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Cited by 411Planetary Science and ExplorationAstro and Planetary ScienceGeochemistry and Elemental Analysis

X-ray diffraction results from Mars science laboratory: mineralogy of rocknest at Gale Crater

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Bish, D. L., Blake, D. F., Vaniman, D. T., Chipera, S. J., Morris, R. V., Ming, D. W., Treiman, A. H., Sarrazin, P. +457 more·2013·Science
DOI 10.1126/science.1238932
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Abstract

The Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity scooped samples of soil from the Rocknest aeolian bedform in Gale crater. Analysis of the soil with the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) x-ray diffraction (XRD) instrument revealed plagioclase (~An57), forsteritic olivine (~Fo62), augite, and pigeonite, with minor K-feldspar, magnetite, quartz, anhydrite, hematite, and ilmenite. The minor phases are present at, or near, detection limits. The soil also contains 27 ± 14 weight percent x-ray amorphous material, likely containing multiple Fe 3+ - and volatile-bearing phases, including possibly a substance resembling hisingerite. The crystalline component is similar to the normative mineralogy of certain basaltic rocks from Gusev crater on Mars and of martian basaltic meteorites. The amorphous component is similar to that found on Earth in places such as soils on the Mauna Kea volcano, Hawaii.

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  • Rocknest is the best-characterized martian soil to date.

    “Rocknest is the bestcharacterized martian soil to date (Bish et al., 2013; Blake et al., 2013; Leshin et al., 2013; Minitti et al., 2013; Archer et al., 2014; Sutter et al., 2017)”

    From Mars global simulant MGS-1: A Rocknest-based open standard for basaltic martian regolith simulants (2019) · cites this paper as Bish et al., 2013

    The Discussion (page not provided) reports a rich inventory of crystalline and amorphous phases in Rocknest soil and says the XRD results provide critical ground-truth information. This supports Rocknest being well characterized mineralogically, but the paper does not establish that it is the best-characterized Martian soil overall or to date. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Martian soils are a subequal mixture of crystalline and amorphous phases, as revealed by the CheMin instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory.

    “In contrast, martian soils are a subequal mixture of crystalline and amorphous phases, as revealed by the CheMin instrument on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) (Bish et al., 2013; Dehouck et al., 2014).”

    From Mars global simulant MGS-1: A Rocknest-based open standard for basaltic martian regolith simulants (2019) · cites this paper as Bish et al., 2013

    The “Amorphous or Poorly Ordered Components” section (page not specified) reports that CheMin found both crystalline and amorphous phases in Rocknest soil, but estimates the amorphous fraction at 27 wt%, leaving roughly 73 wt% crystalline—not a subequal mixture by the central estimates. The Discussion suggests the results may apply to other Martian soils, but does not establish the same proportions for Martian soils generally. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The crystalline fraction of Rocknest is well constrained by X-ray diffraction.

    “The crystalline fraction of Rocknest is well constrained by XRD (Bish et al., 2013).”

    From Mars global simulant MGS-1: A Rocknest-based open standard for basaltic martian regolith simulants (2019) · cites this paper as Bish et al., 2013

  • The detected crystalline phases in Rocknest include plagioclase, pyroxene, olivine, magnetite, anhydrite, hematite, ilmenite, sanidine, and quartz.

    “The detected crystalline phases in Rocknest include plagioclase, pyroxene, olivine, magnetite, anhydrite, hematite, ilmenite, sanidine, and quartz (Bish et al., 2013).”

    From Mars global simulant MGS-1: A Rocknest-based open standard for basaltic martian regolith simulants (2019) · cites this paper as Bish et al., 2013

  • Unit cell parameters for Rocknest minerals indicate ~An57 plagioclase, a mixture of augite and pigeonite, and ~Fo40 olivine.

    “Unit cell parameters for Rocknest minerals indicate ~An57 plagioclase (Bish et al., 2013), a mixture of augite and pigeonite (Bish et al., 2013), and ~Fo40 olivine (Morris et al., 2015).”

    From Mars global simulant MGS-1: A Rocknest-based open standard for basaltic martian regolith simulants (2019) · cites this paper as Bish et al., 2013

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 29

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Bish, D. L., Blake, D. F., Vaniman, D. T., Chipera, S. J., Morris, R. V., Ming, D. W., Treiman, A. H., Sarrazin, P., Morrison, S. M., Downs, R. T., Achilles, C. N., Yen, A. S., Bristow, T. F., Crisp, J. A., Morookian, J. M., Farmer, J. D., Rampe, E. B., Stolper, E. M., Spanovich, N., MSL Science Team, Achilles, C., Agard, C., Verdasca, J. A. A., Anderson, R., Anderson, R., Archer, D., Armiens-Aparicio, C., Arvidson, R., Atlaskin, E., Atreya, S., Aubrey, A., Baker, B., Baker, M., Balic-Zunic, T., Baratoux, D., Baroukh, J., Barraclough, B., Bean, K., Beegle, L., Behar, A., Bell, J., Bender, S., Benna, M., Bentz, J., Berger, G., Berger, J., Berman, D., Bish, D., Blake, D. F., Avalos, J. J. B., Blaney, D., Blank, J., Blau, H., Bleacher, L., Boehm, E., Botta, O., Böttcher, S., Boucher, T., Bower, H., Boyd, N., Boynton, B., Breves, E., Bridges, J., Bridges, N., Brinckerhoff, W., Brinza, D., Bristow, T., Brunet, C., Brunner, A., Brunner, W., Buch, A., Bullock, M., Burmeister, S., Cabane, M., Calef, F., Cameron, J., Campbell, J. "., Cantor, B., Caplinger, M., Rodríguez, J. C., Carmosino, M., Blázquez, I. C., Charpentier, A., Chipera, S., Choi, D., Clark, B., Clegg, S., Cleghorn, T., Cloutis, E., Cody, G., Coll, P., Conrad, P., Coscia, D., Cousin, A., Cremers, D., Crisp, J., Cros, A., Cucinotta, F., d'Uston, C., Davis, S., Day, M. "., Juarez, M. D. L. T., DeFlores, L., DeLapp, D., DeMarines, J., DesMarais, D., Dietrich, W., Dingler, R., Donny, C., Downs, B., Drake, D., Dromart, G., Dupont, A., Duston, B., Dworkin, J., Dyar, M. D., Edgar, L., Edgett, K., Edwards, C., Edwards, L., Ehlmann, B., Ehresmann, B., Eigenbrode, J., Elliott, B., Elliott, H., Ewing, R., Fabre, C., Fairén, A., Farley, K., Farmer, J., Fassett, C., Favot, L., Fay, D., Fedosov, F., Feldman, J., Feldman, S., Fisk, M., Fitzgibbon, M., Flesch, G., Floyd, M., Flückiger, L., Forni, O., Fraeman, A., Francis, R., François, P., Franz, H., Freissinet, C., French, K. L., Frydenvang, J., Gaboriaud, A., Gailhanou, M., Garvin, J., Gasnault, O., Geffroy, C., Gellert, R., Genzer, M., Glavin, D., Godber, A., Goesmann, F., Goetz, W., Golovin, D., Gómez, F. G., Gómez-Elvira, J., Gondet, B., Gordon, S., Gorevan, S., Grant, J., Griffes, J., Grinspoon, D., Grotzinger, J., Guillemot, P., Guo, J., Gupta, S., Guzewich, S., Haberle, R., Halleaux, D., Hallet, B., Hamilton, V., Hardgrove, C., Harker, D., Harpold, D., Harri, A.-M., Harshman, K., Hassler, D., Haukka, H., Hayes, A., Herkenhoff, K., Herrera, P., Hettrich, S., Heydari, E., Hipkin, V., Hoehler, T., Hollingsworth, J., Hudgins, J., Huntress, W., Hurowitz, J., Hviid, S., Iagnemma, K., Indyk, S., Israël, G., Jackson, R., Jacob, S., Jakosky, B., Jensen, E., Jensen, J. K., Johnson, J., Johnson, M., Johnstone, S., Jones, A., Jones, J., Joseph, J., Jun, I., Kah, L., Kahanpää, H., Kahre, M., Karpushkina, N., Kasprzak, W., Kauhanen, J., Keely, L., Kemppinen, O., Keymeulen, D., Kim, M.-H., Kinch, K., King, P., Kirkland, L., Kocurek, G., Koefoed, A., Köhler, J., Kortmann, O., Kozyrev, A., Krezoski, J., Krysak, D., Kuzmin, R., Lacour, J. L., Lafaille, V., Langevin, Y., Lanza, N., Lasue, J., Le Mouélic, S., Lee, E. M., Lee, Q.-M., Lees, D., Lefavor, M., Lemmon, M., Malvitte, A. L., Leshin, L., Léveillé, R., Lewin-Carpintier, É., Lewis, K., Li, S., Lipkaman, L., Little, C., Litvak, M., Lorigny, E., Lugmair, G., Lundberg, A., Lyness, E., Madsen, M., Mahaffy, P., Maki, J., Malakhov, A., Malespin, C., Malin, M., Mangold, N., Manhes, G., Manning, H., Marchand, G., Jiménez, M. M., García, C. M., Martin, D., Martin, M., Martínez-Frías, J., Martín-Soler, J., Martín-Torres, F. J., Mauchien, P., Maurice, S., McAdam, A., McCartney, E., McConnochie, T., McCullough, E., McEwan, I., McKay, C., McLennan, S., McNair, S., Melikechi, N., Meslin, P.-Y., Meyer, M., Mezzacappa, A., Miller, H., Miller, K., Milliken, R., Ming, D., Minitti, M., Mischna, M., Mitrofanov, I., Moersch, J., Mokrousov, M., Jurado, A. M., Moores, J., Mora-Sotomayor, L., Morookian, J. M., Morris, R., Morrison, S., Mueller-Mellin, R., Muller, J.-P., Caro, G. M., Nachon, M., López, S. N., Navarro-González, R., Nealson, K., Nefian, A., Nelson, T., Newcombe, M., Newman, C., Newsom, H., Nikiforov, S., Niles, P., Nixon, B., Dobrea, E. N., Nolan, T., Oehler, D., Ollila, A., Olson, T., Owen, T., Hernández, M. Á. D. P., Paillet, A., Pallier, E., Palucis, M., Parker, T., Parot, Y., Patel, K., Paton, M., Paulsen, G., Pavlov, A., Pavri, B., Peinado-González, V., Pepin, R., Peret, L., Perez, R., Perrett, G., Peterson, J., Pilorget, C., Pinet, P., Pla-García, J., Plante, I., Poitrasson, F., Polkko, J., Popa, R., Posiolova, L., Posner, A., Pradler, I., Prats, B., Prokhorov, V., Purdy, S. W., Raaen, E., Radziemski, L., Rafkin, S., Ramos, M., Rampe, E., Raulin, F., Ravine, M., Reitz, G., Rennó, N., Rice, M., Richardson, M., Robert, F., Robertson, K., Manfredi, J. A. R., Romeral-Planelló, J. J., Rowland, S., Rubin, D., Saccoccio, M., Salamon, A., Sandoval, J., Sanin, A., Fuentes, S. A. S., Saper, L., Sarrazin, P., Sautter, V., Savijärvi, H., Schieber, J., Schmidt, M., Schmidt, W., Scholes, D. "., Schoppers, M., Schröder, S., Schwenzer, S., Martinez, E. S., Sengstacken, A., Shterts, R., Siebach, K., Siili, T., Simmonds, J., Sirven, J.-B., Slavney, S., Sletten, R., Smith, M., Sánchez, P. S., Spanovich, N., Spray, J., Squyres, S., Stack, K., Stalport, F., Steele, A., Stein, T., Stern, J., Stewart, N., Stipp, S. L. S., Stoiber, K., Stolper, E., Sucharski, B., Sullivan, R., Summons, R., Sumner, D., Sun, V., Supulver, K., Sutter, B., Szopa, C., Tan, F., Tate, C., Teinturier, S., ten Kate, I., Thomas, P., Thompson, L., Tokar, R., Toplis, M., Redondo, J. T., Trainer, M., Treiman, A., Tretyakov, V., Urqui-O'Callaghan, R., Van Beek, J., Van Beek, T., VanBommel, S., Vaniman, D., Varenikov, A., Vasavada, A., Vasconcelos, P., Vicenzi, E., Vostrukhin, A., Voytek, M., Wadhwa, M., Ward, J., Webster, C., Weigle, E., Wellington, D., Westall, F., Wiens, R. C., Wilhelm, M. B., Williams, A., Williams, J., Williams, R., Williams, R. B. "., Wilson, M., Wimmer-Schweingruber, R., Wolff, M., Wong, M., Wray, J., Wu, M., Yana, C., Yen, A., Yingst, A., Zeitlin, C., Zimdar, R., & Mier, M.-P. Z.
Affiliations
  • Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
  • Ames Research Center (US)
  • Planetary Science Institute (US)
  • Chesapeake Energy, Oklahoma City, OK 73154, USA.
  • NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
  • Johnson Space Center (US)
  • Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
  • In-Xitu, Campbell, CA 95008, USA.
  • University of Arizona (US)
  • Engineering and Science Contract Group/United Technologies Corporation Aerospace Systems, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory (US)
  • NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
  • Arizona State University (US)
  • California Institute of Technology (US)
  • Indiana University Bloomington (US)
  • GeoRessources (FR)
  • Lunar and Planetary Institute (US)
ORCID
Venue
Science
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Published
2013-09-27
Volume
341
Issue
6153
Pages
1238932-1238932
ISSN
  • 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-9203
DOI
10.1126/science.1238932
OpenAlex
W1981028812
Cited by
411
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 27 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 81 · 2015: 42 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 11
FWCI
28.01
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • elib (German Aerospace Center) (acceptedVersion)
  • Smithsonian Digital Repository (Smithsonian Institution) (submittedVersion)
  • CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion)
  • Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion)
  • elib (German Aerospace Center) (submittedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Planetary Science and Exploration
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astro and Planetary Science
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geochemistry and Petrology › Geochemistry and Elemental Analysis
Keywords
Gale Crater, Curiosity rover, plagioclase, forsteritic olivine, augite, pigeonite, K-feldspar, magnetite, hisingerite, basaltic meteorites, Gusev Crater

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