Sulfates in the North Polar Region of Mars Detected by OMEGA/Mars Express
Publication date: 11 March 2005
Authors: Langevin, Y., et al.
Journal: Science
Volume: 307
Issue: 5715
Page: 1584
Year: 2005
Copyright: Science Magazine
The Observatoire pour la Mineralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces, et l'Activite (OMEGA) imaging spectrometer observed the northern circumpolar regions of Mars at a resolution of a few kilometers. An extended region at 240°E, 85°N, with an area of 60 kilometers by 200 kilometers, exhibits absorptions at wavelengths of 1.45, 1.75, 1.94, 2.22, 2.26 and 2.48 micrometers. These signatures can be unambiguously attributed to calcium-rich sulfates, most likely gypsum. This region corresponds to the dark longitudinal dunes of Olympia Planitia. These observations reveal that water alteration played a major role in the formation of the constituting minerals of northern circumpolar terrains.
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