Introduction: The gray crystalline hematite on Mars was detected in three regions, Sinus Meridiani, Aram Chaos and Valles Marineris by the thermal emission spectrometer (TES) onboard the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) orbiter [e.g.1, 2]. The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Opportunity confirmed that hematite-rich spherules (~ 4.2 mm) are embedded in sulfur-rich layered outcrops and accumulated on the ...

Amazonian The youngest of the geologic epochs on Mars identified through geoiogic mapping of superposition relations, and the area! density of impact craters. caldera An irregular collapse feature formed over the evacuated magma chamber within a volcano. central volcano Emplacement of volcanic materials from a centralized source vent rather than along a distributed line of vents, composite volc...

We examined the potential use of lead (Pb) isotopes to source archaeological materials from the Maya region of Mesoamerica. The main objectives were to determine if: 1) geologic terrains throughout the Maya area exhibit distinct lead isotope ratios (206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, and 208Pb/204Pb), and 2) a combination of lead and strontium ratios can enhance sourcing procedures in the Mesoamerica re...

High Mobility Requirement for Exploration of Rugged Terrain: Reconfigurable architecture [1,2] is essential in exploration because reaching features of the great potential interest, whether searching for life in volcanic terrain or water in at the bottom of craters, will require crossing a wide range of terrains [3]. Such areas of interest are largely inaccessible to permanently appendaged vehi...

Introduction: Numerous studies over the past decade have demonstrated that microbial life rapidly colonizes terrestrial subaqueous volcanic glass [1-5]. Evidence for microbial alteration of terrestrial subaqueous volcanic rocks has been reported from modern ocean crust, ophiolites, and Archean greenstone belts [1-5]. Microbial alteration structures with characteristic granular and tubular morph...

New U-Th-Pb zircon data (SIMS) from three intrusive phases of the Palaeoproterozoic Viterliden intrusion in the western Skellefte District, central Fennoscandian Shield, dates igneous emplacement in a narrow time interval at about 1.89 Ga. A locally occurring quartz-plagioclase porphyritic tonalite, here dated at 1889± 3 Ma, is considered the youngest of the intrusive units, based on the new ag...

The Rare Earth Elements (REEs) have been widely used to investigate marine biogeochemical processes as well as the sources and mixing of water masses. However, there are still important uncertainties about the global aqueous REE cycle with respect to the contributions of highly reactive basaltic minerals originating from volcanic islands and the role of Submarine Groundwater Discharge (SGD). He...