Chemical Weathering on Mars: Rate of Oxidation of Iron Dissolved in Brines
Abstract
Salts believed to occur in Martian regolith imply that brines occur on Mars, which may have facilitated the oxidation of dissolved Fe(2+) ions after they were released during chemical weathering of basaltic ferromagnesian silicate and iron sulfide minerals. Calculations show that the rate of oxidation of Fe(2+) ions at -35 C in a 6M chloride-sulfate brine that might exist on Mars is about 106 times slower that the oxidation rate of iron in ice-cold terrestrial seawater.
- Publication:
-
Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
- Pub Date:
- March 1993
- Bibcode:
- 1993LPI....24..231B
- Keywords:
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- Brines;
- Iron;
- Mars Surface;
- Oxidation;
- Planetary Geology;
- Weathering;
- Ferrous Metals;
- Minerals;
- Regolith;
- Sea Water;
- Lunar and Planetary Exploration