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Science 5 December 1997:
Vol. 278. no. 5344, pp. 1771 - 1774
DOI: 10.1126/science.278.5344.1771
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Reports

The Chemical Composition of Martian Soil and Rocks Returned by the Mobile Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer: Preliminary Results from the X-ray Mode

R. Rieder, T. Economou, H. Wänke, * A. Turkevich, J. Crisp, J. Brückner, G. Dreibus, H. Y. McSween Jr.

The alpha proton x-ray spectrometer (APXS) on board the rover of the Mars Pathfinder mission measured the chemical composition of six soils and five rocks at the Ares Vallis landing site. The soil analyses show similarity to those determined by the Viking missions. The analyzed rocks were partially covered by dust but otherwise compositionally similar to each other. They are unexpectedly high in silica and potassium, but low in magnesium compared to martian soils and martian meteorites. The analyzed rocks are similar in composition to terrestrial andesites and close to the mean composition of Earth's crust. Addition of a mafic component and reaction products of volcanic gases to the local rock material is necessary to explain the soil composition.

R. Rieder, H. Wänke, J. Brückner, G. Dreibus, Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie, P.O. Box 3060, D-55020 Mainz, Germany.
T. Economou and A. Turkevich, Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
J. Crisp, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
H. Y. McSween Jr., Department of Geological Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: waenke{at}mpch-mainz.mpg.de

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