Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Published Online February 17, 2005
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1108806

Research Articles

Submitted on December 16, 2004
Accepted on February 9, 2005

Mars Surface Diversity as Revealed by the OMEGA/Mars Express Observations

Jean-Pierre Bibring 1*, Yves Langevin 1, Aline Gendrin 1, Brigitte Gondet 1, François Poulet 1, Michel Berthé 1, Alain Soufflot 1, Ray Arvidson 2, Nicolas Mangold 3, John Mustard 4, Pierre Drossart 5, Michel Berthé 6, Jean-Pierre Bibring 6, Stéphane Erard 6, Olivier Forni 6, Aline Gendrin 6, Brigitte Gondet 6, François Poulet 6, Alain Soufflot 6, Michel Combes 5, Pierre Drossart 5, Thérèse Encrenaz 5, Thierry Fouchet 5, Riccardo Merchiorri 5, GianCarlo Belluci 3, Francesca Altieri 3, Vittorio Formisano 3, Guillaume Bonello 7, Fabricio Capaccioni 7, Pricilla Cerroni 7, Angioletta Coradini 7, Sergio Fonti 8, Volodia Kottsov 9, Nikolai Ignatiev 9, Vassili Moroz 9, Dimitri Titov 9, Ludmilla Zasova 9, Nicolas Mangold 10, Patrick Pinet 11, Sylvain Douté 12, Bernard Schmitt 12, Christophe Sotin 13, Ernst Hauber 14, Harald Hoffmann 14, Ralf Jaumann 14, Uwe Keller 15, Ray Arvidson 16, Jack Mustard 17, Tom Duxbury 18, François Forget 19

1 Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, Bâtiment 121, 91405 Orsay Campus, France.
2 Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St Louis, Missouri 63130, USA.
3 IDES, Bâtiment 509, 91405 Orsay Campus, France.
4 Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA.
5 LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Meudon, France.
6 IAS, Orsay Campus, France.
7 IAS-INAF, Rome, Italy.
8 University of Lecce, Italy, Italy.
9 IKI, Moscow, Russia.
10 IDES, Orsay Campus, France.
11 Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France.
12 Laboratoire de Planétologie, Grenoble, France.
13 Planétologie, Université de Nantes, France.
14 DLR, Berlin, Germany.
15 MPAE, Lindau, Germany.
16 Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, Saint-Louis, Missouri, USA.
17 Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
18 JPL, Pasadena, California, USA.
19 LMD, Université Paris 6, Paris, France.

The OMEGA investigation, on board the ESA/Mars Express mission, is mapping the surface composition of Mars, at a 0.3 to 5 km resolution, by means of VIS-NIR hyperspectral reflectance imagery. The data acquired during the first nine months of the mission already reveal a diverse and complex surface mineralogy, offering key insights to the evolution of Mars. OMEGA has identified and mapped mafic iron-bearing silicates of both the northern and southern crust; localized concentrations of hydrated phyllosilicates and sulfates, and no carbonates; ices and frosts, with a water-ice composition of the north polar perennial cap, as for the south cap, covered by a thin CO2 - ice veneer.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Impact-generated hydrothermal systems capable of forming phyllosilicates on Noachian Mars.
S. P. Schwenzer and D. A. Kring (2009)
Geology 37, 1091-1094
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Diverse aqueous environments on ancient Mars revealed in the southern highlands.
J. J. Wray, S. L. Murchie, S. W. Squyres, F. P. Seelos, and L. L. Tornabene (2009)
Geology 37, 1043-1046
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Humidity-induced phase transitions of ferric sulfate minerals studied by in situ and ex situ X-ray diffraction.
W. Xu, N. J. Tosca, S. M. McLennan, and J. B. Parise (2009)
American Mineralogist 94, 1629-1637
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Detection of Perchlorate and the Soluble Chemistry of Martian Soil at the Phoenix Lander Site.
M. H. Hecht, S. P. Kounaves, R. C. Quinn, S. J. West, S. M. M. Young, D. W. Ming, D. C. Catling, B. C. Clark, W. V. Boynton, J. Hoffman, et al. (2009)
Science 325, 64-67
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Structure determination of the 2.5 hydrate MgSO4 phase by simulated annealing.
H. Ma, D. L. Bish, H.-W. Wang, and S. J. Chipera (2009)
American Mineralogist 94, 1071-1074
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Determination of the crystal structure of sanderite, MgSO4{middle dot}2H2O, by X-ray powder diffraction and the charge flipping method.
H. Ma, D. L. Bish, H.-W. Wang, and S. J. Chipera (2009)
American Mineralogist 94, 622-625
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Opaline silica in young deposits on Mars.
R.E. Milliken, G.A. Swayze, R.E. Arvidson, J.L. Bishop, R.N. Clark, B.L. Ehlmann, R.O. Green, J.P. Grotzinger, R.V. Morris, S.L. Murchie, et al. (2008)
Geology 36, 847-850
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Role of DNA Protection and Repair in Resistance of Bacillus subtilis Spores to Ultrahigh Shock Pressures Simulating Hypervelocity Impacts.
R. Moeller, G. Horneck, E. Rabbow, G. Reitz, C. Meyer, U. Hornemann, and D. Stoffler (2008)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 74, 6682-6689
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Phyllosilicate Diversity and Past Aqueous Activity Revealed at Mawrth Vallis, Mars.
J. L. Bishop, E. Z. N. Dobrea, N. K. McKeown, M. Parente, B. L. Ehlmann, J. R. Michalski, R. E. Milliken, F. Poulet, G. A. Swayze, J. F. Mustard, et al. (2008)
Science 321, 830-833
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Olivine dissolution by acidic fluids in Argyre Planitia, Mars: Evidence for a widespread process?.
J. L. Bandfield and A. D. Rogers (2008)
Geology 36, 579-582
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Reflectance and emission spectroscopy study of four groups of phyllosilicates: smectites, kaolinite-serpentines, chlorites and micas.
J. L. BISHOP, M. D. LANE, M. D. DYAR, and A. J. BROWN (2008)
Clay Minerals 43, 35-54
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Basalt weathering rates on Earth and the duration of liquid water on the plains of Gusev Crater, Mars.
E. M. Hausrath, A. K. Navarre-Sitchler, P. B. Sak, C. I. Steefel, and S. L. Brantley (2008)
Geology 36, 67-70
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Planetary science: Multiple data sets, multiple scales, and unlocking the third dimension.
P. Martin and E. R. Stofan (2007)
Geosphere 3, 435-455
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Using a mineral lifetime diagram to evaluate the persistence of olivine on Mars.
A. A. Olsen and J. D. Rimstidt (2007)
American Mineralogist 92, 598-602
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
CHARACTERIZATION OF ALTERATION PRODUCTS IN TEPHRA FROM HALEAKALA, MAUI: A VISIBLE-INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY, MOSSBAUER SPECTROSCOPY, XRD, EMPA AND TEM STUDY.
J. L. Bishop, P. Schiffman, E. Murad, M. D. Dyar, A. Drief, and M. D. Lane (2007)
Clays and Clay Minerals 55, 1-17
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Martian Atmospheric Erosion Rates.
S. Barabash, A. Fedorov, R. Lundin, and J.-A. Sauvaud (2007)
Science 315, 501-503
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Crystal molds on Mars: Melting of a possible new mineral species to create Martian chaotic terrain.
R. C. Peterson and R. Wang (2006)
Geology 34, 957-960
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The carbon cycle on early Earth--and on Mars?.
M. M Grady and I. Wright (2006)
Phil Trans R Soc B 361, 1703-1713
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Transformations of Mg- and Ca-sulfate hydrates in Mars regolith.
D. T. Vaniman and S. J. Chipera (2006)
American Mineralogist 91, 1628-1642
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Orbital Search for Altered Materials on Mars.
M. B. Wyatt and H. Y. McSween Jr. (2006)
Elements 2, 145-150
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Global mineralogical and aqueous mars history derived from OMEGA/Mars Express data..
J.-P. Bibring, Y. Langevin, J. F. Mustard, F. Poulet, R. Arvidson, A. Gendrin, B. Gondet, N. Mangold, P. Pinet, F. Forget, et al. (2006)
Science 312, 400-404
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The visible and infrared spectral properties of jarosite and alunite.
J. L. Bishop and E. Murad (2005)
American Mineralogist 90, 1100-1107
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Ancient Mars: Wet in Many Places.
D. A. Paige (2005)
Science 307, 1575-1576
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Spectral Reflectance and Morphologic Correlations in Eastern Terra Meridiani, Mars.
R. E. Arvidson, F. Poulet, J.-P. Bibring, M. Wolff, A. Gendrin, R. V. Morris, J. J. Freeman, Y. Langevin, N. Mangold, and G. Bellucci (2005)
Science 307, 1591-1594
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Summer Evolution of the North Polar Cap of Mars as Observed by OMEGA/Mars Express.
Y. Langevin, F. Poulet, J.-P. Bibring, B. Schmitt, S. Doute, and B. Gondet (2005)
Science 307, 1581-1584
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Olivine and Pyroxene Diversity in the Crust of Mars.
J. F. Mustard, F. Poulet, A. Gendrin, J.-P. Bibring, Y. Langevin, B. Gondet, N. Mangold, G. Bellucci, and F. Altieri (2005)
Science 307, 1594-1597
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sulfates in the North Polar Region of Mars Detected by OMEGA/Mars Express.
Y. Langevin, F. Poulet, J.-P. Bibring, and B. Gondet (2005)
Science 307, 1584-1586
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sulfates in Martian Layered Terrains: The OMEGA/Mars Express View.
A. Gendrin, N. Mangold, J.-P. Bibring, Y. Langevin, B. Gondet, F. Poulet, G. Bonello, C. Quantin, J. Mustard, R. Arvidson, et al. (2005)
Science 307, 1587-1591
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)