37th DPS Meeting, 4-9 September 2005
Session 21 Mars II
Oral, Tuesday, September 6, 2005, 11:00am-12:30pm, Music Concert Hall

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[21.01] The OMEGA surface mineralogy, and its derived Mars early evolution

J-P. Bibring, Y. Langevin, B. Gondet, F. Poulet, A. Gendrin (IAS), OMEGA Team

After 18 months of orbital operation around Mars, OMEGA has acquired VIS/NIR spectral images of a large fraction of the surface at 2-5 kilometer resolution, and has sampled most units of interests at < 500 m sampling. Within the minerals identified, mafic minerals (pyroxene and olivine), phyllosilicates, Fe-oxides and sulfates are the dominant ones. However, they have been found in very specific terrains: their mapping, given the geological context, enables to reconstruct the sequential evolution of the planet, with in particular a major role played by water restricted to the most ancient episodes.


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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #3
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.