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Manganese Mobility in Gale Crater, Mars: Leached Bedrock and Localized Enrichments
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  • Jeff A Berger,
  • Penelope King,
  • Ralf Gellert,
  • Benton C. Clark,
  • Victoria A Flood,
  • Michael A. McCraig,
  • Douglas Ming,
  • Catherine D O'Connell-Cooper,
  • Mariek E. Schmidt,
  • Lucy M Thompson,
  • Scott J VanBommel,
  • Brent Wilhelm,
  • Albert S. Yen
Jeff A Berger
NASA Johnson Space Center

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Penelope King
Australian National University
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Ralf Gellert
University of Guelph
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Benton C. Clark
Space Science Institute
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Victoria A Flood
University of Toronto
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Michael A. McCraig
University of Guelph
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Douglas Ming
NASA Johnson Space Center
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Catherine D O'Connell-Cooper
University of New Brunswick
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Mariek E. Schmidt
Brock University
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Lucy M Thompson
University of New Brunswick
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Scott J VanBommel
Washington University in St. Louis
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Brent Wilhelm
University of Guelph
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Albert S. Yen
Jet Propulsion Lab (NASA)
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Abstract

In Gale crater on Mars, the rover Curiosity has discovered evidence of fluid mobilization of the redox-sensitive element manganese. We present results for Mn from Curiosity’s Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), which show that the average MnO concentration in mudstone-dominated sedimentary units (0.22 wt%) is about one-half of the concentration in the average Mars crust (0.44 wt%). Geochemical trends indicate that Mn in the sedimentary bedrock, most of which has a basaltic provenance, was leached by chemical alteration and dissolution. In >350 vertical meters of mudstone-dominated strata, the apparent leaching of Mn and retention of Fe in Fe-O-H phase(s) resulted in the fractionation of Fe and Mn, indicating relatively moderate Eh-pH fluid conditions that were not highly alkaline, reducing, or oxidizing. Exceptions are fracture-associated, silica-rich haloes where both Mn and Fe were leached by low pH fluids. The rover also discovered Mn-rich veins, nodules, and patchy, dark coatings on rock surfaces, which are variably associated with enrichments in Fe, P, Cl, and/or Zn. These Mn-rich features represent ~1% of the 1,029 APXS measurements acquired over ~25 km of rover traverse. A thermochemical model shows that dissolved Mn2+ could have been concentrated via evaporation, sublimation, and/or freezing. Manganese was then likely precipitated in localized features when > 99.99% of the Mn2+-bearing water was removed from the system. These findings indicate that Mn was mobile in Gale crater and therefore bioavailable as a potential energy source for life.