Abstract
Several volcanic outcrops from Tenerife Island (Las Canadas Caldera, historical volcanism and Gu.imar-Malpais outcrop) has been selected as a potential terrestrial analog for Mars, regarding the Martian mineralogy and its volcanic characteristic. Diverse alteration processes, including weathering and hydrothermal alteration have been detected in these volcanics environments, which could be considered as part of a model for the primitive volcanic activity of Mars. The selected materials have been measured by micro-Raman spectroscopy, XRD and Mossbauer spectroscopy. The results show the primary mineralogy comprises on olivine, pyroxene and feldspar. Also, a wide variety of alterational materials, including oxides, clay minerals and carbonates have been detected. The results have proven to be a starting point to develop research focused to the development of science instrumentation for planetary exploration in volcanic environments. The instrumentation used was primarily through twin prototypes applied in space exploration such as XRD (on board at the NASA-MSL-Curiosity mission), Mossbauer spectroscopy (on board at the NASA-MER mission) and the future Raman instrument on ESA mission -ExoMars. In addition, the detected mineralogy is consistent with results reported on Mars. The Raman spectral analisys methods, characterization and identification, have been applied, where the analysis of the Raman profiles are extremely useful to clarify the geochemical origin of the mineral species. On the other hand, the results obtained by Raman have been confirmed by Mossbauer spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction.
Highlights
El éxito de las misiones planetarias depende del desarrollo de la ciencia asociada a los instrumentos a bordo de los orbitadores, “landers” o “rovers”
El estudio preliminar de minerales en afloramientos terrestres considerados “análogos terrestres de Marte” supone un paso más a la hora de explorar las capacidades analíticas de las técnicas implicadas en misiones planetarias. (Lalla et al, 2010)
Las distintas técnicas implicadas en misiones de exploración marciana como la difracción de rayos X, la espectroscopia IR y la espectroscopia Mössbauer han sido (y son) capaces de obtener información sobre los diferentes entornos geológicos en Marte (Klingelhofer et al, 2003; Ellery et al, 2003)
Summary
Fig. 1.—Imágenes comparativas de la morfología de la (a-b) Caldera de Las Cañadas y la (c-d) Caldera del Monte Olimpo (Créditos: NASA, 2000 y ESA, 2008). Las distintas técnicas implicadas en misiones de exploración marciana como la difracción de rayos X, la espectroscopia IR y la espectroscopia Mössbauer han sido (y son) capaces de obtener información sobre los diferentes entornos geológicos en Marte (Klingelhofer et al, 2003; Ellery et al, 2003). El uso de esta técnica en futuras misiones, como la misión ESA-ExoMars, requiere la caracterización previa de zonas y materiales en nuestro planeta, que puedan servir de análogos a las zonas que serán analizadas en Marte; de esta manera se conseguirá un mejor desarrollo y consolidación de los métodos de trabajo automatizado del instrumento Raman que irá a bordo de esta misión (Barnes et al, 2006; Rull et al, 2011). Esta selección incluye la Caldera de las Cañadas, las erupciones históricas (Lavas Negras y el Volcán del Chinyero) y la zona del Malpaís de Güimar
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
