Evidence for a Widespread Basaltic Breccia Component in the Martian Low-Albedo Regions from the Reflectance Spectrum of Northwest Africa 7034

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1Kevin M. Cannon, 1John F. Mustard, 2,3Carl B. Agee
1Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, Box 1846, RI 02903, United States
2Institute of Meteoritics, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, United States
3Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, United States

Northwest Africa (NWA) 7034 is the first breccia meteorite from Mars, and unlike the shergottite, nakhlite, and chassignite (SNC) martian meteorites, it matches the estimated chemical composition of martian crust. Here we show that the visible-infrared reflectance spectrum of NWA 7034 is unique compared to other SNCs and is more similar than them to remotely sensed data from Mars, suggesting the martian regolith may contain significant brecciated material produced during heavy bombardment of the crust.

Reference
Cannon KM, Mustard JF, Agee CB (2015) Evidence for a Widespread Basaltic Breccia Component in the Martian Low-Albedo Regions from the Reflectance Spectrum of Northwest Africa 7034. Icarus (in Press)
Link to Article [doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.01.016]

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