Elorza Crater on Mars: Identification of phyllosilicate-bearingminerals by MRO-CRISM

摘要

The Elorza crater is located in the Ophir Planum region of Mars with a 45-km diameter, centered near 55~0.25' W, 8~0.72' S. Since the Elorza crater has clays rich deposits it was one of the important crater to understand the past hydrothermal alteration processes of planet Mars. Hyperspectral remote sensing has potential to study the composition of these minerals. In this study, the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), a VNIR-SWIR spectrometer with better spectral resolution is used in order to study the aqueous minerals in Elorza crater. It provides the ability to map the aqueous minerals at large area in Ophir Planum region of Mars. The CRISM reflectance datasets with high spatial (18m/ pixel) resolution is analysed for the study of the aqueous minerals in Elorza crater. The aim of this study is to extract the aqueous minerals from Elorza crater using CRISM sensor. HiRISE and CONTEXT data sets are used to analysis the morphology of the study area to assess the origin of the detected minerals by study of geomorphological features. The dominated minerals in and around Elorza crater are phyllosilicates and mafic silicates. These minerals suggest that the Elorza crater may have experienced the hydrothermal alteration due to impact cratering processes. Results of the present study are important to understand the formation processes of these mineral assemblages on Mars, which may help in understanding the evolutionary history of the planet.