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Quantin-Nataf C, Carter J, Mandon L, Thollot P, Balme M, Volat M, Pan L, Loizeau D, Millot C, Breton S, Dehouck E, Fawdon P, Gupta S, Davis J, Grindrod PM, Pacifici A, Bultel B, Allemand P, Ody A, Lozach L, Broyer J. Oxia Planum: The Landing Site for the ExoMars "Rosalind Franklin" Rover Mission: Geological Context and Prelanding Interpretation. ASTROBIOLOGY 2021; 21:345-366. [PMID: 33400892 PMCID: PMC7987365 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2019.2191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2019] [Accepted: 10/20/2020] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
The European Space Agency (ESA) and Roscosmos ExoMars mission will launch the "Rosalind Franklin" rover in 2022 for a landing on Mars in 2023.The goals of the mission are to search for signs of past and present life on Mars, investigate the water/geochemical environment as a function of depth in the shallow subsurface, and characterize the surface environment. To meet these scientific objectives while minimizing the risk for landing, a 5-year-long landing site selection process was conducted by ESA, during which eight candidate sites were down selected to one: Oxia Planum. Oxia Planum is a 200 km-wide low-relief terrain characterized by hydrous clay-bearing bedrock units located at the southwest margin of Arabia Terra. This region exhibits Noachian-aged terrains. We show in this study that the selected landing site has recorded at least two distinct aqueous environments, both of which occurred during the Noachian: (1) a first phase that led to the deposition and alteration of ∼100 m of layered clay-rich deposits and (2) a second phase of a fluviodeltaic system that postdates the widespread clay-rich layered unit. Rounded isolated buttes that overlie the clay-bearing unit may also be related to aqueous processes. Our study also details the formation of an unaltered mafic-rich dark resistant unit likely of Amazonian age that caps the other units and possibly originated from volcanism. Oxia Planum shows evidence for intense erosion from morphology (inverted features) and crater statistics. Due to these erosional processes, two types of Noachian sedimentary rocks are currently exposed. We also expect rocks at the surface to have been exposed to cosmic bombardment only recently, minimizing organic matter damage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cathy Quantin-Nataf
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENS Lyon, CNRS, LGL-TPE, 2 Rue Raphael Dubois, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France, France
- Address correspondence to: Cathy Quantin-Nataf, Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENSL, CNRS, LGL-TPE, Villeurbanne F-69622, France
| | - John Carter
- Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, Univ Paris Sud, CNRS, UMR 8617, Univ Paris-Saclay, Bat 120-121, F-91405 Orsay, France
| | - Lucia Mandon
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENS Lyon, CNRS, LGL-TPE, 2 Rue Raphael Dubois, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France, France
| | - Patrick Thollot
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENS Lyon, CNRS, LGL-TPE, 2 Rue Raphael Dubois, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France, France
| | - Matthew Balme
- Open Univ, Dept Earth & Environm Sci, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, Bucks, England
| | - Matthieu Volat
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENS Lyon, CNRS, LGL-TPE, 2 Rue Raphael Dubois, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France, France
| | - Lu Pan
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENS Lyon, CNRS, LGL-TPE, 2 Rue Raphael Dubois, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France, France
| | - Damien Loizeau
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENS Lyon, CNRS, LGL-TPE, 2 Rue Raphael Dubois, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France, France
- Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, Univ Paris Sud, CNRS, UMR 8617, Univ Paris-Saclay, Bat 120-121, F-91405 Orsay, France
| | - Cédric Millot
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENS Lyon, CNRS, LGL-TPE, 2 Rue Raphael Dubois, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France, France
| | - Sylvain Breton
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENS Lyon, CNRS, LGL-TPE, 2 Rue Raphael Dubois, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France, France
| | - Erwin Dehouck
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENS Lyon, CNRS, LGL-TPE, 2 Rue Raphael Dubois, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France, France
| | - Peter Fawdon
- Open Univ, Dept Earth & Environm Sci, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, Bucks, England
| | - Sanjeev Gupta
- Univ London Imperial Coll Sci Technol & Med, Dept Earth Sci & Engn, London SW7 2AZ, England
| | - Joel Davis
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
| | - Peter M. Grindrod
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Benjamin Bultel
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENS Lyon, CNRS, LGL-TPE, 2 Rue Raphael Dubois, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France, France
- Department for Geosciences, Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED), University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Pascal Allemand
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENS Lyon, CNRS, LGL-TPE, 2 Rue Raphael Dubois, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France, France
| | - Anouck Ody
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENS Lyon, CNRS, LGL-TPE, 2 Rue Raphael Dubois, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France, France
| | - Loic Lozach
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENS Lyon, CNRS, LGL-TPE, 2 Rue Raphael Dubois, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France, France
| | - Jordan Broyer
- Univ Lyon, Univ Lyon 1, ENS Lyon, CNRS, LGL-TPE, 2 Rue Raphael Dubois, F-69622 Villeurbanne, France, France
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Cousins CR, Crawford IA. Volcano-ice interaction as a microbial habitat on Earth and Mars. ASTROBIOLOGY 2011; 11:695-710. [PMID: 21877914 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2010.0550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Volcano-ice interaction has been a widespread geological process on Earth that continues to occur to the present day. The interaction between volcanic activity and ice can generate substantial quantities of liquid water, together with steep thermal and geochemical gradients typical of hydrothermal systems. Environments available for microbial colonization within glaciovolcanic systems are wide-ranging and include the basaltic lava edifice, subglacial caldera meltwater lakes, glacier caves, and subsurface hydrothermal systems. There is widespread evidence of putative volcano-ice interaction on Mars throughout its history and at a range of latitudes. Therefore, it is possible that life on Mars may have exploited these habitats, much in the same way as has been observed on Earth. The sedimentary and mineralogical deposits resulting from volcano-ice interaction have the potential to preserve evidence of any indigenous microbial populations. These include jökulhlaup (subglacial outflow) sedimentary deposits, hydrothermal mineral deposits, basaltic lava flows, and subglacial lacustrine deposits. Here, we briefly review the evidence for volcano-ice interactions on Mars and discuss the geomicrobiology of volcano-ice habitats on Earth. In addition, we explore the potential for the detection of these environments on Mars and any biosignatures these deposits may contain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire R Cousins
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, UK.
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Cousins CR, Griffiths AD, Crawford IA, Prosser BJ, Storrie-Lombardi MC, Davis LE, Gunn M, Coates AJ, Jones AP, Ward JM. Astrobiological considerations for the selection of the geological filters on the ExoMars PanCam instrument. ASTROBIOLOGY 2010; 10:933-951. [PMID: 21118025 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2010.0517] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
The Panoramic Camera (PanCam) instrument will provide visible-near IR multispectral imaging of the ExoMars rover's surroundings to identify regions of interest within the nearby terrain. This multispectral capability is dependant upon the 12 preselected "geological" filters that are integrated into two wide-angle cameras. First devised by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder team to detect iron oxides, this baseline filter set has remained largely unchanged for subsequent missions (Mars Exploration Rovers, Beagle 2, Phoenix) despite the advancing knowledge of the mineralogical diversity on Mars. Therefore, the geological filters for the ExoMars PanCam will be redesigned to accommodate the astrobiology focus of ExoMars, where hydrated mineral terrains (evidence of past liquid water) will be priority targets. Here, we conduct an initial investigation into new filter wavelengths for the ExoMars PanCam and present results from tests performed on Mars analog rocks. Two new filter sets were devised: one with filters spaced every 50 nm ("F1-12") and another that utilizes a novel filter selection method based upon hydrated mineral reflectance spectra ("F2-12"). These new filter sets, along with the Beagle 2 filter set (currently the baseline for the ExoMars PanCam), were tested on their ability to identify hydrated minerals and biosignatures present in Mars analog rocks. The filter sets, with varying degrees of ability, detected the spectral features of minerals jarosite, opaline silica, alunite, nontronite, and siderite present in these rock samples. None of the filter sets, however, were able to detect fossilized biomat structures and small (<2 mm) mineralogical heterogeneities present in silica sinters. Both new filter sets outperformed the Beagle 2 filters, with F2-12 detecting the most spectral features produced by hydrated minerals and providing the best discrimination between samples. Future work involving more extensive testing on Mars analog samples that exhibit a wider range of mineralogies would be the next step in carefully evaluating the new filter sets.
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