Mineral abundances and different levels of alteration around Mawrth Vallis, Mars

• Spectral indices from OMEGA hyperspectral data characterize mineralogy.
• Higher level of alteration in the western side relative to the eastern side of Mawrth Vallis.
• Changes in composition correlated to source sediment or abundant liquid water.

Spectral indices from OMEGA hyperspectral data show that there are two main phyllosilicates exposed in and around Mawrth Vallis: Al phyllosilicates and Fe/Mg phyllosilicates. Detailed analysis of CRISM spectra shows that Al phyllosilicates such as montmorillonite, hydrated silica, kaolinite; Fe/Mg phyllosilicates such as nontronite, saponite, serpentine are widespread on the light-toned outcrops. Though similar stratigraphical sequences, morphologies and textures are observed on both sides of Mawrth Vallis from HiRISE images, suggesting that the geological processes that formed these units must have operated at a regional scale; the multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis (MESMA) derived mineral abundance indicates that there is a higher level of alteration in the western side relative to the eastern side. We suggest that the observed phyllosilicates, stratigraphical sequences and different levels of alteration might have been caused by sedimentary deposition processes in which the composition of the external source sediment or the local solution was different, or by a pedogenic process closely related to the leaching of abundant liquid water with different chemical properties.

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