trevor G Graff, John-Michael Morookian, Edward M Stolper, Susanne P Schwenzer

Affiliations

  1. NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058; [email protected] [email protected].
  2. Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719;
  3. NASA Ames Research Center, Moffitt Field, CA 94035;
  4. Department of Physics, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada N1G 2W1;
  5. Chesapeake Energy, Oklahoma City, OK 73118;
  6. Aerodyne Industries, Houston, TX 77058;
  7. NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058;
  8. Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721;
  9. Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX 77058;
  10. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109;
  11. Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125; [email protected] [email protected].
  12. School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287;
  13. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark;
  14. Jacobs, Houston, TX 77058;
  15. Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125;
  16. Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX 77058; Department of Environment, Earth and Ecosystems, The Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, United Kingdom.

PMID: 27298370 PMCID: PMC4932983 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1607098113

Abstract

Tridymite, a low-pressure, high-temperature (>870 °C) SiO2 polymorph, was detected in a drill sample of laminated mudstone (Buckskin) at Marias Pass in Gale crater, Mars, by the Chemistry and Mineralogy X-ray diffraction instrument onboard the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity The tridymitic mudstone has ∼40 wt.% crystalline and ∼60 wt.% X-ray amorphous material and a bulk composition with ∼74 wt.% SiO2 (Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer analysis). Plagioclase (∼17 wt.% of bulk sample), tridymite (∼14 wt.%), sanidine (∼3 wt.%), cation-deficient magnetite (∼3 wt.%), cristobalite (∼2 wt.%), and anhydrite (∼1 wt.%) are the mudstone crystalline minerals. Amorphous material is silica-rich (∼39 wt.% opal-A and/or high-SiO2 glass and opal-CT), volatile-bearing (16 wt.% mixed cation sulfates, phosphates, and chlorides-perchlorates-chlorates), and has minor TiO2 and Fe2O3T oxides (∼5 wt.%). Rietveld refinement yielded a monoclinic structural model for a well-crystalline tridymite, consistent with high formation temperatures. Terrestrial tridymite is commonly associated with silicic volcanism, and detritus from such volcanism in a "Lake Gale" catchment environment can account for Buckskin's tridymite, cristobalite, feldspar, and any residual high-SiO2 glass. These cogenetic detrital phases are possibly sourced from the Gale crater wall/rim/central peak. Opaline silica could form during diagenesis from high-SiO2 glass, as amorphous precipitated silica, or as a residue of acidic leaching in the sediment source region or at Marias Pass. The amorphous mixed-cation salts and oxides and possibly the crystalline magnetite (otherwise detrital) are primary precipitates and/or their diagenesis products derived from multiple infiltrations of aqueous solutions having variable compositions, temperatures, and acidities. Anhydrite is post lithification fracture/vein fill.

Keywords: Gale crater; Mars; lake; tridymite; volcanism

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