Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 341, Issue 6153, Pages -Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.1238937
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- UK Space Agency [ST/I003118/1] Funding Source: researchfish
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Samples from the Rocknest aeolian deposit were heated to similar to 835 degrees C under helium flow and evolved gases analyzed by Curiosity's Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite. H2O, SO2, CO2, and O-2 were the major gases released. Water abundance (1.5 to 3 weight percent) and release temperature suggest that H2O is bound within an amorphous component of the sample. Decomposition of fine-grained Fe or Mg carbonate is the likely source of much of the evolved CO2. Evolved O-2 is coincident with the release of Cl, suggesting that oxygen is produced from thermal decomposition of an oxychloride compound. Elevated delta D values are consistent with recent atmospheric exchange. Carbon isotopes indicate multiple carbon sources in the fines. Several simple organic compounds were detected, but they are not definitively martian in origin.
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