Mineralogy of volcanic rocks in Gusev Crater, Mars: Reconciling Mössbauer, Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer, and Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer spectra
Complete sets of mineral abundances for relatively unaltered volcanic or volcaniclastic rocks in Gusev Crater have been determined by modeling Mössbauer subspectral areas as mineral weight percentages, and combining those percentages with the proportions of iron-free minerals not detected by Mössbauer (normative plagioclase, apatite, and chromite, as calculated from Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) chemical analyses). Comparisons of synthetic thermal emission spectra calculated for these mineral modes with measured Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES) spectra for the same rock classes show either good agreements or discrepancies that we attribute to sodic pla…