Shock Vaporization/Devolatilization of Evaporitic Minerals, Halite and Gypsum, in an Open System Investigated by a Two‐Stage Light Gas Gun
Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: Dry lakebeds might constitute large volatile reservoirs on Mars. Hypervelocity impacts onto ancient dry lakebeds would have affected the volatile distribution on Mars. We developed a new experimental method to investigate the response of evaporitic minerals (halite and gypsum) to impact shocks in an open system. This technique does not result in chemical contamination from the operation of the gas gun. The technique is termed the “two‐valve method,” and the gun system is located in the Planetary Exploration Research Center, Chiba Institute of Technology, Japan. We detected the vaporization of halite at 31 GPa and devolatilization from gypsum at 11 GPa, suggesting that impact‐induced volatile release from dry lakebeds has periodically occurred throughout Martian history. The vaporization of halite deposits might have enhanced the production of perchlorates, which are found globally on Mars. The water loss from gypsum possibly explains the coexisting types of Ca‐sulfates found in Gale Crater.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1029/2019gl083249
Language: English
Subfield: Space and Planetary Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Awards: Gas-phase chemical analysis in an open system using a 2-stage light gas gun, G2572172976, Study on impact spallation: Material transfer between planetary bodies by impacts, Nitrogen fluxes and chemical evolution potential in the Hadean Earth addressed by simulated experiments, Development of Ne measurement instrument for ultra-small Mars missions, An experimental study on the decomposition of organic matters in the early solar system by impact-generated super critical water, G5560377009, From Protoplanetary Disks to the Solar System: Chemical Evolution of Organic Molecules, G6202142290, G6954769600, Impact-induced lightning: A new perspective on the paleoenvironment of planets, Reconstruction of impact histories in early solar system based on shock metamorphic features in meteorites, Development of an infrared spectro-microtomography using a Mid-IR supercontinuum laser, G902135579
OpenAlex ID: W2952093386