Minerals (Aug 2023)
Manganese-Iron Phosphate Nodules at the Groken Site, Gale Crater, Mars
- Allan H. Treiman,
- Nina L. Lanza,
- Scott VanBommel,
- Jeff Berger,
- Roger Wiens,
- Thomas Bristow,
- Jeffrey Johnson,
- Melissa Rice,
- Reginald Hart,
- Amy McAdam,
- Patrick Gasda,
- Pierre-Yves Meslin,
- Albert Yen,
- Amy J. Williams,
- Ashwin Vasavada,
- David Vaniman,
- Valerie Tu,
- Michael Thorpe,
- Elizabeth D. Swanner,
- Christina Seeger,
- Susanne P. Schwenzer,
- Susanne Schröder,
- Elizabeth Rampe,
- William Rapin,
- Silas J. Ralston,
- Tanya Peretyazhko,
- Horton Newsom,
- Richard V. Morris,
- Douglas Ming,
- Matteo Loche,
- Stéphane Le Mouélic,
- Christopher House,
- Robert Hazen,
- John P. Grotzinger,
- Ralf Gellert,
- Olivier Gasnault,
- Woodward W. Fischer,
- Ari Essunfeld,
- Robert T. Downs,
- Gordon W. Downs,
- Erwin Dehouck,
- Laura J. Crossey,
- Agnes Cousin,
- Jade M. Comellas,
- Joanna V. Clark,
- Benton Clark,
- Steve Chipera,
- Gwenaël Caravaca,
- John Bridges,
- David F. Blake,
- Ryan Anderson
Affiliations
- Allan H. Treiman
- Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association, 3600 Bay Area Blvd., Houston, TX 77058, USA
- Nina L. Lanza
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
- Scott VanBommel
- McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
- Jeff Berger
- Jacobs—JETS, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA
- Roger Wiens
- Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
- Thomas Bristow
- NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA 94035, USA
- Jeffrey Johnson
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA
- Melissa Rice
- Geology Department, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA
- Reginald Hart
- Geology Department, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA
- Amy McAdam
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Patrick Gasda
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
- Pierre-Yves Meslin
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CNES, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, 31400 Toulouse, France
- Albert Yen
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
- Amy J. Williams
- Department of Geological Sciences, University of Florida, Gainsville, FL 32611, USA
- Ashwin Vasavada
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
- David Vaniman
- Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- Valerie Tu
- NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA
- Michael Thorpe
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
- Elizabeth D. Swanner
- Geological and Atmospheric Sciences, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
- Christina Seeger
- California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Susanne P. Schwenzer
- OUAstrobiology, Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK
- Susanne Schröder
- Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institute of Optical Sensor Systems, 12489 Berlin, Germany
- Elizabeth Rampe
- NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA
- William Rapin
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Toulouse, France
- Silas J. Ralston
- Jacobs—JETS, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA
- Tanya Peretyazhko
- Jacobs—JETS, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA
- Horton Newsom
- Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA
- Richard V. Morris
- NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA
- Douglas Ming
- NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA
- Matteo Loche
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CNES, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, 31400 Toulouse, France
- Stéphane Le Mouélic
- Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géosciences, UMR CNRS 6112, Nantes Université, Université d’Angers, 44322 Nantes, France
- Christopher House
- College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA 16802, USA
- Robert Hazen
- Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution, Washington, DC 20015, USA
- John P. Grotzinger
- California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Ralf Gellert
- Physics Department, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
- Olivier Gasnault
- Geology Department, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA
- Woodward W. Fischer
- California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Ari Essunfeld
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
- Robert T. Downs
- Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Gordon W. Downs
- Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Erwin Dehouck
- Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon: Terre, Planètes, Environnement, Université Lyon, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
- Laura J. Crossey
- Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA
- Agnes Cousin
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, CNES, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, 31400 Toulouse, France
- Jade M. Comellas
- Hawai’i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
- Joanna V. Clark
- California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Benton Clark
- Space Sciences Institute, Boulder, CO 80301, USA
- Steve Chipera
- Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- Gwenaël Caravaca
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie, Universite Paul Sabatier Toulouse III, Toulouse, France
- John Bridges
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
- David F. Blake
- NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA 94035, USA
- Ryan Anderson
- US Geological Survey, Astrogeology Center, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/min13091122
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 13,
no. 9
p. 1122
Abstract
The MSL Curiosity rover investigated dark, Mn-P-enriched nodules in shallow lacustrine/fluvial sediments at the Groken site in Glen Torridon, Gale Crater, Mars. Applying all relevant information from the rover, the nodules are interpreted as pseudomorphs after original crystals of vivianite, (Fe2+,Mn2+)3(PO4)2·8H2O, that cemented the sediment soon after deposition. The nodules appear to have flat faces and linear boundaries and stand above the surrounding siltstone. ChemCam LIBS (laser-induced breakdown spectrometry) shows that the nodules have MnO abundances approximately twenty times those of the surrounding siltstone matrix, contain little CaO, and have SiO2 and Al2O3 abundances similar to those of the siltstone. A deconvolution of APXS analyses of nodule-bearing targets, interpreted here as representing the nodules’ non-silicate components, shows high concentrations of MnO, P2O5, and FeO and a molar ratio P/Mn = 2. Visible to near-infrared reflectance of the nodules (by ChemCam passive and Mastcam multispectral) is dark and relatively flat, consistent with a mixture of host siltstone, hematite, and a dark spectrally bland material (like pyrolusite, MnO2). A drill sample at the site is shown to contain minimal nodule material, implying that analyses by the CheMin and SAM instruments do not constrain the nodules’ mineralogy or composition. The fact that the nodules contain P and Mn in a small molar integer ratio, P/Mn = 2, suggests that the nodules contained a stoichiometric Mn-phosphate mineral, in which Fe did (i.e., could) not substitute for Mn. The most likely such minerals are laueite and strunzite, Mn2+Fe3+2(PO4)2(OH)2·8H2O and –6H2O, respectively, which occur on Earth as alteration products of other Mn-bearing phosphates including vivianite. Vivianite is a common primary and diagenetic precipitate from low-oxygen, P-enriched waters. Calculated phase equilibria show Mn-bearing vivianite could be replaced by laueite or strunzite and then by hematite plus pyrolusite as the system became more oxidizing and acidic. These data suggest that the nodules originated as vivianite, forming as euhedral crystals in the sediment, enclosing sediment grains as they grew. After formation, the nodules were oxidized—first to laueite/strunzite yielding the diagnostic P/Mn ratio, and then to hematite plus an undefined Mn oxy-hydroxide (like pyrolusite). The limited occurrence of these Mn-Fe-P nodules, both in space and time (i.e., stratigraphic position), suggests a local control on their origin. By terrestrial analogies, it is possible that the nodules precipitated near a spring or seep of Mn-rich water, generated during alteration of olivine in the underlying sediments.
Keywords