Abstract
Searching mass-balance analysis is applied to find possible standard
oxide composition distributions of Martian blueberries (hematite-rich
spherules). This found three groups of complete solution sets to the
mass-balance equations consistent with the non-detection of silicates in
blueberries (by NASA’s rover Opportunity). Two of these groups were
previously unknown. One of the groups has blueberry (standard oxide)
distributions nearly identical to one found in 2006, with 99.7 wt%
FeO/Fe2O3, 0.3 wt% Ni, and zero content for other oxides. Two of ten
investigations found a very small group with composition intermediate to
the others. The largest group of 152, 501 complete solution sets have
blueberry distributions with average iron oxide content of 91.2 (+/-2.9)
wt% and Ni content of 0.30 (+/-0.06) wt%. The main distinguishing
feature between the groups is that the blueberry distributions of the
largest group have five oxides/elements (MgO, P2O5, Na2O, SO3, and Cl)
with a collective, summed weight percentage that averages 6.7 (+/- 2.2)
wt%. This result is robust to changes in an SiO2 cut-off that
determines inclusion/exclusion in the larger group. Searches over spaces
of filtering distributions of basaltic and dusty soils were a
methodological advance. The results significantly narrow the possible
range of iron oxide weight percentage in blueberries from the
conclusions of previous major papers concerned with blueberry
composition. The allowed levels of iron oxide are so high, and top,
loose blueberries are so plentiful, that blueberries are an attractive
source material to start the construction of steel infrastructure for
science on Mars.