THE COMPOSITION OF THE MARTIAN SURFACE,
Abstract
It is generally believed that the desert areas of Mars are composed of limonite. This belief, which is based upon polarimetric, spectrometric, color, and albedo measurements, is in conflict with geologic reasoning. An examination of the evidence for limonite on Mars shows that the spectrometric measurements are most convincing. Laboratory experiments demonstrate, however, that the infrared emission spectra of minerals depend in part on grain size. Finely powdered minerals have infrared emission characteristic of a greybody, and yield very little spectral information. Thus, the Martian surface materials could be composed primarily of fine-grained silicates, or of coarse-grained silicates coated with finely divided limonite, without their presence being revealed spectrometrically. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0630076
Entities
People
- John W. Salisbury
- Roger A. Van Tassel
Organizations
- Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories