Copper enrichments in the Kimberley formation in Gale crater, Mars: Evidence 
for a Cu deposit at the source

Payré, Valérie; Fabre, Cécile; Sautter, Violaine; Cousin, Agnès; Mangold, Nicolas; Le Deit, Laetitia; Forni, Olivier; Goetz, Walter; Wiens, Roger C.; OlivierGasnault,; Meslin, Pierre-Yves; Lasue, Jérémie; Rapin, William; Clark, Ben; Nachon, Marion; Lanza, Nina L.; Maurice, Sylvestre

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2018.12.015

Item

ITEM ACTIONSEXPORT

Add to Basket

Please note that a newer version of this item is available:
https://pure.mpg.de/pubman/item/item_3069178_2

DetailsSummary

Released

Journal Article

Copper enrichments in the Kimberley formation in Gale crater, Mars: Evidence for a Cu deposit at the source

MPS-Authors

/persons/resource/persons103931

Goetz, Walter
Department Planets and Comets, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Max Planck Society;

External Resource

No external resources are shared

Fulltext (restricted access)

There are currently no full texts shared for your IP range.

Fulltext (public)

There are no public fulltexts stored in PuRe

Supplementary Material (public)

There is no public supplementary material available

Citation

Payré, V., Fabre, C., Sautter, V., Cousin, A., Mangold, N., Le Deit, L., et al. (2019). Copper enrichments in the Kimberley formation in Gale crater, Mars: Evidence for a Cu deposit at the source. Icarus, 321, 736-751. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2018.12.015.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0003-CA57-8

Abstract

Copper quantification with laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) using a univariate calibration model enables the ChemCam instrument onboard the Curiosity rover to measure unusually elevated Cu concentrations in potassic sandstones and Mn-oxide-bearing fracture fills in the Kimberley region of Gale crater, Mars. Mostly, the copper phases occurring in sedimentary bedrock are associated with detrital silicates, including feldspars, pyroxenes and K-phyllosilicates, likely coming from a potassic igneous source near the northern crater rim, while those present in the fractures are likely adsorbed on the surface of manganese oxides. These two different mineralogical associations imply at least two distinct processes: Cu enrichment in bedrock at the source, likely during crystallization of the igneous silicates, and adsorption of Cu on Mn-oxides precipitated from groundwater that encountered oxidizing conditions within fractures in the bedrock. The potassic sediments enriched in copper may be evidence of a porphyry copper deposit or an impact-induced hydrothermal deposit in the source region.