University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 8-2005 Analysis of Martian Parental Melts and Thermal Infrared Studies of Putative Paleolake Basins on Mars Karen Renée Stockstill University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Geology Commons Recommended Citation Stockstill, Karen Renée, "Analysis of Martian Parental Melts and Thermal Infrared Studies of Putative Paleolake Basins on Mars. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2005. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/2294 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Karen Renée Stockstill entitled "Analysis of Martian Parental Melts and Thermal Infrared Studies of Putative Paleolake Basins on Mars." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Geology. Harry Y. McSween, Jr., Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Kula Misra, Alexander Van Hook Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Karen Renée Stockstill entitled “Analysis of Martian Parental Melts and Thermal Infrared Studies of Putative Paleolake Basins on Mars.” I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Geology. Harry Y. McSween, Jr., Major Professor Jeffrey E. Moersch, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Kula Misra Alexander Van Hook Acceptance for the Council: Anne Mayhew Vice Chancellor and Dean of Graduate Studies (Original signatures are on file with official student records.) ANALYSIS OF MARTIAN PARENTAL MELTS AND THERMAL INFRARED STUDIES OF PUTATIVE PALEOLAKE BASINS ON MARS A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Karen Renée Stockstill August 2005 Dedication This dissertation is dedicated To my Mom, who made this all possible over and over, To my Dad, who always asked interesting questions, To my brother Ray, who always shares without hesitation, and To Josh, who is always there when I come back from the Milky Way. ii Acknowledgements This adventure would not have been possible without the support and guidance of my co-advisors, Harry Y. McSween, Jr. and Jeffrey E. Moersch. If you want to learn how to do science in every way possible, these are your guys! My committee members, Kula C. Misra and Alexander Van Hook, asked questions along the way that helped us to avoid pitfalls and provided useful commentary on the chapters within. In addition, the encouragement of many in the UT Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences has been invaluable: Amitabha Ghosh, Bill Deane, the Britt family, the Lentz family, Jen Piatek, Mike Rampey, Linda Kah and Colin Sumrall – you guys are the greatest!! Last but not least, Penny King, who showed up in second overtime, but made up for lost time by cheering even harder! Robert Bodnar welcomed me into his melt inclusion research group at Virginia Tech with open arms and I treasured my time spent in his lab. In addition, his students, post docs and lab techs provided invaluable assistance and advice regarding laboratory work: Jay Thomas, Charles Farley, Luca Fedele, Mercedes Gonzalez-Student and Jim Student. In addition, Gretchen Benedix provided priceless assistance in analyzing melt inclusions at the Virginia Tech microprobe facility. Additionally, the ASU/UH contingent of Steve Ruff, Mike Wyatt, Vicky Hamilton and Phil Christensen provided on-going support and expertise in the processing and appropriate interpretation of thermal infrared data of Mars. Without them, our pursuit of carbonates would have been much more obscure. This adventure would not have been survivable without the support and laughter contributed by my fellow graduate students: Keith Milam, Valerie Reynolds, Rhiannon Mayne, Tasha Dunne, Livio Tornabene, Kathy Stone, Sandra Ciccole, and Tabbatha Cavendish. I did not realize that my grad school co-horts would teach me how to be the best kind of friend: one who never forgets all you’ve done for them, but does for you and forgets all about it. You also taught me a great deal about science and professionalism – I hope I returned the favor to each of you. I can’t wait to tell your students our stories and how great you are. In addition, the friendship of Kerry Milam, Cari Corrigan, Ben iii Bussey, Kevin Peterson, John Woodell, Michelle Prysby, David and Mary Gwynn, Julie Niekamp, Teresa Coffield and many others has been invaluable during this trial. This adventure would not have been nearly as much fun without the Cahill/Saalfeld clan. They’ve been nice enough to distract me with Notre Dame football (GO IRISH!!!), eating lots of good food, betting on horses, yummy Graeters ice cream, swimming meets, Thanksgiving dinner, tours of Ireland, and more eating. I would probably be a rail-thin, miserable person without you! The adventure would have meant nothing without my family to share it with. Mom, you always found a way to make my dreams possible on a shoe string budget and I will never forget all that you have done. Thanks for the truck! Dad, I wish you could have been at the defense, because I am sure you would have loved to see the pretty pictures and would have asked some great questions. And you would’ve grinned big! Ray, you are such a generous brother – you never hesitate to share what I need. I would not have finished this degree without your support and flight benefits. Thanks for laughs and please keep them coming! This adventure was enhanced by the patience, encouragement, and Diamond-head view provided by Josh Cahill. You kept me swimming when the shoreline seemed too far away and the current too strong. You told me I could do it when I wasn’t sure I could. You told me the dreams do return once you can see the sky again and you were right! I look forward to the rest of our adventure! iv Abstract Both martian meteorites and remote sensing data allow us to study the geologic history of Mars. Martian meteorites can reveal information regarding partial melting of the Mars mantle and the surface processes that affected the meteorite following eruption (weathering, impact ejection, etc.). Remote sensing data can be used to investigate the local-, regional- or global-scale surface of Mars in terms of composition and geomorphology. A well-rounded approach is necessary to address fundamental questions regarding the geologic history of Mars. We studied melt inclusions in augite of the martian meteorite Nakhla to better understand the magma that produced this rock. This study used laboratory methods developed at the Virginia Tech Fluids Research Lab, electron microprobe analyses, and MELTS crystallization modeling. The result of this study was a new estimate of the Nakhla parent magma composition, which is basaltic in composition. Crystallization modeling of this composition provided the closest match to mineral abundances and composition observed within the nakhlites, suggesting an improved estimate. In addition, we studied thermal infrared data of martian craters that some workers suggest display geomorphic evidence that they once contained lakes. If in fact these craters did hold water, they may still contain evaporite minerals deposited in this environment and detectable within the thermal infrared. We used data acquired by TES (Thermal Emission Spectrometer aboard the Mars Global Surveyor) and THEMIS (Thermal Emission Imaging System aboard Mars Odyssey). Because of its higher spatial resolution, THEMIS is best viewed as a spectral unit mapper, whereas TES is better at mineral identification because of its higher spectral resolution. Both studies employed a linear deconvolution routine developed at Arizona State University, spectral ratios and newly-developed carbonate indices to search for local-scale deposits of evaporites within craters. In these studies, we did not find mineralogic evidence supporting a paleolake origin for the surficial deposits within any crater. v Table of Contents Part 1: Introduction……………………………………………………………………...1 1. Overview…………..….……..………………………………………………………....2 2. Martian meteorites…………………………………………………………………...…2 3. Evaporites on Mars……………………………………………………………………..4 4. Summary………………………………………………………………………………..7 References cited...………………………………………………………………………....8 Part 2: Melt inclusions in augite of the Nakhla martian meteorite: Evidence for basaltic parental melt…………………………………………………………………..12 Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………..13 1. Introduction and background………………………………………………………….14 2. Sample preparation, experimental and analytical methods…………………………....18 3. Results…………………………………………………………………………………22 4. Discussion……………………………………………………………………………..24 4.1. MELTS modeling