How A Lake And A Volcano Produced A Rare Mineral On Mars
This meant that finding tridymite in mudstone in the crater was surprising because the mineral is usually associated with explosive, evolved volcanic systems on earth, which are different from Mars’ primitive volcanoes. In their search for answers, the researchers reevaluated data from every reported find of tridymite on earth. They also reviewed volcanic materials from models of Mars volcanism and reexamined sedimentary evidence from the Gale Crater lake. They then came up with a new scenario that matched all the evidence: Martian magma sat for longer than usual in a chamber below a volcano, undergoing a process of partial cooling called fractional crystallization that concentrated silicon....