Mineralogical and Raman spectroscopy studies of natural olivines exposed to different planetary environments

• We investigated natural olivines in different planetary environments.
• This study was conducted to examine the effects on Raman spectra for future space missions, namely the ESA – EXOMARS mission scheduled for 2018.
• Beneath Raman measurements of olivines in Martian atmosphere, we investigate the Raman spectra of the olivines in vacuum with temperatures down to 8 K.
• Raman spectra of olivines show no changes in Martian atmosphere.
• Raman spectra of olivines show small temperature dependent shifts starting at approximately 150 K.

New lander missions to bodies of our solar system are coming up and thus new techniques are desirable for the in-situ investigation of planetary surface and near surface materials. During the last decade Raman spectroscopy has been developed to become an excellent laboratory tool for fast petrological and mineralogical investigation of terrestrial and extraterrestrial rocks. Consequently, Raman spectroscopy has successfully been proposed for operation on planetary surfaces. In the joint ESA and Roscosmos mission ExoMars a Raman Laser Spectrometer (RLS) will for the first time be applied in space to identify minerals and organic compounds in Martian surface rocks and soils. The present study aims to investigate the possible response of various environmental conditions to Raman spectra in preparation for the ExoMars mission, as well as other space missions in future. For our study we selected five natural olivines with different forsterite (Mg2SiO4) and fayalite (Fe2SiO4) compositions. Olivine as an important rock forming mineral of the Earth upper mantle and an abundant mineral in Martian meteorites is one of the key planetary mineral. The spectra were taken in various environmental conditions that include vacuum down to 10−6 mbar, 8 mbar CO2 atmosphere, and temperatures ranging between room temperature and~8 K resembling those on Mars as well as on the Moon and on asteroids. We have found that forsterite shows only small temperature-related shifts in Raman spectra at very low temperatures indicating relatively weak changes in the lattice modes. Fayalite demonstrates, in addition to temperature dependent changes in the lattice modes found for forsterite, modification of Raman spectra at low Stokes frequencies. This is an effect in the SiO4 internal modes that most probably is caused by the high amount of iron in the mineral structure, which triggers antiferromagnetic transition at low temperatures. No influence of a CO2 atmosphere on Raman spectra for the investigated rock-forming minerals has been observed at any pressure from ambient 1 bar down to a few mbar.