¹F.Zambon et al. (>10)
Icarus (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2017.09.021]
¹INAF-IAPS Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali, Via del Fosso del Cavaliere, 100, I-00133 Rome, Italy
Copyright Elsevier

Quadrangle Ac-H-10 ‘Rongo’ (Lat 22°S to 22°N, Lon 288°E-360°E) shows a fairly homogeneous topography, with the presence of notable elevations such as Ahuna Mons, Liberalia Mons, and part of Samhain and Uhola Catenae. The deepest areas correspond to the Rongo crater region, the areas between Samhain and Uhola catenae, and the region of the quadrangle south of Ahuna Mons. A substantial variability in the 2.7-µm band depth distribution is observed across the Rongo quadrangle, indicating an east-west gradient in the abundance of Mg-phyllosilicates. The NH4-phyllosilicates distribution appears quite homogeneous, except some localized regions, such as crater Haulani’s ejecta, the flanks of Ahuna Mons, and crater Begbalel. The two band depths at 2.7 and 3.1 µm display an overall low correlation, suggesting a variable degree of mixing between Mg-phyllosilicates and NH4-phyllosilicates. At the local scale, mineralogical phases other than phyllosilicates are observed. Quadrangle Rongo includes sodium carbonate-rich regions, such as the flanks of Ahuna Mons, a crater Xevioso located in the southern edge of Liberalia Mons, and crater Begbalel, which often display a reduction in both the 2.7- and 3.1-µm band depths, associated with an increased band depth at ∼4 µm, related to the presence of Na-rich carbonate phases. This suggests recent hydrothermal activity in this area, due to several episodes of cryovolcanism, or impacts that unveiled a peculiar composition in the shallow subsurface. Alternatively, the crust in this region might show a variable degree of compactness, such that the formation of Na-carbonates is favored only in specific locations (De Sanctis et al., 2016; Ruesch et al., 2016; Zambon et al., 2017). From a geological standpoint, quadrangle Ac-H-10 Rongo shows a correlation between its two main geologic units (Platz et al., 2017) and the distribution of Mg-phyllosilicates, suggesting a link between geology and mineralogy in this area.

^1,2M.R.M. Izawa, ¹E.A. Cloutis, ¹T. Rhind, ³S.A. Mertzman, ¹Jordan Poitras, ¹Daniel M. Applin, ¹P. Mann
Icarus (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2017.09.005]
¹Department of Geography, Univeristy of Winnipeg, Winnipeg MB R3B 2E9 Canada
²Institute for Planetary Materials, Okayama University – Misasa, 827 Yamada, Misasa, Tottori, Japan
³Department of Earth and Environment, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA 17604-2615
Copyright Elsevier

The utility of spectral reflectance for identification of the main end-member garnets: almandine (Fe2+3Al2Si3O12), andradite (Ca3Fe3+2Si3O12), grossular (Ca3Al2Si3O12), pyrope (Mg3Al2Si3O12), spessartine (Mn2+3Al2Si3O12), and uvarovite (Ca3Cr3+2Si3O12) was studied using a suite of 60 garnet samples. Compositional and structural data for the samples, along with previous studies, were used to elucidate the mechanisms that control their spectral reflectance properties. Various cation substitutions result in different spectral properties that can be determine the presence of various optically-active cations and help differentiate between garnet types. It was found that different wavelength regions are sensitive to different compositional and structural properties of garnets. Crystal-field absorptions involving Fe2+ and/or Fe3+ are responsible for the majority of spectral features in the garnet minerals examined here. There can also be spectral features associated with other cations and mechanisms, such as Fe2+-Fe3+ and Fe2+-Ti4+ intervalence charge transfers. The visible wavelength region is useful for identifying the presence of various cations, in particular, Fe (and its oxidation state), Ti4+, Mn2+, and Cr3+. In the case of andradite, spessartine and uvarovite, the visible region absorption bands are characteristic of these garnets in the sense that they are associated with the major cation that distinguishes each: [6]Fe3+ for andradite, [8]Mn2+ for spessartine, and [6]Cr3+ for uvarovite. For grossular, the presence of small amounts of Fe3+ leads to absorption bands near 0.370 and 0.435 µm. These bands are also seen in pyrope-almandine spectra, which also commonly have additional absorption bands, due to the presence of Fe2+. The common presence of Fe2+ in the dodecahedral site of natural garnets gives rise to three Fe2+ spin-allowed absorption bands in the 1.3, 1.7, and 2.3 µm regions, providing a strong spectral fingerprint for all Fe2+-bearing garnets studied here. Garnets containing Mn2+ have additional visible (∼0.41 µm) spectral features due to [8]Mn2+. Garnets containing Cr3+, exhibits two strong absorption bands near ∼0.7 µm due to spin-forbidden [6]Cr3+ transitions, as well as [6]Cr3+ spin-allowed features near 0.4-0.41 µm and 0.56-0.62 µm, and [6]Cr3+ spin-allowed transitions between 0.41 and 0.68 µm. Common silicate garnet spectra, in summary, are distinct from many other rock-forming silicates and can be spectrally distinct from one garnet species to another. Iron dominates the spectral properties of garnets, and the crystallographic site