Phosphate minerals: a window into terrestrial planetary formation history

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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.