Are There Volcanoes in Mars? If so, what does that mean?

Close-up views of sands in the "Rocknest" taken by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity.

Going a little deeper into the study of the Martian sands, we should pay attention to the “new colors” that the Curiosity rover found in the Martian soil and their meaning.

The picture on the left shows coarse sand grains observed on a portion of the Rocknest wind drift. Mars is known as the Red Planet, but sands of Mars are not all red. According to NASA, this sample of Martian sand shows clear, translucent grains, gray sand and white sand, in addition to two blue-gray glassy spheres and a glassy ellipsoid. (The picture at right shows a magnified view of the fraction of smaller sand grains examined by Curiosity). The spherical and ellipsoidal grains were probably formed from molten droplets that cooled above the Martian surface forming glass, either during an explosive volcanic eruption or an impact cratering event. Similar grains are found in association with impacts on Earth and explosive volcanoes on the Moon. Are there volcanos in Mars? If so, what does that mean?

In the year 2010, scientists from NASA discovered “mud volcanoes” in a certain region of Mars. Mud volcanoes are geological structures in which a mixture of gas, liquid and fine-grained rock (or mud) is forced to the surface. The sediments mud volcanoes bring up might contain organic materials that could be a sign of possible past and present life. Later the scientists found there could be around 40,000 of these mud volcanoes in this area of the Red Planet. Studies like this show that there could be regions on the planet that may have be the most suitable places for life to develop. Will the Curiosity rover discover one of these key volcanoes and find the answer scientists have been looking for, or the mystery of the existence or inexistence of life in Mars will continue to the next generations?

Chemistry Group: Yaniset Fundora, Fernanda Chow, and Bianca Chavez

Pictures are worth a thousand words

Curiosity's self portrait made from many small individual images tiled together

Besides the variety of mechanisms used on board NASA's Curiosity rover for analyzing the composition of Mar's atmosphere and soil, the rover is equipped with several cameras, each with a different purpose. The cameras used by Curiosity do more that just see, some cameras detect any objects that the rover might crash into, another fires a laser into rocks and analyzes their composition.

To start with the main eyes of the rover, the Navigation Cameras (Navcams) have a 45 degree angle of view and are mounted to the front of the rover. Using visible light, they take stereoscopic 3-D imagery and transmit the data in black-and-white. The Navcams are used primarily by the NASA scientists and engineers to plan for ground navigation whenever the Martian terrain requires a safe passage. But if the rover is traveling on it's own, the four pair of Hazard Avoidance Cameras (Hazcams) are up to the job of helping the rover avoid any accidents while traveling. The Hazcams use the same imaging process as the Navcams, however they each have a 120 degree view for each side of Curiosity. This imagery safeguards against the rover getting lost or inadvertently crashing into unexpected obstacles, and works in tandem with software that allows the rover to make its own safety choices and to "think on its own."

The Mast Camera (Mastcam) takes color images, three-dimensional stereo images, and color video footage of the Martian terrain. The images can be stitched together to create panoramas of the landscape around the rover. The Chemcam fires a laser and analyzes the elemental composition of vaporized materials from areas smaller than 1square millimeter from Martian rocks and soils. The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) is the equivalent of a geologist's hand lens and provides close-up views of the minerals, textures and structures in Martian rocks and the surface layer of rocky debris and dust. With this device, earthbound geologists are able to see Martian features smaller than the diameter of a human hair. The MAHLI is attached to Curiosity's arm and is programed to take several pictures of itself, which can be stitched together to make a self-portrait.

Engineering group: Michael Molina, Marina Malaga, Nicolas Delloca, Andy Alfonso Sources: http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/rover/eyesandother/ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20121211b.html http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=156880341

Curiosity built to simulate a living organism

Sourcehttp://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/rover

It’s not surprising news that humans have always tried to model their inventions to animals: A plane to a bird, a submarine to a big fish, etc. These are all creatures and technology that reside on earth, but what about human made things outside our home planet? The engineers of the Curiosity Mars Rover from NASA were inspired by living things on Earth to construct the Curiosity rover. The reason why this has been done is simple, but essential for the survival of our rover in the wild Red Planet. *Body: every animal has bones and skin to protect its vital organs. Likewise, the curiosity’s body keeps it safe from danger to its core components, which keep it alive. *Brain(s): The Curiosity Rover is alive due to the computers that let it process, receive and send information, move, see, follow instructions and more. It’s just like a trained can! *Temperature Controls: Just like humans and animals, the Curiosity Rover can regulate its internal temperature with internal heaters and a layer of isolation. *Neck, Head, Eyes: the mast of the rover, besides giving it personality, it gives us a human-scale view of its surrounding. *Other Senses: Instruments such as the REMS permit the Curiosity to have information about its environment. *Arm and “Hands”: If the rover sees something it likes, it’ll just grab it. This way, it can collect rocks to experiment and find its components. *Communicate: The antennas built in the Curiosity Rover let it speak and listen with humans, so it can be instructed on what to do and when. *Heart: Without a pumping energy source, nothing would exist. The radioisotope power system generates energy produced by the heat of plutonium's radioactive decay. All of these components let the rover move, see, explore and learn to open the doors to humans into a bright and maybe red future in outer space.

Authors: William Valverde, Isabel Vargas, Albert Zapata

WARNING! Missing Mineral in The Red Planet!

As we mentioned in last blog, there are plenty of similarities in the composition of volcanic rocks between the Red Planet and Earth. Researchers have shown that there are plenty of terrestrial minerals on Mars. The exception is Quartz, a mineral also found in igneous rocks on Earth. What would be the reason? Before finding the reason, we must understand what the Quartz natural formation is. When silicon (Si) and oxygen (O2) combine, it creates silicon dioxide (SiO2), which is quartz. Therefore, most of the times quartz forms underground and it forms quite easily whenever a combination of oxygen and silica-rich solutions are present. The only area on Mars where crystalline quartz has been identified from orbit is near Antoniadi Crater. However, the method of quartz formation has remained unknown. This suggests that the quartz formed as a diagenetic product of amorphous silica, rather than as a primary igneous mineral. In conclusion, Mars is primarily composed of oxygen and silicon, the elements needed to form quartz like in Earth, but what does Earth has underground that Mars does not, which causes quartz to be missing? Is it the atmosphere? Or physical, chemical conditions?

Authors: Massiel Barrera, Ivan Piedad and Maria Rodriguez

Did Martians play on sand dunes?

(The floor is moving from underneath)

Figures 1 Charitum Montes obtained from www.space.com /White colored surface signifies carbon dioxide emission.

As of Dec.6.2012, The European Space Agency (ESA) has reported groundbreaking pictures of a mountain range on the “Red Planet” dusted with carbon dioxide frost. Out of curiosity the geology group of CHEMISTRY 1045 class at Miami Dade College, Inter-American campus found out through standard research that not only is iron(III)oxide the reason for the planets’ red surface, but that there is evidence that there are plate tectonics shifting inside the small planet, according to UCLA Scientist An Yin, Ph.D. Because of the recent news by the European Space Agency, we understood through simple introductory geological principles that mountains are created on Earth by subducting plate tectonics. Therefore, it is assumed that similar activity may be taking place on the surface of Mars. We got this information from Spaceref.com. They are a privately owned media company that publishes scientific information. They posted an article describing what the UCLA professor discovered. The professor quotes, “When I studied the satellite images from Mars, many of the features looked very much like fault systems I have seen in the Himalayas and Tibet, and in California as well, including the geomorphology,” said Yin, a planetary geologist.(Spaceref.com)

This means that there is evidence that the mountain range which the ESA photographed is induced by magma from the core of Mars. How cool is that? The ESA also photographed sand dunes, which were near the mountain ridge. The carbon dioxide which was in great quantities may suggest that there may be microbial existence, which was the reason Curiosity was carried out in the first place. Though methane, CH4, wasn’t found in large, empirical quantities, CO2 has been found in abundance in this ridge. Moreover, the location of this mountain range takes place over an area of 1000 kilometers. The range is called Charitum Montes. There will be more information on this very matter or possibly more discoveries/findings next week.

References Cowing, Keith. "UCLA Scientist Discovers Plate Tectonics on Mars." Web log post. SpaceRef. N.p., 09 Aug. 2012. Web. 06 Dec. 2012. "Mars Mountains Look Frosty in New Images." Web log post. Www.space.com. N.p., 06 Dec. 2012. Web. 06 Dec. 2012. Figure 1. Charitum Montes "Mars Mountains Look Frosty in New Images." Web log post. Www.space.com. N.p., 06 Dec. 2012. Web. 06 Dec. 2012

Authors: Glenn Havee, Valerya Charry, and Jorge Alcina.

Speculations addressed. Curiosity drills for the truth.

This image shows where NASA's Curiosity rover aimed two different instruments to study a rock known as “Jake Matijevic”.

Rumors about the Martian Curiosity rover have been all over the media. They began appearing earlier this month, after an NPR story quoted Curiosity chief scientist John Grotzinger as saying that the rover's Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument had recently gathered data "for the history books."

SAM is capable of identifying organic compounds, the carbon-containing building blocks of life as we know it. That is the reason why so many people assumed that Curiosity had detected biological traces in the Martian soil. As expected, officials have held the speculations to be untrue and scheduled a conference on Monday (12/03/12) to address this and any other questions.

It is known for a fact that Curiosity is planning on drilling a Martian rock in the search for past life. How can a simple stone provide such information? Carbon compounds adhere to the rock thought time. This process makes the rock similar to a time capsule with the information of billions of years ago. In earth, fossil stones are the most effective tools on tracing ancestors.

The process is not an easy task when is not known how the soil was formed or from where did it came from. Curiosity with its powerful drill and on board science can clearly read all of this information. Until now, the robot has only analyzed the rocks from the outside and has never used the drill.

The first Martian rock NASA's Curiosity rover reached out to touch presents a more varied composition than expected from previous missions. The rock also resembles some unusual rocks from Earth's interior.

The rover team used two instruments on Curiosity to study the chemical makeup of the football-size rock called "Jake Matijevic" The results support some surprising recent measurements and provide an example of why identifying rocks' composition is such a major emphasis of the mission. Rock compositions tell stories about unseen environments and planetary processes.

On Earth, rocks with composition like the Jake Rock, typically come from processes in Earth’s interior core. During a two-year prime mission, researchers will use Curiosity's 10 instruments to assess whether the study area ever has offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life.

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drove 83 feet eastward during the 102nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Nov. 18, 2012), and used its left navigation camera to record this view ahead at the end of the drive.

Biology group. Irene Vargas, Rafael Gutierrez, and Nizida Granado.

Analyzing samples of Martian soil and understanding atmospheric radiation

The Gale Crater

Followers, you might be asking yourselves what is the current update to the Curiosity mission in Mars?
What new discoveries has our highly trained scientists discovered this week?
Well, we have the answer for you! We found an article describing the recent updates and here they are in a nutshell:

The Curiosity Rover, has made interesting observations on different wind patterns and natural radiation patterns. It has identified whirlwinds, discovering their location relating to certain slopes, tracked the changes of air pressure and radiation in the atmosphere in Mars.
While located at the Gale Crater, Curiosity found that the whirlwinds have the characteristics of changes in air pressure, wind direction, speed, and ultraviolet light beaming on the rover. According to Manuel de la Torre Juarez, the scientist in charged for REMS (Rover Environmental Station), the dust in the atmosphere has a major role in shaping the climate and it warms the atmosphere. It surprised the researchers to find that the dominant wind direction is east-west instead of north-south winds. They believe it has to do with the shape of the rim of Gale Crater.

The aftermath of Curiosity’s collection of 5 scoopful samples of dusty sand named, “Rocknest”.

Regarding the seasonal increase it was due to the carbon dioxide that was frozen into an ice cap, then returning into the atmosphere. There was high pressure in the morning and low pressure in the night resulted from the daytime heating of the atmosphere by the sun, and as the morning approached westward around the planet as would the “thermal tides”. To conclude, the main objectives of this mission is find out if Mars is habitable and find the main differences and similarities to Earth and Mars.


Chemistry Group: Fernanda Chow, Bianca Chavez and Yaniset Fundora.



References: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/27047602/highlight/304906
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/telecon/index.html
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1393

No Thanksgiving Break for Curiosity’s Engineering at Work

Post-Drive View on Curiosity's Sol 102, JPL image PIA16447

While many of us were giving thanks with our families, the Curiosity rover continued its adventure in the “Red Planet”. The main goal for the team now is to keep on moving to explore other parts of the planet, after several weeks of scooping soil samples at one location. Curiosity drove 6.2 feet to get close to the rock called "Rocknest 3." Using the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) the rover took two 10-minute APXS readings of data about the chemical elements in the rock. The next destination was "Point Lake."! The team of the mission in Mars decided this was the perfect time to use Curiosity’s Mast Camera (Mastcam) from Point Lake to examine possible routes and targets to the east. As the rover moves, the team will make a decision on which rock their next drilling project would take place. In this drilling, the mission is to collect samples of powder from rock interiors.

As the rover moves around the planet, there is one main component that will make a tremendous impact in the rock chosen to drill. The Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) on the arm of the rover will determine the chemical elements in the rock and the team will tell if the rock has been examined before and examine the interiors of the rocks following brushing.

Don’t you want to know how this APXS works? It is about the size and shape of a Rubik's cube. It may seem as if this small tool is not capable of much. On the contrary, the APXS has a sensor will be able to gather data day and night. It will take two to three hours to analyze a sample to determine what elements it is made of, including trace elements. The APXS located in the robotic arm will move in close to a sample and blast it with alpha particles and X-rays. By doing this, the scientist are able to study the properties of the energy emitted from the sample in response.

Something that many of us may be wondering is whether there is/was water on Mars. This tool in the rover has already helped scientist in the past provide evidence that there might have been water in the planet. Continuing to explore the rocks with the APX only brings the team even closer to new discoveries.

“This engineering drawing shows the five devices that make up the turret at the end of the arm on NASA's Curiosity rover. These include: the drill for acquiring powdered samples from interiors of rocks; the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS); the sample processing subsystem named Collection and Handling for Interior Martian Rock Analysis (CHIMRA), which includes a scoop that can scoop up lose dirt from the Martian surface; the Dust Removal Tool (DRT) and the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI).” (Tools at Curiosity's 'Fingertips') Retrieved form nasa.gov references:http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20121120.html
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/multimedia/pia16145.html
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/instruments/spectrometers/apxs/

Engineering Group: Irene Isabel Vargas, Andy Alfonso, William Valverde and Albert Zapata.

Is it time for the sleeping giants to wake up?

(Fig. 1) Olympus Mons Compared to the Hawaiian Islands

As we mentioned in our last blog, there is evidence proving the existence of volcano activity according to the minerals found in the last Curiosity Project. However, are they completely extinct? When did the volcanoes erupt? What is their current state?

There are some differences between volcanic eruptions on Earth and those on Mars. The lower gravity of Mars generates less buoyancy forces on magma rising through the crust; the magma chambers that feed volcanoes on Mars are thought to be deeper and much larger than those on Earth. Somewhat the lower gravity of Mars also allows for longer and more widespread lava to flow. The biggest difference between Martian and Terrestrial volcanoes is size.

Consequently, eruptions on Mars are less frequent than on Earth, but when they occur, they have an enormous scale and eruptive rate. Martian volcanoes are more analogous to terrestrial mid-plate volcanoes, such as those in the Hawaiian Islands, which are thought to have formed over a stationary mantle plume.

Martian shield volcanoes are similar to the shield volcanoes that make up the Hawaiian Islands. Both the Martian and Hawaiian volcanoes have complex summit calderas (the areas from which the lava flows). They are built from thousands of individual lava flows, and appear to be composed of iron-rich silicate rocks, such as basalt.(Fig. 1)

NASA researches have found how there is proof of past volcanic activity but no current activity. There is extensive evidence of past volcanic activity on Mars in the form of extinct volcanoes. However, there is no current volcanic activity on Mars, and it is apparent that Mars has undergone a cooling process, leading to all volcanic activity to cease.

There are less than 20 named volcanoes on Mars, and only 5 of these are giant shield volcanoes. Also, scientists were able to classify volcanoes into three categories: Tholis, Pantarae and Mons. For instance, a good example of the Mons volcanoes is the famous Olympus Mons, the highest known mountain in the Solar System.

Volcanic activity also seems to have changed over time. Volcanism in the highlands and mare-like plains on Mars stopped about 3 billion years ago. Nowadays the odds of finding an active volcano on Mars are very small. The interior of Mars has cooled more rapidly over geological time than has the Earth's interior.

In conclusion, Mars volcanoes are currently inactive, but there has been volcanic activity since Mars’ existence which is the reason why minerals of Mars are similar to those found in the Hawaiian Islands. But why is it that there no quartz on the Red Planet, if it is found in the terrestrial volcanoes. Are volcanoes supposed to have the same mineral no matter where they are to be in activity? If so, where are the quartz minerals?

Authors:Ivan Piedad, Massiel Barrera,Maria Rodriguez