Dataset Information

Mars Methane Sources in Northwestern Gale Crater Inferred From Back Trajectory Modeling.

ABSTRACT: During its first seven years of operation, the Sample Analysis at Mars Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS) on board the Curiosity rover has detected seven methane spikes above a low background abundance in Gale crater. The methane spikes are likely sourced by surface emission within or around Gale crater. Here, we use inverse Lagrangian modeling techniques to identify upstream emission regions on the Martian surface for these methane spikes at an unprecedented spatial resolution. Inside Gale crater, the northwestern crater floor casts the strongest influence on the detections. Outside Gale crater, the upstream regions common to all the methane spikes extend toward the north. The contrasting results from two consecutive TLS methane measurements performed on the same sol point to an active emission site to the west or the southwest of the Curiosity rover on the northwestern crater floor. The observed spike magnitude and frequency also favor emission sites on the northwestern crater floor, unless there are fast methane removal mechanisms at work, or either the methane spikes of TLS or the non-detections of ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter cannot be trusted.

SUBMITTER: Luo Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9285602 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Mars Methane Sources in Northwestern Gale Crater Inferred From Back Trajectory Modeling.

Luo Y Y Mischna M A MA Lin J C JC Fasoli B B Cai X X Yung Y L YL

Earth and space science (Hoboken, N.J.) 20211115 11

During its first seven years of operation, the Sample Analysis at Mars Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS) on board the <i>Curiosity</i> rover has detected seven methane spikes above a low background abundance in Gale crater. The methane spikes are likely sourced by surface emission within or around Gale crater. Here, we use inverse Lagrangian modeling techniques to identify upstream emission regions on the Martian surface for these methane spikes at an unprecedented spatial resolution. Inside Gale ...[more]

PMID: 35860450

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Project description:The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity has documented a section of fluvio-lacustrine strata at Yellowknife Bay (YKB), an embayment on the floor of Gale crater, approximately 500 m east of the Bradbury landing site. X-ray diffraction (XRD) data and evolved gas analysis (EGA) data from the CheMin and SAM instruments show that two powdered mudstone samples (named John Klein and Cumberland) drilled from the Sheepbed member of this succession contain up to ~20 wt% clay minerals. A trioctahedral smectite, likely a ferrian saponite, is the only clay mineral phase detected in these samples. Smectites of the two samples exhibit different 001 spacing under the low partial pressures of H2O inside the CheMin instrument (relative humidity <1%). Smectite interlayers in John Klein collapsed sometime between clay mineral formation and the time of analysis to a basal spacing of 10 Å, but largely remain open in the Cumberland sample with a basal spacing of ~13.2 Å. Partial intercalation of Cumberland smectites by metal-hydroxyl groups, a common process in certain pedogenic and lacustrine settings on Earth, is our favored explanation for these differences. The relatively low abundances of olivine and enriched levels of magnetite in the Sheepbed mudstone, when compared with regional basalt compositions derived from orbital data, suggest that clay minerals formed with magnetite in situ via aqueous alteration of olivine. Mass-balance calculations are permissive of such a reaction. Moreover, the Sheepbed mudstone mineral assemblage is consistent with minimal inputs of detrital clay minerals from the crater walls and rim. Early diagenetic fabrics suggest clay mineral formation prior to lithification. Thermodynamic modeling indicates that the production of authigenic magnetite and saponite at surficial temperatures requires a moderate supply of oxidants, allowing circum-neutral pH. The kinetics of olivine alteration suggest the presence of fluids for thousands to hundreds of thousands of years. Mineralogical evidence of the persistence of benign aqueous conditions at YKB for extended periods indicates a potentially habitable environment where life could establish itself. Mediated oxidation of Fe2+ in olivine to Fe3+ in magnetite, and perhaps in smectites provided a potential energy source for organisms.

Dataset Information

Mars Methane Sources in Northwestern Gale Crater Inferred From Back Trajectory Modeling.

Publications

Mars Methane Sources in Northwestern Gale Crater Inferred From Back Trajectory Modeling.

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