Mars Surface Diversity as Revealed by the OMEGA/Mars Express Observations

The Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces, et l'Activité (OMEGA) investigation, on board the European Space Agency Mars Express mission, is mapping the surface composition of Mars at a 0.3- to 5-kilometer resolution by means of visible–near-infrared hyperspectral reflectance imagery. The data acquired during the first 9 months of the mission already reveal a diverse and complex surface mineralogy, offering key insights into the evolution of Mars. OMEGA has identified and mapped mafic iron-bearing silicates of both the northern and southern crust, localized concentrations of hydrated phyllosilicates and sulfates but no carbonates, and ices and frosts with a water-ice composition of the north polar perennial cap, as for the south cap, covered by a thin carbon dioxide–ice veneer.

[1]  Joshua L. Bandfield,et al.  A Global View of Martian Surface Compositions from MGS-TES , 2000 .

[2]  Hugh H. Kieffer,et al.  TES mapping of Mars' north seasonal cap , 2001 .

[3]  Harry Y. McSween,et al.  Spectral evidence for weathered basalt as an alternative to andesite in the northern lowlands of Mars , 2002, Nature.

[4]  R. Clark,et al.  Discovery of Olivine in the Nili Fossae Region of Mars , 2003, Science.

[5]  P. Christensen,et al.  Searching for the source regions of martian meteorites using MGS TES: Integrating martian meteorites into the global distribution of igneous materials on Mars , 2003 .

[6]  David L. Bish,et al.  Magnesium sulphate salts and the history of water on Mars , 2004, Nature.

[7]  Jacques Laskar,et al.  Long term evolution and chaotic diffusion of the insolation quantities of Mars , 2004 .

[8]  P. Drossart,et al.  Perennial water ice identified in the south polar cap of Mars , 2004, Nature.

[9]  Scott M. McLennan,et al.  Acid-sulfate weathering of synthetic Martian basalt: The acid fog model revisited , 2004 .

[10]  Y. Langevin,et al.  Olivine and Pyroxene Diversity in the Crust of Mars , 2005, Science.

[11]  Evolution of the North Polar Cap of Mars , 2005 .

[12]  Y. Langevin,et al.  Summer Evolution of the North Polar Cap of Mars as Observed by OMEGA/Mars Express , 2005, Science.

[13]  R E Arvidson,et al.  Spectral Reflectance and Morphologic Correlations in Eastern Terra Meridiani, Mars , 2005, Science.

[14]  Jean-Pierre Bibring,et al.  Sulfates in the North Polar Region of Mars Detected by OMEGA/Mars Express , 2005, Science.

[15]  Jean-Pierre Bibring,et al.  Sulfates in Martian Layered Terrains: The OMEGA/Mars Express View , 2005, Science.