Patrick J. Gasda

Diagenetic silica enrichment and late‐stage groundwater activity in Gale crater, Mars

Diagenetic silica enrichment in fracture-associated halos that crosscut lacustrine and unconformably overlying aeolian sedimentary bedrock is observed on the lower north slope of Aeolis Mons in Gale crater, Mars. The diagenetic silica enrichment is colocated with detrital silica enrichment observed in the lacustrine bedrock yet extends into a considerably younger, unconformably draping aeolian sandstone, implying that diagenetic silica enrichment postdates the detrital silica enrichment. A causal connection between the detrital and diagenetic silica enrichment implies that water was present in the subsurface of Gale crater long after deposition of the lacustrine sediments and that it mobilized detrital amorphous silica and precipitated it along fractures in the overlying bedrock. Although absolute timing is uncertain, the observed diagenesis likely represents some of the most recent groundwater activity in Gale crater and suggests that the timescale of potential habitability extended considerably beyond the time that the lacustrine sediments of Aeolis Mons were deposited.

Next Generation Laser-Based Standoff Spectroscopy Techniques for Mars Exploration

In the recent Mars 2020 Rover Science Definition Team Report, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has sought the capability to detect and identify elements, minerals, and most importantly, biosignatures, at fine scales for the preparation of a retrievable cache of samples. The current Mars rover, the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity, has a remote laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument, a type of quantitative elemental analysis, called the Chemistry Camera (ChemCam) that has shown that laser-induced spectroscopy instruments are not only feasible for space exploration, but are reliable and complementary to traditional elemental analysis instruments such as the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer. The superb track record of ChemCam has paved the way for other laser-induced spectroscopy instruments, such as Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy. We have developed a prototype remote LIBS-Raman-fluorescence instrument, Q-switched laser-induced time-resolved spectroscopy (QuaLITy), which is approximately 70 000 times more efficient at recording signals than a commercially available LIBS instrument. The increase in detection limits and sensitivity is due to our development of a directly coupled system, the use of an intensified charge-coupled device image detector, and a pulsed laser that allows for time-resolved measurements. We compare the LIBS capabilities of our system with an Ocean Optics spectrometer instrument at 7 m and 5 m distance. An increase in signal-to-noise ratio of at least an order of magnitude allows for greater quantitative analysis of the elements in a LIBS spectrum with 200-300 μmm spatial resolution at 7 m, a Raman instrument capable of 1 mm spatial resolution at 3 m, and bioorganic fluorescence detection at longer distances. Thus, the new QuaLITy instrument fulfills all of the NASA expectations for proposed instruments.

Modeling the Raman Spectrum of Graphitic Material in Rock Samples with Fluorescence Backgrounds: Accuracy of Fitting and Uncertainty Estimation

We propose a robust technique called Savitzky–Golay second-derivative (SGSD) fitting for modeling the in situ Raman spectrum of graphitic materials in rock samples such as carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. In contrast to non-derivative techniques, with assumed locally linear or nth-order polynomial fluorescence backgrounds, SGSD produces consistently good fits of spectra with variable background fluorescence of any slowly varying form, without fitting or subtracting the background. In combination with a Monte Carlo technique, SGSD calculates Raman parameters (such as peak width and intensity) with robust uncertainties. To explain why SGSD fitting is more accurate, we compare how different background subtraction techniques model the background fluorescence with the wide and overlapping peaks present in a real Raman spectrum of carbonaceous material. Then, the utility of SGSD is demonstrated with a set of real and simulated data compared to commonly used linear background techniques. Researchers may find the SGSD technique useful if their spectra contain intense background interference with unknown functional form or wide overlapping peaks, and when the uncertainty of the spectral data is not well understood.

In situ detection of boron by ChemCam on Mars

We report the first in situ detection of boron on Mars. Boron has been detected in Gale crater at levels <0.05 wt % B by the NASA Curiosity rover ChemCam instrument in calcium-sulfate-filled fractures, which formed in a late-stage groundwater circulating mainly in phyllosilicate-rich bedrock interpreted as lacustrine in origin. We consider two main groundwater-driven hypotheses to explain the presence of boron in the veins: leaching of borates out of bedrock or the redistribution of borate by dissolution of borate-bearing evaporite deposits. Our results suggest that an evaporation mechanism is most likely, implying that Gale groundwaters were mildly alkaline. On Earth, boron may be a necessary component for the origin of life; on Mars, its presence suggests that subsurface groundwater conditions could have supported prebiotic chemical reactions if organics were also present and provides additional support for the past habitability of Gale crater.

Standoff Biofinder: powerful search for life instrument for planetary exploration

The “Standoff Biofinder” is a powerful “search for life” instrument that is able to detect biomolecules from a collection of rocks and minerals in a large area with detection time less than a second using a non-contact, non-destructive approach. Biological materials show strong, short-lived fluorescence signals when excited with ultraviolet-visible (UVVis) wavelengths. The Standoff Biofinder takes advantage of the short lifetimes of bio-fluorescent materials to obtain real-time images showing the locations of biological materials among luminescent minerals in a geological context. The Standoff Biofinder uses an expanded and diffused nanosecond pulsed laser to illuminate a large geological region and a gated detector to record time-resolved fluorescence images. The instrument works in daylight as well as nighttime conditions and bio-detection capability is not affected by the background light. The instrument is able to detect both live and dead biological materials, and is a useful tool for detecting the presence of both extant and extinct life on a planetary surface. The Standoff Biofinder instrument will be suitable for locating fluorescent polyaromatic hydrocarbons, amino acids, proteins, bacteria, biominerals, photosynthetic pigments, and diagenetic products of microbial life on dry landscapes and Ocean Worlds of the outer Solar System (e.g., Enceladus, Europa, and Titan). An important feature of the Standoff Biofinder instrument is its capability to detect biomolecules which are inside ice, without sample collection.