Processes of Formation of Spheroidal Concretions and Inferences for "Blueberries" in Meridiani Planum Sediments

The MER Opportunity Athena Science team has described spheroidal hematite nodules in sediments at Meridiani Planum on Mars [1]. They were informally referred to as "Blueberries" in the initial press releases and for brevity that is the name to be used in this abstract. Not all spheroidal objects in sediments are nodular concretions, but this paper will discuss the diagenetic processes possibly relevant to understanding the origin of the Blueberries. There are many occurrences of spheroidal diagenetic concretions in terrestrial sediments and detailed work has been done to understand the processes of their formation. In particular, it is possible to reconstruct the controls on their shapes and compositions, both mineral and chemical. Although there may not be good analogs for the Meridiani Planum hematite spherules on Earth, it may be possible to deduce the former environmental conditions that led to their formation and whether they might retain (or even be) biosignatures.