Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T09:16:04.743Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Detection of reduced carbon in a basalt analogue for martian nakhlite: a signpost to habitat on Mars

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 October 2013

John Parnell ,
Sean McMahon ,
Nigel J.F. Blamey ,
Ian B. Hutchinson ,
Liam V. Harris ,
Richard Ingley ,
Howell G.M. Edwards ,
Edward Lynch  and
Martin Feely
John Parnell*
Affiliation:
School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK
Sean McMahon
Affiliation:
School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK
Nigel J.F. Blamey
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico Tech, Socorro NM87801, USA
Ian B. Hutchinson
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, UK
Liam V. Harris
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, UK
Richard Ingley
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, UK
Howell G.M. Edwards
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, UK
Edward Lynch
Affiliation:
Earth and Ocean Sciences, National University of Ireland, Galway, Republic of Ireland
Martin Feely
Affiliation:
Earth and Ocean Sciences, National University of Ireland, Galway, Republic of Ireland
*
e-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Nakhla meteorite represents basaltic rock from the martian upper crust, with reduced carbon indicative of the ingress of carbonaceous fluids. Study of a terrestrial analogue basalt with reduced carbon from the Ordovician of Northern Ireland shows that remote analysis could detect the carbon using Raman spectroscopy. Analysis of gases released by crushing detects methane-rich fluids in the basalt and especially in cross-cutting carbon-bearing veinlets. The results suggest that automated analysis on Mars could detect the reduced carbon, which may be derived from magmatic and/or meteoritic infall sources.

Keywords

basaltcarbonMarsnakhliteRaman spectroscopy
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 13 , Issue 2: Special issue: Fifth UK Astrobiology Conference (ASB5) , April 2014 , pp. 124 - 131
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agee, C.B. et al. (2013). Unique meteorite from early Amazonian Mars: water-rich basaltic breccia Northwest Africa 7034. Science 339, 780–785.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, T.B., Parnell, J. & Ruffell, A.H. (1995). Influence of basement on the geometry of Permo-Triassic basins in the Northwest British Isles. Geol. Soc. Spec. Publ. 91, 103–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arora, A.K., Tomar, V., Aarti, N., Venkateswararao, K.T. & Kamaluddin, (2007). Haematite-water system on Mars and its possible role in chemical evolution. Int. J. Astrobiol. 6, 267–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blamey, N.J.F. (2012). Composition and evolution of crustal fluids interpreted using quantitative fluid inclusion gas analysis. J. Geochem. Explor. 116–117, 17–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brinckerhoff, W.B., Mahaffy, P.R. & the MSL/SAM and ExoMars/MOMA Investigation Teams (2011). Mass spectrometry on future Mars landers. In Lunar and Planetary Institute, Conference on Analogue Sites for Mars Missions, abstract 6038.Google Scholar
Charlou, J., Donval, J., Fouquet, Y., Jean-Baptiste, P. & Holm, N. (2002). Geochemistry of high H2 and CH4 vent fluids issuing from ultramafic rocks at the Rainbow hydrothermal field (36°14′N, MAR). Chem. Geol. 191, 345–359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chassefiere, E. & Leblanc, F. (2011). Methane release and the carbon cycle on Mars. Planet. Space Sci. 59, 207–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christensen, P.R., Morris, R.V., Lane, M.D., Bandfield, J.L. & Malin, M.C. (2001). Global mapping of Martian hematite mineral deposits: remnants of water-driven processes on early Mars. J. Geophys. Res. 106, 23873–23885.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Courrèges-Lacoste, G., Ahlers, B. & Rull, F. (2007). Combined Raman spectrometer/laser-induced breakdown spectrometer for the next ESA mission to Mars. Spectrochim. Acta A 68, 1023.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craig, L.E. (1984). Stratigraphy in an accretionary prism: the Ordovician rocks in North Down, Ireland. Trans. R. Soc. Edinb., Earth Sci. 74, 183–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Faria, D.L.A., Venâncio Silva, S. & de Oliveira, M.T. (1997). Raman microspectroscopy of some iron oxides and oxyhydroxides. J. Raman Spectrosc. 28, 873–878.3.0.CO;2-B>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Downs, R.T. (2006). The RRUFF Project: an integrated study of the chemistry, crystallography, Raman and infrared spectroscopy of minerals. In Program and Abstracts of the 19th General Meeting of the Int. Mineralogical Association, Kobe, Japan. O03–13.Google Scholar
Edwards, H.G., Vandenabeele, P., Jorge-Villar, S.E., Carter, E.A., Perez, F.R. & Hargreaves, M.D. (2007). The Rio Tinto Mars analogue site: an extremophilic Raman spectroscopic study. Spectrochim. Acta A 68, 1133–1137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, H.G.M. (2007). Raman spectroscopic approach to analytical astrobiology: the detection of key biomolecular markers in the search for life. Orig. Life Evol. Biosph. 37, 335–339.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Edwards, H.G.M., Hutchinson, I. & Ingley, R. (2012). The ExoMars Raman spectrometer and the identification of biogeological spectroscopic signatures using a flight-like prototype. Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 404, 1723–1731.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Evans-Nguyen, T., Becker, L., Doroshenko, V. & Cotter, R.J. (2008). Development of a low power, high mass range spectrometer for Mars surface analysis. Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 278, 170–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferrari, A.C. & Robertson, J. (2000). Interpretation of Raman spectra of disordered and amorphous carbon. Phys. Rev. B 61, 14095–14107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frezzotti, M.L., Tecce, F. & Casagli, A. (2012). Raman spectroscopy for fluid inclusion analysis. J. Geochem. Explor. 112, 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibson, E.K. et al. (2006). Identification and analysis of carbon-bearing phases in the martian meteorite Nakhla. Proc. SPIE 6309, 630901. DOI: 10.1117/12.690503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grady, M.M. & Wright, I. (2006). The carbon cycle on early Earth – and on Mars? Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 361, 1703–1713.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hope, G.A., Woods, R. & Munce, C.G. (2001). Raman microprobe mineral identification. Miner. Eng. 14, 1565–1577.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jorge Villar, S.E. & Edwards, H.G.M. (2006). Raman spectroscopy in astrobiology. Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 384, 100–113.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lowenstern, J.B. (2001). Carbon dioxide in magmas and implications for hydrothermal systems. Mineral. Deposita 36, 490–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lyons, J.R., Manning, C. & Nimmo, F. (2005). Formation of methane on Mars by fluid-rock interaction in the crust. Geophys. Res. Lett. 32, L13201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCord, T.B. et al. (2012). Dark material on Vesta from the infall of carbonaceous volatile-rich material. Nature 491, 83–86.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McKay, D.S., Thomas-Keprta, K.L., Clemett, S.J., Gibson, E.K., Le, L., Rahman, Z. & Wentworth, S.J. (2011). Organic carbon features identified in the Nakhla martian meteorite. In 42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conf., abstract 2673.Google Scholar
McMahon, S., Parnell, J. & Blamey, N.J.F. (2012). Sampling methane in hydrothermal minerals on Earth and Mars. Int. J. Astrobiol. 11, 163–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McMahon, S., Parnell, J. & Blamey, N.J.F. (2013). Sampling methane in basalt on Earth and Mars. Int. J. Astrobiol. 12, 113–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michalski, J.R. & Niles, P.B. (2010). Deep crustal carbonate rocks exposed by meteor impact on Mars. Nat. Geosci. 3, 751–755.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Needham, A.W., Abel, R.L., Tomkinson, T. & Grady, M.M. (2013). Martian subsurface fluid pathways and 3D mineralogy of the Nakhla meteorite. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 116, 96–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norman, D.I. & Blamey, N.J.F. (2001). Quantitative analysis of fluid inclusion volatiles by a two quadrupole mass spectrometer system. Eur. Curr. Res. Fluid Incl. XVI, 341–344.Google Scholar
Oze, C. & Sharma, M. (2007). Serpentinization and the inorganic synthesis of H2 in planetary surfaces. Icarus 186, 557–561.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, J.H. Jr., Feldman, D.W. & Ashkin, M. (1967). Raman scattering by silicon and germanium. Phys. Rev. 155, 712–714.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parnell, J., Boyce, A.J. & Blamey, N.J.F. (2010). Follow the methane: the search for a deep biosphere, and the case for sampling serpentinites, on Mars. Int. J. Astrobiol. 9, 193–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parry, W.T. & Blamey, N.J.F. (2010). Fault fluid composition from fluid inclusion measurements, Laramide Age Uinta Thrust Fault, Utah. Chem. Geol. 278, 105–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roedder, E. (1984). Fluid inclusions. Mineral. Soc. Am. Rev. Mineral. 12, 646.Google Scholar
Schulte, W., Widani, C., Hofmann, P., Bönke, T., Re, E. & Baglioni, P. (2008). Design and breadboarding of the sample preparation and distribution system of the ExoMars mission. In Proc. Ninth Int. Symp. Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Automation in Space.Google Scholar
Sephton, M.A., Wright, I.P., Gilmour, I., de Leeuw, J.W., Grady, M.M. & Pillinger, C.T. (2002). High molecular weight organic matter in martian meteorites. Planet. Space Sci. 50, 711–716.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharpe, E.N. (1970). An occurrence of pillow lavas in the Ordovician of County Down. Irish Natural. J. 16, 299–301.Google Scholar
Sleep, N.H., Meibom, A., Fridriksson, T., Coleman, R.G. & Bird, D.K. (2004). H2-rich fluids from serpentinization: geochemical and biotic implications. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.USA 101, 12818–12823.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Steele, A. et al. (2012). A reduced organic carbon component in martian basalts. Science 337, 212–215.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stefánsson, A. & Arnórsson, S. (2002). Gas pressures and redox reactions in geothermal fluids in Iceland. Chem. Geol. 190, 251–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Treiman, A.H. (1993). The parental magma of the Nakhla (SNC) achondrite, inferred from magmatic inclusions. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 57, 4753–4767.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Treiman, A.H. (2003). The Nakhla martian meteorite is a cumulate igneous rock. Mineral. Petrol. 77, 271–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vago, J., Gardini, B., Kminek, G., Baglioni, P., Gianfiglio, G., Santovincenzo, A., Bayon, S. & van Winnendael, M. (2006). ExoMars: searching for life on the Red Planet. Eur. Space Agency Bull. 126, 17–23.Google Scholar
Wang, A., Haskin, L.A., Lane, A.L., Wdowiak, T.J., Squyres, S.W., Wilson, R.J., Hovland, L.E., Manatt, K.S., Raouf, N. & Smith, C.D. (2003). Development of the Mars microbeam Raman spectrometer (MMRS). J. Geophys. Res. 108, 5005.Google Scholar
Wopenka, B. & Pasteris, J.D. (1993). Structural characterization of kerogens to granulite-facies graphite: applicability of Raman microprobe spectroscopy. Am. Mineral. 78, 533–557.Google Scholar