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Evidence for pigmentary hematite on Mars based on optical, magnetic, and Moessbauer studies of superparamagnetic (nanocrystalline) hematiteSamples containing variable amounts of superparamagnetic hematite (sp-Hm) were prepared by a method in which the sp-Hm particles were dispersed throughout larger particles of silica gel, and the optical and magnetic properties of these samples were compared with those of larger-diameter hematite (bulk-Hm). It is shown that the optical properties of sp-Hm are different from those of bulk-Hm. Implications of the results for mineralogical interpretations of spectral data for the Martian surface and its terrestrial analogues are discussed. It is concluded that features resulting from ferric iron in the Martian spectral data and the results of the Viking magnetic properties experiment are both consistent with hematite present as both sp-Hm and bulk-Hm; the hematite particles most likely occur in pigmentary form, i.e., as particles dispersed throughout the volume of a spectrally neutral material.
Document ID
19890048456
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Morris, Richard V.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Agresti, David G.
(NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Newcomb, Jeffery A.
(NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Shelfer, Tad D.
(Alabama, University Birmingham, United States)
Lauer, Howard V., Jr.
(Lockheed Engineering and Sciences Co. Houston, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
August 14, 2013
Publication Date
March 10, 1989
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 94
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Accession Number
89A35827
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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