Publication

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

Parnell, John
; 
McMahon, Sean
; 
Blamey, Nigel J.F.
; 
Hutchinson, Ian B.
; 
Harris, Liam V.
; 
Ingley, Richard
; 
Edwards, Howell G.M.
; 
Lynch, Edward
; 
Feely, Martin
Identifiers
http://hdl.handle.net/10379/13412
 https://doi.org/10.13025/28945
Publication Date
2013-10-25
Keywords
basalt, nakhlite, mars, raman spectroscopy, carbon, raman spectrometer, sampling methane, snc meteorite, fluids, earth, serpentinization, identification, spectroscopy, astrobiology, inclusions
Type
Article
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Citation
Parnell, John; McMahon, Sean; Blamey, Nigel J.F. Hutchinson, Ian B.; Harris, Liam V.; Ingley, Richard; Edwards, Howell G.M.; Lynch, Edward; Feely, Martin (2013). Detection of reduced carbon in a basalt analogue for martian nakhlite: a signpost to habitat on mars. International Journal of Astrobiology 13 (2), 124-131
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.
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Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
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Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Ireland
cbn
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Externally hosted open access publications with University of Galway authors (2)