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The yellow-brown mineral has been detected by x-ray absorption tests and electron microscopy in samples found less than 1,000 meters deep
In detail, the researchers believe their discovery supports a theory that suggested that Mars may have been covered by a blanket of ice billions of years ago and that this blanket blew dust away, leading to the formation of jarosite in the ice packs.
In Antarctica, the team led by Giovanni Baccolo from the University of Milano-Bicocca detected the yellow-brown mineral with X-ray absorption tests and electron microscopy in samples found less than 1,000 meters deep.
The jarosite adhered to residual silica-rich particles, which were identified in the ice core of the Talos Dome and interpreted as weathering products involving wind dust and acidic atmospheric aerosols.
“The gradual increase in ice metamorphism and recrystallization with depth, promotes the displacement and concentration of dust and the formation of acid brines in isolated environments, allowing chemical reactions and mineral neoformation to occur” , we read in their article. “This is the first described glacial diagenetic mechanism occurring in deep Antarctic ice and supports the ice weathering model for jarosite formation on Mars.
Even if their findings support the model, they have yet to find a solid explanation as to why Antarctica contains small amounts of jarosite while on the Red Planet the mineral is found in large slabs.
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