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Detailed Reference Information |
Yen, A.S., Mittlefehldt, D.W., McLennan, S.M., Gellert, R., Bell, J.F., McSween, H.Y., Ming, D.W., McCoy, T.J., Morris, R.V., Golombek, M., Economou, T., Madsen, M.B., Wdowiak, T., Clark, B.C., Jolliff, B.L., Schröder, C., Brückner, J., Zipfel, J. and Squyres, S.W. (2006). Nickel on Mars: Constraints on meteoritic material at the surface. Journal of Geophysical Research 111: doi: 10.1029/2006JE002797. issn: 0148-0227. |
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Impact craters and the discovery of meteorites on Mars indicate clearly that there is meteoritic material at the Martian surface. The Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometers (APXS) on board the Mars Exploration Rovers measure the elemental chemistry of Martian samples, enabling an assessment of the magnitude of the meteoritic contribution. Nickel, an element that is greatly enhanced in meteoritic material relative to samples of the Martian crust, is directly detected by the APXS and is observed to be geochemically mobile at the Martian surface. Correlations between nickel and other measured elements are used to constrain the quantity of meteoritic material present in Martian soil and sedimentary rock samples. Results indicate that analyzed soils samples and certain sedimentary rocks contain an average of 1% to 3% contamination from meteoritic debris. |
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Abstract |
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Keywords
Geochemistry, Planetary geochemistry (5405, 5410, 5704, 5709, 6005, 6008), Planetary Sciences, Solid Surface Planets, Composition (1060, 3672), Planetary Sciences, Solid Surface Planets, Surface materials and properties, Planetary Sciences, Solar System Objects, Mars |
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009-1277 USA 1-202-462-6900 1-202-328-0566 service@agu.org |
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