Mineral often found on Mars discovered deep in Antarctic ice

常在火星上发现的矿物发现于南极冰层深处

by Bob Yirka , Phys.org

鲍勃·伊尔卡（Bob Yirka），Phys.org

 The morphology of mineral grains in deep TALDICE investigated through SEM. Credit: Nature Communications (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20705-z

通过扫描电镜（SEM）研究了深层TALDICE中矿物晶粒的形态。图片来源：Nature Communications（2021）。 DOI：10.1038 / s41467-020-20705-z

An international team of researchers has found evidence of the mineral jarosite in ice cores extracted from Antarctica. In their paper published in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers describe how the discovery came about and why they believe it could bolster theories regarding the presence of the same mineral on the surface of Mars.

一个国际研究人员小组发现了从南极洲提取的冰芯中的矿物黄钾铁矾的证据。在发表于《自然通讯》杂志上的论文中，研究人员描述了这一发现是如何产生的，以及为什么他们相信该发现可以支持有关火星表面存在相同矿物的理论。

Jarosite is very rarely found on Earth—it is generally seen in mining waste that has been exposed to air and rain. The researchers with this new effort were not looking for it in their ice cores—they were focused on minerals in deep ice cores that might help to better understand ice age cycles. But when they came across the yellow- brown mineral, their interest was piqued. X-ray absorption testing and electron microscopy showed it be jarosite.

黄铁矿在地球上很少见-通常在暴露于空气和雨水的采矿废物中看到。做出这项新努力的研究人员并没有在冰芯中寻找它，而是专注于深冰芯中的矿物质，这些矿物质可能有助于更好地了解冰龄周期。但是，当他们遇到黄褐色的矿物时，他们的兴趣激起了。 X射线吸收测试和电子显微镜显示它是黄钾铁矾。

The researchers suggest the mineral formed in ice pockets that also held small amounts of dust. Under the ice, they had eroded, the researchers noted. The finding brought to mind another site where jarosite is found—the surface of Mars. It was found there by the Opportunity rover back in 2004 and has been found to be abundant. Finding jarosite on Mars created a lot of excitement at NASA and around the world, because prior research had shown that water must be present for jarosite formation.

研究人员认为，冰袋中形成的矿物质还含有少量的灰尘。研究人员指出，它们在冰下侵蚀了。这一发现使我想到了另一个发现黄钾铁矾的地点-火星表面。早在2004年，Opportunity流浪者就在那发现了它，并且发现它很丰富。在火星上发现黄钾铁矾在NASA和全世界引起了极大的兴趣，因为先前的研究表明，形成黄钾铁矾必须存在水。

The discovery of jarosite on Mars led scientists to come up with theories to explain how it might have originated. Some suggested it might have been left behind as salty water evaporated. Others suggested that Mars might have been covered by a massive ice blanket billons of years ago. They further suggested that jarosite could have formed in ice pockets. That would have been possible, they noted, if the ice blanket grew slowly with dust blowing onto it. At the time the theory was formulated, it was difficult to test because it had never been found to form that way anywhere else, including Earth.

在火星上发现的黄钾铁矾导致科学家提出了一些理论来解释其起源。一些人认为，咸水蒸发后可能会留下来。其他人则认为，火星可能在数年前被巨大的冰盖巨石覆盖。他们进一步认为，黄钾铁矾可能在冰袋中形成。他们指出，如果冰盖缓慢地生长并且上面吹着灰尘，那将是可能的。在提出该理论时，很难进行测试，因为从未发现它能以其他方式形成，包括地球。

Now that jarosite has been found deep in Antarctic ice, the latter theory will likely become the most prominent. The researchers note that the theory still has one glitch—the ice in Antarctica contains very small amounts of jarosite—on Mars, the mineral is found in large slabs. The researchers suggest that the difference might be explained by the huge amounts of dust on the Martian surface.

现在已经在南极冰层深处发现了黄钾铁矾，后一种理论可能会成为最突出的理论。研究人员指出，该理论仍然存在一个小问题-南极洲的冰中含有很少量的黄钾铁矾-在火星上，这种矿物存在于大平板中。研究人员认为，这种差异可能是由火星表面上大量的尘埃所解释的。

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来源于：phys