Global mineralogical and aqueous mars history derived from OMEGA/Mars express data

J.-P. Bibring (1) , Y. Langevin (1) , John F. Mustard (2) , F. Poulet (1) , Raymond Arvidson (3) , Aline Gendrin (1, 2) , B. Gondet (1) , Nicolas Mangold (4) , P. Pinet (5) , F. Forget (6) , The Omega Team , Michel Berthe (1) , Cecile Gomez (1) , Denis Jouglet (1) , Alain Soufflot (1) , M. Vincendon (1) , M. Combes (7) , P. Drossart (7) , T. Encrenaz (7) , T. Fouchet (7) , R. Melchiorri (7) , G. Bellucci (8) , F. Altieri (8) , V. Formisano (8) , F. Capaccioni (9) , P. Cerroni (9) , A. Coradini (9) , S. Fonti (10) , O. Korablev (11) , Volodia Kottsov (11) , N. Ignatiev (11) , L. V. Moroz (11) , D. Titov (11) , Ludmilla Zasova (11) , Damien Loiseau (4) , Sylvain Douté (12) , Bernard Schmitt (12) , Christophe Sotin (13) , Ernst Hauber (14) , Harald Hoffmann (14) , R. Jaumann (14) , U. Keller (15) , Tom Duxbury (16) , G. Neukum (17)

1 IAS - Institut d'astrophysique spatiale
2 Department of Geological Sciences [Providence]
3 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences [St Louis]
4 IDES - Interactions et dynamique des environnements de surface
5 UMS 831 - Services communs OMP
6 LMD - Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539)
7 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique
8 IFSI - Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario
9 IASF-Roma - Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica - Roma
10 Dipartimento di Fisica
11 IKI - Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences
12 LPG - Laboratoire de Planétologie de Grenoble
13 LPG - Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique [UMR 6112]
14 DLR - German Aerospace Center
15 MPS - Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung = Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
16 JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
17 Freie Universität Berlin

Global mineralogical mapping of Mars by the Observatoire pour la Mineralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces et l'Activite (OMEGA) instrument on the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft provides new information on Mars' geological and climatic history. Phyllosilicates formed by aqueous alteration very early in the planet's history (the "phyllocian" era) are found in the oldest terrains; sulfates were formed in a second era (the "theiikian" era) in an acidic environment. Beginning about 3.5 billion years ago, the last era (the "siderikian") is dominated by the formation of anhydrous ferric oxides in a slow superficial weathering, without liquid water playing a major role across the planet.

Mots clés: GUSEV CRATER; SPIRIT ROVER; SURFACE; IDENTIFICATION; MERIDIANI; DIVERSITY; EVOLUTION; CLIMATE; CRUST; DUST

Domaines: Planète et Univers [physics]

J.-P. Bibring, Y. Langevin, John F. Mustard, F. Poulet, Raymond Arvidson, et al.. Global mineralogical and aqueous mars history derived from OMEGA/Mars express data. Science, 2006, 312 (5772), pp.400-404. ⟨10.1126/science.1122659⟩. ⟨insu-00363634⟩