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Science 3 December 2004:
Vol. 306. no. 5702, pp. 1733 - 1739
DOI: 10.1126/science.1104909
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Research Articles

Mineralogy at Meridiani Planum from the Mini-TES Experiment on the Opportunity Rover

P. R. Christensen,1* M. B. Wyatt,1 T. D. Glotch,1 A. D. Rogers,1 S. Anwar,1 R. E. Arvidson,2 J. L. Bandfield,1 D. L. Blaney,3 C. Budney,3 W. M. Calvin,4 A. Fallacaro,4 R. L. Fergason,1 N. Gorelick,1 T. G. Graff,1 V. E. Hamilton,5 A. G. Hayes,6 J. R. Johnson,7 A. T. Knudson,1 H. Y. McSween, Jr.,8 G. L. Mehall,1 L. K. Mehall,1 J. E. Moersch,8 R. V. Morris,9 M. D. Smith,10 S. W. Squyres,6 S. W. Ruff,1 M. J. Wolff11

The Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES) on Opportunity investigated the mineral abundances and compositions of outcrops, rocks, and soils at Meridiani Planum. Coarse crystalline hematite and olivine-rich basaltic sands were observed as predicted from orbital TES spectroscopy. Outcrops of aqueous origin are composed of 15 to 35% by volume magnesium and calcium sulfates [a high-silica component modeled as a combination of glass, feldspar, and sheet silicates (~20 to 30%)], and hematite; only minor jarosite is identified in Mini-TES spectra. Mini-TES spectra show only a hematite signature in the millimeter-sized spherules. Basaltic materials have more plagioclase than pyroxene, contain olivine, and are similar in inferred mineral composition to basalt mapped from orbit. Bounce rock is dominated by clinopyroxene and is close in inferred mineral composition to the basaltic martian meteorites. Bright wind streak material matches global dust. Waterlain rocks covered by unaltered basaltic sands suggest a change from an aqueous environment to one dominated by physical weathering.

1 Department of Geological Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
2 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
3 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
4 Department of Geological Science, Reno, NV 89557, USA.
5 Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
6 Department of Astronomy, Space Sciences Building, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
7 U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA.
8 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
9 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
10 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
11 Space Science Institute, Martinez, GA 30907, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: phil.christensen{at}asu.edu

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