@misc{10481/112306,
year = {2011},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10481/112306},
abstract = {A model is presented in which the aqueous conditions needed to generate
phyllosilicate minerals in the absence of carbonates found in the ancient Noachian crust are
maintained by an early CO2-rich atmosphere, that, together with iron (II) oxidation, would
prevent carbonate formation at the surface. After cessation of the internal magnetic dynamo,
a CO2-rich primordial atmosphere was stripped by interactions with the solar wind and
surface conditions evolved from humid to arid, with ground waters partially dissolving
subsurface carbonate and sulfide minerals to produce acid-sulfate evaporitic deposits in areas
with upwelling ground water. In a subsequent geochemical state (Late Noachian to
Hesperian), surface and subsurface acidic solutions were neutralized in the subsurface
through interaction with basaltic crust, allowing the precipitation of secondary carbonates.
This model suggests that, in the early Noachian, the surface waters of Mars maintained
acidity because of a drop in temperature. This would have favored increased dissolution of
CO2 and a reduction in atmospheric pressure. In this scenario, physicochemical conditions
precluded the formation of surface carbonates, but induced the precipitation of carbonates in
the subsurface.},
publisher = {The Meteoritical Society},
title = {The environment of early Mars and the missing carbonates},
doi = {10.1111/j.1945-5100.2011.01238.x},
author = {Fernández-Remolar, David C and Sánchez-Román, Mónica},
}