Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Squyres, S.W
• Arvidson, R.E
• Ruff, S
• Gellert, R
• Morris, R.V
• Ming, D.W
• Crumpler, L
• Farmer, J.D
• Marais, D.J. Des
• Yen, A
• McLennan, S.M
• Calvin, W
• Bell, J.F. III
• Clark, B.C
• Wang, A
• McCoy, T.J
• Schmidt, M.E
• de Souza, P.A. Jr

Titel

Detection of Silica-Rich Deposits on Mars

Ist Teil von

• Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), 2008-05, Vol.320 (5879), p.1063-1067

Ort / Verlag

Washington, DC: American Association for the Advancement of Science

Erscheinungsjahr

2008

Quelle

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Mineral deposits on the martian surface can elucidate ancient environmental conditions on the planet. Opaline silica deposits (as much as 91 weight percent SiO₂) have been found in association with volcanic materials by the Mars rover Spirit. The deposits are present both as light-toned soils and as bedrock. We interpret these materials to have formed under hydrothermal conditions and therefore to be strong indicators of a former aqueous environment. This discovery is important for understanding the past habitability of Mars because hydrothermal environments on Earth support thriving microbial ecosystems.