1D. Das et al. (>10)
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press)
Open Access
Link to Article [DOI: 10.1111/maps.70237]
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons
Boron and lithium have been observed in Ca-sulfate veins of Gale crater. These elements are highly water mobile and can inform us regarding the aqueous processes that may have taken place in Gale crater. However, the analysis of B in Gale crater is limited to low-Fe rocks and minerals due to spectral interference of Fe with B in ChemCam data. We investigate the distribution of B and Li in various phases (veins, sheet silicate mineral-rich sedimentary rocks, salts, and igneous materials) within samples collected from Death Valley and surrounding locations in Southern California, which we use as a terrestrial analog for Gale crater. In the terrestrial analog samples set that we study, B concentration is found to be predominantly associated with borate minerals while elevated Li concentration is linked with the presence of sheet silicate minerals. Based on these observations, we suggest that B enrichment as evaporites such as borates may have formed during evaporation of borate-enriched fluids in drier atmospheric conditions while Li enrichment may have taken place due to surface adsorption to sheet silicate minerals. Prior literature indicated that different fluid pH conditions and atmospheric humidity levels are necessary for borate enrichment and Li adsorption. The process of adsorption to the surface of sheet silicates is attributed to high pH aqueous conditions while the formation of borate minerals is attributed to a combination of low aqueous pH and high evaporative atmospheric conditions. We infer that the coexistence of borate minerals and Li-containing sheet silicates is indicative of multiple generations of aqueous conditions that likely took place over multiple seasonal cycles. We extend our inference to Gale crater and draw from the similarities between dry-lake deposits of Death Valley to provide a terrestrial-analog backed hypothesis on B and Li enrichment on Mars. We conclude that multiple early and late-stage aqueous events that may have involved the participation of groundwater activity were likely present to account for the observations in Gale crater.
