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Orbital and Rover-based Examination of Phyllosilicate and Sulfate Minerals in Ancient Martian Terrains

Orbital imaging spectrometer (aka, hyperspectral) mapping of Mars in the past decade have indicated that the ancient (Noachian-aged) crust of Mars was extensively altered through the action of water with much of this alteration resulting in the formation of phyllosilicate and sulfate minerals.  Some phyllosilicate minerals appear to have formed through shallow crustal metamorphism while other exposures apparently formed through in-situ alteration (leaching). Deposits of sulfate minerals potentially represent a change in environmental conditions from pH-neutral to more acidic waters- possibly a result of sulfur-bearing aerosols and ashes produced by the formation of the Tharsis volcanoes.  In this presentation, examples of phyllosilicate and sulfate mineralogy from the Mawrth Vallis region will be discussed using Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) data. Surface-based observations of these alteration minerals from the Opportunity and Curiosity rovers will also be presented.