Understanding the signature of rock coatings in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy data

Nina L. Lanza; Ann M. Ollila; Agnes Cousin; Roger C. Wiens; Samuel Clegg; Nicolas Mangold; Nathan Bridges; Daniel Cooper; Mariek Schmidt; Jeffrey Berger; Raymond Arvidson; Noureddine Melikechi; Horton E. Newsom; Robert Tokar; Craig Hardgrove; Alissa Mezzacappa; Ryan S. Jackson; Benton Clark; Olivier Forni; Sylvestre Maurice; Marion Nachon; Ryan B. Anderson; Jennifer Blank; Matthew Deans; Dorothea Delapp; Richard Léveillé; Rhonda McInroy; Ronald Martinez; Pierre Yves Meslin; Patrick Pinet

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2014.05.038

Understanding the signature of rock coatings in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy data

Nina L. Lanza, Ann M. Ollila, Agnes Cousin, Roger C. Wiens, Samuel Clegg, Nicolas Mangold, Nathan Bridges, Daniel Cooper, Mariek Schmidt, Jeffrey Berger, Raymond Arvidson, Noureddine Melikechi, Horton E. Newsom, Robert Tokar, Craig Hardgrove, Alissa Mezzacappa, Ryan S. Jackson, Benton Clark, Olivier Forni, Sylvestre MauriceMarion Nachon, Ryan B. Anderson, Jennifer Blank, Matthew Deans, Dorothea Delapp, Richard Léveillé, Rhonda McInroy, Ronald Martinez, Pierre Yves Meslin, Patrick Pinet

Earth and Space Exploration, School of (SESE)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

49 Scopus citations

Abstract

Surface compositional features on rocks such as coatings and weathering rinds provide important information about past aqueous environments and water-rock interactions. The search for these features represents an important aspect of the Curiosity rover mission. With its unique ability to do fine-scale chemical depth profiling, the ChemCam laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy instrument (LIBS) onboard Curiosity can be used to both identify and analyze rock surface alteration features. In this study we analyze a terrestrial manganese-rich rock varnish coating on a basalt rock in the laboratory with the ChemCam engineering model to determine the LIBS signature of a natural rock coating. Results show that there is a systematic decrease in peak heights for elements such as Mn that are abundant in the coating but not the rock. There is significant spatial variation in the relative abundance of coating elements detected by LIBS depending on where on the rock surface sampled; this is due to the variability in thickness and spatial discontinuities in the coating. Similar trends have been identified in some martian rock targets in ChemCam data, suggesting that these rocks may have coatings or weathering rinds on their surfaces.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	62-73
Number of pages	12
Journal	Icarus
Volume	249
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2014.05.038
State	Published - Mar 5 2015

Keywords

Experimental techniques
Geological processes
Mars, surface
Spectroscopy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

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10.1016/j.icarus.2014.05.038

Cite this

Lanza, N. L., Ollila, A. M., Cousin, A., Wiens, R. C., Clegg, S., Mangold, N., Bridges, N., Cooper, D., Schmidt, M., Berger, J., Arvidson, R., Melikechi, N., Newsom, H. E., Tokar, R., Hardgrove, C., Mezzacappa, A., Jackson, R. S., Clark, B., Forni, O., ... Pinet, P. (2015). Understanding the signature of rock coatings in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy data. Icarus, 249, 62-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2014.05.038

Lanza, NL, Ollila, AM, Cousin, A, Wiens, RC, Clegg, S, Mangold, N, Bridges, N, Cooper, D, Schmidt, M, Berger, J, Arvidson, R, Melikechi, N, Newsom, HE, Tokar, R, Hardgrove, C, Mezzacappa, A, Jackson, RS, Clark, B, Forni, O, Maurice, S, Nachon, M, Anderson, RB, Blank, J, Deans, M, Delapp, D, Léveillé, R, McInroy, R, Martinez, R, Meslin, PY & Pinet, P 2015, 'Understanding the signature of rock coatings in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy data', Icarus, vol. 249, pp. 62-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2014.05.038

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title = "Understanding the signature of rock coatings in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy data",

abstract = "Surface compositional features on rocks such as coatings and weathering rinds provide important information about past aqueous environments and water-rock interactions. The search for these features represents an important aspect of the Curiosity rover mission. With its unique ability to do fine-scale chemical depth profiling, the ChemCam laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy instrument (LIBS) onboard Curiosity can be used to both identify and analyze rock surface alteration features. In this study we analyze a terrestrial manganese-rich rock varnish coating on a basalt rock in the laboratory with the ChemCam engineering model to determine the LIBS signature of a natural rock coating. Results show that there is a systematic decrease in peak heights for elements such as Mn that are abundant in the coating but not the rock. There is significant spatial variation in the relative abundance of coating elements detected by LIBS depending on where on the rock surface sampled; this is due to the variability in thickness and spatial discontinuities in the coating. Similar trends have been identified in some martian rock targets in ChemCam data, suggesting that these rocks may have coatings or weathering rinds on their surfaces.",

keywords = "Experimental techniques, Geological processes, Mars, surface, Spectroscopy",

author = "Lanza, {Nina L.} and Ollila, {Ann M.} and Agnes Cousin and Wiens, {Roger C.} and Samuel Clegg and Nicolas Mangold and Nathan Bridges and Daniel Cooper and Mariek Schmidt and Jeffrey Berger and Raymond Arvidson and Noureddine Melikechi and Newsom, {Horton E.} and Robert Tokar and Craig Hardgrove and Alissa Mezzacappa and Jackson, {Ryan S.} and Benton Clark and Olivier Forni and Sylvestre Maurice and Marion Nachon and Anderson, {Ryan B.} and Jennifer Blank and Matthew Deans and Dorothea Delapp and Richard L{\'e}veill{\'e} and Rhonda McInroy and Ronald Martinez and Meslin, {Pierre Yves} and Patrick Pinet",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the Mars Science Laboratory project, with additional support from the Centre National d{\textquoteright}Etudes Spatiales (CNES) on the French part of the ChemCam project. We wish to thank M. Spilde for assistance with the SEM and two anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2014 Elsevier Inc.",

year = "2015",

month = mar,

day = "5",

doi = "10.1016/j.icarus.2014.05.038",

language = "English (US)",

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T1 - Understanding the signature of rock coatings in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy data

AU - Lanza, Nina L.

AU - Ollila, Ann M.

AU - Cousin, Agnes

AU - Wiens, Roger C.

AU - Clegg, Samuel

AU - Mangold, Nicolas

AU - Bridges, Nathan

AU - Cooper, Daniel

AU - Schmidt, Mariek

AU - Berger, Jeffrey

AU - Arvidson, Raymond

AU - Melikechi, Noureddine

AU - Newsom, Horton E.

AU - Tokar, Robert

AU - Hardgrove, Craig

AU - Mezzacappa, Alissa

AU - Jackson, Ryan S.

AU - Clark, Benton

AU - Forni, Olivier

AU - Maurice, Sylvestre

AU - Nachon, Marion

AU - Anderson, Ryan B.

AU - Blank, Jennifer

AU - Deans, Matthew

AU - Delapp, Dorothea

AU - Léveillé, Richard

AU - McInroy, Rhonda

AU - Martinez, Ronald

AU - Meslin, Pierre Yves

AU - Pinet, Patrick

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the Mars Science Laboratory project, with additional support from the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) on the French part of the ChemCam project. We wish to thank M. Spilde for assistance with the SEM and two anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments. Publisher Copyright: © 2014 Elsevier Inc.

PY - 2015/3/5

Y1 - 2015/3/5

N2 - Surface compositional features on rocks such as coatings and weathering rinds provide important information about past aqueous environments and water-rock interactions. The search for these features represents an important aspect of the Curiosity rover mission. With its unique ability to do fine-scale chemical depth profiling, the ChemCam laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy instrument (LIBS) onboard Curiosity can be used to both identify and analyze rock surface alteration features. In this study we analyze a terrestrial manganese-rich rock varnish coating on a basalt rock in the laboratory with the ChemCam engineering model to determine the LIBS signature of a natural rock coating. Results show that there is a systematic decrease in peak heights for elements such as Mn that are abundant in the coating but not the rock. There is significant spatial variation in the relative abundance of coating elements detected by LIBS depending on where on the rock surface sampled; this is due to the variability in thickness and spatial discontinuities in the coating. Similar trends have been identified in some martian rock targets in ChemCam data, suggesting that these rocks may have coatings or weathering rinds on their surfaces.

AB - Surface compositional features on rocks such as coatings and weathering rinds provide important information about past aqueous environments and water-rock interactions. The search for these features represents an important aspect of the Curiosity rover mission. With its unique ability to do fine-scale chemical depth profiling, the ChemCam laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy instrument (LIBS) onboard Curiosity can be used to both identify and analyze rock surface alteration features. In this study we analyze a terrestrial manganese-rich rock varnish coating on a basalt rock in the laboratory with the ChemCam engineering model to determine the LIBS signature of a natural rock coating. Results show that there is a systematic decrease in peak heights for elements such as Mn that are abundant in the coating but not the rock. There is significant spatial variation in the relative abundance of coating elements detected by LIBS depending on where on the rock surface sampled; this is due to the variability in thickness and spatial discontinuities in the coating. Similar trends have been identified in some martian rock targets in ChemCam data, suggesting that these rocks may have coatings or weathering rinds on their surfaces.

KW - Experimental techniques

KW - Geological processes

KW - Mars, surface

KW - Spectroscopy

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SN - 0019-1035

VL - 249

SP - 62

EP - 73

JO - Icarus

JF - Icarus

ER -

Understanding the signature of rock coatings in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy data

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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