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Mapping Hydrothermal systems on MARS

Mapping Hydrothermal systems on MARS. Presentation Overview. Hyperspectral Mapping Project Background Signs of early life – Pilbara, WA SWIR Mapping of a Stromatolite horizon Relevance to Mars Latest results with the Mini TES instrument. Who am I?. Adrian Brown

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Mapping Hydrothermal systems on MARS

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  1. Mapping Hydrothermal systems onMARS

  2. Presentation Overview • Hyperspectral Mapping Project Background • Signs of early life – Pilbara, WA • SWIR Mapping of a Stromatolite horizon • Relevance to Mars • Latest results with the Mini TES instrument

  3. Who am I? • Adrian Brown • PhD student at the Australian Centre for Astrobiology (ACA), Macquarie University • Supervisors are Prof. Malcolm Walter, Director of the ACA, and Dr. Tom Cudahy, CSIRO • Thesis topic – Mapping Ancient Hydrothermal Systems on Earth and Mars

  4. Hyperspectral mapping project

  5. Signs of early life – Pilbara, WA • ACA scientists are investigating the ancient Pilbara region of northern Western Australia • 3.5 billion years old • Contains first signs of life on Earth in the form of stromatolites • Could be a good analogue for Mars

  6. North Pole Dome

  7. SWIR Mapping of Stromatolite Outcrop • Aims: • Can we remotely detect and identify hydrothermal alteration minerals in a site of astrobiological interest? • Can we put stromatolite occurrences in mineralogical context using SWIR mapping? • Can rovers automatically identify minerals for us? • Is this technique of use on Mars?

  8. SWIR Spectrometry Sun • A spectrometer splits up light into different colours • By graphing colour intensities we can record a characteristic spectral response of rocks Collector Infrared Red Rock Sample Yellow Diffractometer Blue Ultraviolet

  9. Tools of the trade • PIMA • GPS enabled Pocket PC

  10. Geological Mapping

  11. Typical Spectra

  12. Geological Mapping

  13. Mars Exploration Rovers (MER)

  14. MER Instruments PANCAM – panoramic camera Mini TES – thermal emission spectrometer Magnetic Arrays APXS – alpha particle x-ray spectrometer Mossbauer – fe spectrometer MI – microscope imager RAT – rock abrasion tool

  15. Thermal IR Maps on Mars

  16. Silicates CO2 Carbonates

  17. Australian contribution to a Mars mission?

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