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Sulfates in Martian Layered Terrains: The OMEGA/Mars Express View
Le Mouélic, Stéphane; Gendrin, Aline; Mangold, Nicolas +8 more
The OMEGA/Mars Express hyperspectral imager identified hydrated sulfates on light-toned layered terrains on Mars. Outcrops in Valles Marineris, Margaritifer Sinus, and Terra Meridiani show evidence for kieserite, gypsum, and polyhydrated sulfates. This identification has its basis in vibrational absorptions between 1.3 and 2.5 micrometers. These m…
Mars Surface Diversity as Revealed by the OMEGA/Mars Express Observations
Sotin, Christophe; Fouchet, Thierry; Drossart, P. +39 more
The Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces, et l'Activité (OMEGA) investigation, on board the European Space Agency Mars Express mission, is mapping the surface composition of Mars at a 0.3- to 5-kilometer resolution by means of visible-near-infrared hyperspectral reflectance imagery. The data acquired during the first 9 months of the…
Sulfates in the North Polar Region of Mars Detected by OMEGA/Mars Express
Bibring, Jean-Pierre; Langevin, Yves; Gondet, Brigitte +1 more
The Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces, et l'Activité (OMEGA) imaging spectrometer observed the northern circumpolar regions of Mars at a resolution of a few kilometers. An extended region at 240°E, 85°N, with an area of 60 kilometers by 200 kilometers, exhibits absorptions at wavelengths of 1.45, 1.75, 1.94, 2.22, 2.26, and 2.48 …
Olivine and Pyroxene Diversity in the Crust of Mars
Mangold, N.; Bibring, J. -P.; Gendrin, A. +6 more
Data from the Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces, et l'Activité (OMEGA) on the Mars Express spacecraft identify the distinct mafic, rock-forming minerals olivine, low-calcium pyroxene (LCP), and high-calcium pyroxene (HCP) on the surface of Mars. Olivine- and HCP-rich regions are found in deposits that span the age range of geolog…
Radar Soundings of the Subsurface of Mars
Gurnett, Donald A.; Johnson, William T. K.; Stofan, Ellen R. +31 more
The martian subsurface has been probed to kilometer depths by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding instrument aboard the Mars Express orbiter. Signals penetrate the polar layered deposits, probably imaging the base of the deposits. Data from the northern lowlands of Chryse Planitia have revealed a shallowly buried quasi-…
Radar Soundings of the Ionosphere of Mars
Gurnett, D. A.; Persoon, A. M.; Averkamp, T. F. +8 more
We report the first radar soundings of the ionosphere of Mars with the MARSIS (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding) instrument on board the orbiting Mars Express spacecraft. Several types of ionospheric echoes are observed, ranging from vertical echoes caused by specular reflection from the horizontally stratified ionosphere…
Spectral Reflectance and Morphologic Correlations in Eastern Terra Meridiani, Mars
Mangold, N.; Bibring, J. -P.; Arvidson, R. E. +7 more
The Mars Express Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces, et l'Activité (OMEGA) hyperspectral image data covering eastern Terra Meridiani indicate the ubiquitous presence of molecular water in etched terrain materials that disconformably overlie heavily cratered terrains and underlie the hematite-bearing plains explored by the Opportun…
A Sporadic Third Layer in the Ionosphere of Mars
Pätzold, M.; Häusler, B.; Tellmann, S. +3 more
The daytime martian ionosphere has been observed as a two-layer structure with electron densities that peak at altitudes between about 110 and 130 kilometers. The Mars Express Orbiter Radio Science Experiment on the European Mars Express spacecraft observed, in 10 out of 120 electron density profiles, a third ionospheric layer at altitude ranges o…
Summer Evolution of the North Polar Cap of Mars as Observed by OMEGA/Mars Express
Bibring, J. -P.; Gondet, B.; Langevin, Y. +3 more
The Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces, et l'Activité (OMEGA) visible-infrared imaging spectrometer extensively observed regions of Mars with latitudes above 70°N in late 2004 (heliocentric longitude from Ls 93° to Ls 127°). The extent of water ice at the surface and the size of ice grains were monitored as a…
Nightglow in the Upper Atmosphere of Mars and Implications for Atmospheric Transport
Bertaux, Jean-Loup; Leblanc, François; Perrier, Séverine +8 more
We detected light emissions in the nightside martian atmosphere with the SPICAM (spectroscopy for the investigation of the characteristics of the atmosphere of Mars) ultraviolet (UV) spectrometer on board the Mars Express. The UV spectrum of this nightglow is composed of hydrogen Lyman α emission (121.6 nanometers) and the γ and δ bands of nitric …