Moessbauer Spectroscopy on the Martian Surface: Predictions

Moessbauer spectrometers will be used on the upcoming MER/Athena and Mars Express/ Beagle 2 landers to identify and quantify relative amounts of iron-bearing minerals and determine Fe3+/Fe2+ ratios, allowing more realistic modeling of Martian mineralogy and geochemistry. To properly interpret the spectra acquired by these instruments, we must understand the Mossbauer parameters of minerals that we might expect to find on Mars. We present here a summary of predicted Fe-bearing minerals that might be observed by the MER Moessbauer spectrometers, based upon previous and our own on-going work.