Geologic setting of serpentine deposits on Mars

Serpentine, recently discovered on Mars using Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter data, is uncommon but found in three geologic settings: (1) in melange terrains at the Claritas Rise and the Nili Fossae, (2) associated with a few southern highlands impact craters, and (3) associated with a regional olivine-rich stratigraphic unit near the Isidis basin. Any presently active serpentinization processes would be occurring beneath the surface and mineral products would not be apparent with surface and orbital data; however, finding serpentine in several Noachian terrains indicates active serpentinization processes in Mars' past. Important implications are the past production of magnetite, which may contribute to chemical remnant magnetization of Mars' crust, and production of H-2, which is a suitable energy source for chemosynthetic microbial life. Citation: Ehlmann, B. L., J. F. Mustard, and S. L. Murchie (2010), Geologic setting of serpentine deposits on Mars, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L06201, doi: 10.1029/2010GL042596.