Search for Traces of Chemically Bound Water in the Martian Surface Layer Based on HEND Measurements onboard the 2001 Mars Odyssey Spacecraft

Authors: Basilevsky A.T.¹; Litvak M.L.²; Mitrofanov I.G.²; Boynton W.V.³; Saunders R.S.⁴; Head J.W.⁵

Source: Solar System Research, Volume 37, Number 5, September 2003 , pp. 387-397(11)

Publisher: MAIK Nauka/Interperiodica

Abstract:

Analysis of the distribution of the epithermal and fast neutron fluxes from the Martian surface within the ±60° latitude zone measured by the High-Energy Neutron Detector (HEND) from mid-February through mid-June 2002 has revealed regional neutron-flux variations outside the zones of climatic effects, which appear to be attributable to the presence of chemically bound water. With the exception of the epithermal neutron fluxes in Arabia and southwest of Olympus Mons (Medusae Fossae), these variations show no correlation with the geologic structure of the terrain at the level of global geologic maps. The lack of such a correlation probably implies that to the formation depth of the epithermal neutron flux (1–2 m), let alone the fast neutron flux (20–30 cm), much of Mars is covered by a surface material that bears little relation in composition to local bedrocks. Clearly, this is an aeolian cover whose fine-grain component was mixed by dust storms in the geologic time on the scale of large regions. The decrease in the flux of epithermal neutrons in Arabia and southwest of Olympus Mons (Medusae Fossae) appears to be attributable to an enhanced concentration of materials containing chemically bound water (clay minerals, palagonite, hydroxides, and hydrosalts) in the surface layers of these regions.

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Kosygina 19, Moscow, 119991 Russia 2: Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya 84/32, Moscow, 117997 Russia 3: Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA 4: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA 5: Department of Geologic Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 02912 USA

Publication date: 2003-09-01

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• In this Subject: Astronomy
• By this author: Basilevsky A.T. ;  Litvak M.L. ;  Mitrofanov I.G. ;  Boynton W.V. ;  Saunders R.S. ;  Head J.W.

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