REMOTE DETERMINATION OF MARTIAN CHLORIDE SALT ABUNDANCES.
Abstract
Chloride salt-bearing deposits are widely distributed across the
southern highlands of Mars. Because chloride salts are highly
water-soluble, these deposits may be representative of the last
significant period of stable liquid water at the Martian surface.
Therefore, these deposits are key to understanding the fate and
evolution of surface waters on Mars. Yet, little consensus exists about
the formation conditions of these deposits, and their origins remain
enigmatic. This is due in part because remote spectroscopic detection
and quantification of many chlorides is hampered by a lack of easily
discernible diagnostic absorption features. To address this issue, we
present a novel Hapke radiative transfer model (RTM)-based method to
estimate hydration states and salt abundances of Martian chloride
salt-bearing deposits using visible/near-infrared (VNIR) reflectance
spectra. VNIR laboratory spectra are used to derive water abundances of
analog chloride-bearing materials, establishing an experimental basis
for application of these methods to Mars. These methods are then applied
to orbital Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM)
data to create maps of hydration state and modeled salt abundance of
chloride-bearing deposits. When overlain onto high resolution 3D digital
terrain models (DTMs), these methods produce the highest resolution,
site-specific salt abundance maps currently available, enabling new
discoveries and understanding of geologic context. As an example,
deposits in the Terra Sirenum region are observed to have higher
estimated salt abundances than previously recognized, exhibiting spatial
variations in both abundance and surface morphology.