Phosphate minerals: a window into terrestrial planetary formation history

磷酸盐矿物：了解类地行星形成历史的窗口

• 批准号: RGPIN-2016-06611
• 负责人: Tait, Kimberly
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=709366
• 关键词: Phosphate; minerals; window; into; terrestrial

The major goal of this research program is to improve our understanding of the formation of our closest planet Mars. Mars is one of the rocky planets which began to form at the same time as the Earth. The composition of the rocks which form its surface appear to be largely volcanic (basaltic) similar to what the early Earth would have been like. It has obviously had a volcanic history as we can see from Olympus Mons, a 26 kilometre high volcano on its surface. Just as with terrestrial rocks, Martian rocks are not all the same. Each rock, and each mineral that makes up the rock show a wide variety of textures and compositions all of which tell us something about the geology of the red planet. Currently, the only way to "explore" Mars is with data sent back from unmanned orbiting spacecraft and rovers, and through the study of Martian meteorites. Martian meteorites are rocks that have been launched from the planet and landed on Earth many that are housed at the Royal Ontario Museum that I have direct access to for this project. The comprehensive research program proposed here addresses the key processes that formed these minerals and their complex chemistry. I will study them at the atomic-scale to place constraints on planetary-scale processes, therefore they may reveal the behaviour of these trace and volatile elements in a planet's magmatic systems. This will include understanding the substitution mechanisms of major elements and trace elements within the crystal structures in different geological environments. Some claim that these minerals lose all of their information that we use for dating during impacts to the surface and then ultimately the event that launched them off the surface of the planet. These processes make them unusable for age dating techniques that we typically use on Earth. Recently we developed a series of microimaging and nanoscale chemical analyses that will study minerals down to the atomic level to tease out their complex past. This is an exciting time to be studying Mars. The human exploration of the Moon and Mars is now in the long-term plans of several space agencies. With the mobile laboratory now on the surface of Mars currently studying the planet and several planned missions to Mars over the next decade, there will be a great need to understand its complex geological history to not only interpret the data that is being recovered currently from the Mars Science Laboratory, but to prepare for future missions. With almost half of Canada's GDP growth in the knowledge-intensive sectors of the economy, the Canadian Space Program is a key driver behind continued leadership on the world stage, new opportunities for industry and scientists, and long-term social and economic benefits for all Canadians.

这项研究计划的主要目标是提高我们对离我们最近的行星火星形成的理解。火星是与地球同时形成的岩石行星之一。形成其表面的岩石组成似乎主要是火山（玄武岩），类似于早期地球的样子。从表面26公里高的奥林匹斯山（Olympus Mons）可以看到，它显然有过火山爆发的历史。就像地球上的岩石一样，火星上的岩石也不尽相同。每一块岩石和构成岩石的每一种矿物都显示出各种各样的纹理和成分，所有这些都告诉我们一些关于这颗红色星球的地质情况。目前，“探索”火星的唯一方法是从无人轨道航天器和漫游者发回的数据，以及通过对火星陨石的研究。火星陨石是从火星发射并降落在地球上的岩石，其中许多都存放在皇家安大略博物馆，我可以直接访问这个项目。