Physical Sciences Division
Published October 7, 2024 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Highly enriched carbon and oxygen isotopes in carbonate-derived CO2 at Gale crater, Mars

Creators

  • 1. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
  • 2. California Institute of Technology
  • 3. Jacobs Technology
  • 4. University of Chicago
  • 5. Pennsylvania State University
  • 6. University of Calgary
  • 7. NASA Ames Research Center
  • 8. NASA Johnson Space Center

Description

One objective of the Curiosity rover is to search for habitable conditions, past and present, on the surface of Mars. Carbonate minerals can record diagnostic signatures of their formation environment. This paper focuses on carbon and oxygen isotope measurements of carbonate minerals detected within the Gale crater. Notably, these carbonates are extremely enriched in 13C and 18O, more so than other Martian materials. We highlight two processes (evaporation-driven Rayleigh distillation and cryogenic precipitation) that could explain these isotopic enrichments and explore whether those processes are consistent with our current understanding of Mars. These isotopic values offer a poignant example of how the Martian carbon cycle differs from that on Earth without the influences of a biosphere.

Data availability

Flight mass spectrometry and tunable laser spectrometry data have been deposited in the Geosciences Node of NASA's Planetary Data System (https://pds-geosciences.wustl.edu/missions/msl/sam.htm) (104). All study data are included in the article and/or SI Appendix.

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Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1073/pnas.2321342121
Other
oai:uchicago.tind.io:13662

Funding

NASA
80NM0018D0004
NASA
Postdoctoral Program

UChicago Information

Division(s)
Physical Sciences Division
Department(s)
Geophysical Sciences