MARS BRINES ATTACK: Chemical Weathering and HabitABility on LATE-State MArs
Slope Streaks of Mars may indicate seasonal liquid water flows at the surface. These waters are likely high salinity brines which have lower melting temperatures than dilute waters.
Finding unambiguous signs of past life is challenging because living organisms catalyze chemical reactions that could occur abiotically. Moreover, rock burial and diagenesis can alter biosignatures once they form. We have examined how high salinity brines influence weathering reactions on Mars, because these reactions control late-stage habitability.
The major volcanic minerals on Mars are olivine, pyroxene and plagioclase. These minerals are common in basaltic rocks. We examine their alteration in order to understand the weathering story on Mars’ surface, i.e. how long was liquid water present at the surface.
Pyroxene weathering in brines: Implications for Mar's meteorites
Pyroxene dissolution in brines: Implications for interpreting Mars' weathering history
Albite dissolution in brines: Implications for Mar's weathering history
Carbonate dissolution and preservation is extremely important for biosignature formation and preservation. The carbonate paper covers calcite and magnesite, two of the three carbonate minerals commonly detected on Mars. The second paper on siderite, covers Fe-carbonates, whose weathering is complicated by oxidation and reduction processes.
Carbonate weathering on Mars: Implications for biosignature preservation
Siderite dissolution in high salinity brines
Sulfate minerals, including anhydrite, alunite, and jarosite are common alteration phases on Mars. These weathering studies focus on how long alteration phases persist on Mars in the presence of liquid water to understand how long liquid water was present on Mars
Alunite weathering in Mars-relevant brines
Jarosite dissolution in perchlorate: Implications for late-stage weathering on Mars
Anhydrite Nucleation and Growth at Low-temperatures: Implications for Mars' weathering