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Missing Carbonates” on Mars

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Missing Carbonates” on Mars Lunar and Planetary Science XXXI 1577.pdf ON THE PROBLEM OF THE “MISSING CARBONATES” ON MARS. S. Fonti1, A. Blanco1, M. I. Blecka2, A. Jurewicz2, and V. Orofino1, 1 Physics Department, University of Lecce, Via per Arnesano, C.P. 193, 73100 Lecce, Italy ([email protected]), 2 Polish Academy of Sciences, Space Research Centre, ul.Bartycka 18a, 00-716 Warsaw, Poland. Introduction: The discovery of carbonate deposits The reverse gas-solid reaction (i.e. the adsorption on Mars could be very important for a realistic recon- of carbon dioxide on calcium oxide surfaces) has been struction of the paleoclimate of the planet [1] and may thoroughly and quantitatively analysed by several au- have interesting implications on the possibility that thors (see for example [7]). The outcome of the study life developed there in the past [2]. In this respect the is that the process in question has to be qualified as messages reaching us from Mars are definitely contra- chemisorption leading, through the reverse reaction dictory. On one hand, many images of the Martian CaO + CO2 → CaCO3, surface show a complex hydrological structure, sug- to unidentate and bidentate carbonate complexes, gesting the past existence of bodies of standing water, showing their characteristic features in the IR absorp- where the carbonate precipitation should have been tion spectra. The data reported in the literature seem highly probable. On the other hand, no instrument insufficient to have a complete evaluation of the kinet- orbiting around Mars has ever made a definite identi- ics of the two competing processes. An assessment of fication of carbonates in the strikingly homogeneous their balance, indicative of the importance of chemi- fines covering the Martian surface, in spite of the fact sorption, can nevertheless be performed. that the characteristic spectral features typical of such In the experiment of Mukhin et al. [6] the photore- minerals fell within the observed spectral range. Nev- leased CO2 was pumped out of the experimental cham- ertheless, carbonates have been found in the SNC me- ber. Therefore the balance between photolysis and teorites, which are considered to be of Martian origin, chemisorption had to adjust itself continuously to the while the possible spectroscopic detection of the pres- lowering pressure, with the consequence that both the ence of carbonates comes from two different observa- rate of adsorption and the amount of superficial car- tions made from Earth [3], [4]. All this makes the bonate to undergo photodecomposition became lower essence of the so-called "missing carbonates" issue, and lower during the process. one of the major enigma in Martian science [5]. In order to apply the discussion to Martian condi- In the present work, we address this subject, pay- tions, let us note that the flux of UV solar photons at ing the due attention to the reported identifications of the surface of Mars is ~ 2x1015 cm-2 s-1 [8]. Such flux, carbonates. First, we discuss the effectiveness of the according to the experimental results of Mukhin et al. 11 -2 photodecomposition process of CaCO3, suggested by [6], will give rise to the photorelease of ~1.3x10 cm -1 Mukhin et al. [6], taking also into account the reverse s carbon dioxide molecules from a pure CaCO3 sur- reaction (chemisorption of CO2 by calcium oxide). face. However, with a temperature of ~ 250 K and a 21 - Along this direction we then address the role the tem- CO2 pressure of ~ 6 mbar, we will have ~ 1.6x10 cm perature of the surface of Mars can play in the detect- 2 s-1 carbon dioxide molecules hitting the same sur- ability of carbonates. Finally, some discussion and face. We note therefore that, even with a sticking conclusion are presented. probability of ~ 10-10, chemisorption will still be more Photodecomposition of carbonates: Assessments effective than photodecomposition. At present, pre- of the amount of carbonates present nowadays on the liminary estimates seem to suggest a sticking probabil- Martian surface should base upon the analysis of vari- ity in the range 10-6 ÷ 10-7. In this case, unlike in the ous physico-chemical processes. An important exam- experiment of Mukhin et al. [6], the exchange of CO2 ple of such a process is the photolysis of calcium car- between the surface and the atmosphere proceeds un- bonate by UV solar radiation through the reaction der almost constant pressure. This conclusion agrees hν + CaCO3 → CaO + CO2, with the results of Booth and Kieffer [9] who, simulat- quantitatively studied in a laboratory experiment by ing the growth of carbonates in a "Marslike environ- Mukhin et al. [6]. The authors extrapolated their re- ment", did not find any appreciable influence of UV sults to Martian conditions, suggesting that the surface radiation. layer on Mars could be effectively depleted of carbon- Importance of the surface temperature: If the ates and completely converted into calcium oxide be- foregoing conclusions are correct, the reasons for the cause of photodecomposition. failure of the identification of carbonates in the Mar- tian spectra should be sought elsewhere, before con- Lunar and Planetary Science XXXI 1577.pdf THE “MISSING CARBONATES” ON MARS: S. Fonti et al. cluding that the favorable conditions in the Martian tion of carbonates on the surface of Mars we might paleoclimate did not last long enough for an abundant expect to detect, as a function of the surface tempera- sedimentation of carbonate materials. For instance it ture. The preliminary result is that even in the case of is possible that the detection of the spectral features of a very warm surface, the amount of carbonates is very carbonates requires an amount of such minerals larger high (between 40 and 50 %) and might be detected than it is usually thought. This point has been already only in very favorable conditions. raised in a recent paper by Orofino et al. [10], where Discussion and conclusions: We can say that the dependence of the spectral contrast on the size of much care has to be taken when trying to assess an the carbonate particles is discussed. upper limit for the carbonate component in the Mar- However it is important to understand why the tian regolith and that the detection of such component only claims of identification are connected with earth- by means of an orbiting spectrometer could be ex- based observations [3], [4], while carbonate character- tremely difficult. In fact, the possible identification of istic bands have never been observed by spectrometers Martian carbonates would not only imply a careful orbiting around Mars. In fact, in such observations, choice of the most favorable sites, not covered by other the size of the observed Martian region is certainly materials [10], but it would also require peculiar con- much larger than in observations carried out with or- ditions, such as the observation of the chosen spot biting instruments. This seems clearly contradicting when it is very close to the subsolar point. We must the widely accepted statement that carbonates should admit, however, that the claimed identification of car- be more easily detected in well-localized patches of bonates with earth-based observations cannot be ex- the Martian surface [10]. In this respect it might be plained simply by assuming that they have been done noted that the energy coming from the wide region of when the subsolar point coincided with a site particu- Mars, seen through the telescope, can almost totally larly rich in carbonates. In fact, the number of inde- come from a relatively small hot spot around the sub- pendent observations is already high enough to state solar point [11], when the subsolar point is within the that the statistical probability of such an occurrence is field of view, as in the case of the mentioned observa- extremely low. tions. A possible solution is that the carbonate bands at 7 It is therefore extremely important to assess clearly and 11 µm have to be attributed to a warm atmos- the influence of the surface temperature on the visibil- pheric carbonate dust component. This hypothesis, if ity of the characteristic infrared features of the car- confirmed, could readdress the search for Martian bonates in the measured spectra. In order to do this, carbonates from the surface regolith to the atmos- we have calculated synthetic spectra, in the region pheric dust. Work is already in progress in order to between 5 and 20 µm, for different surface tempera- update our calculations with the introduction of an tures and using a composite surface with different adequate airborne dust component. carbonate mass percentages. We have calculated the Acknowledgements: This research has been par- total emissivity using a linear combination of the al- tially supported by the Italian Space Agency and by bedo of the two components, properly weighted ac- the Polish State Committee for Scientific Research cording to the chosen concentration. We assumed an under the grant N° 2P03C00515. One of us (M. I. B.) average size of 100 µm for the surface grains and used thanks Dr. K. Kossacki for his help in programming calcite, as a possible representative of the carbonate References: [1] Haberle R. M. (1998) JGR, 103, materials, and palagonite, as a possible representative 28467-28479. [2] McKay D. S. et al. (1996) Science, of the main constituent of the Martian regolith. For 273, 924-930. [3] Pollack J. B. et al. (1990) JGR, 95, both materials it is possible to find reliable values of 14595-14627. [4] Lellouch E. et al. (1999) BAAS, 31, the optical constants in the literature [12], [13]. 1168 (Abstract) [5] Carr M. (1998) LPSC XXIX, Spe- We performed our simulations for three different cial Plenary Session, Masursky Lecture. [6] Mukhin surface temperature (200, 250 and 300 K) chosen with L.
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