Hydrated silica on Mars: Global comparison and in-depth analysis at Antoniadi Crater

Hydrated silica is found in a variety of Martian deposits within suites of minerals that indicate aqueous alteration, mostly because hydrated silica forms easily in different environments. Because of its relative ubiquity on Mars, it makes a good tracer mineral to compare otherwise dissimilar deposits and relate their relative degrees of aqueous alteration. The first portion of this dissertation uses near-infrared and thermal-infrared spectroscopy to determine the relative degree of crystallinity of hydrated silica and the bulk SiO2 abundance of hydrated-silica-bearing surfaces. This analysis reveals that Martian hydrated silicas exhibit a range of crystalline structures, from noncrystalline (opal-A or hydrated glass) to crystalline (quartz), implying a range in the maturity of these silica deposits. However, bulk SiO2 abundances show less diversity, with most Martian silica deposits having relatively low SiO2 abundances, similar to a basaltic andesitic composition that exists over much of the surface and that suggests little interaction with water.;The second portion of this dissertation focuses on one location that contains the only detected quartz on the planet. High-resolution satellite imagery and thermal and near-infrared spectroscopy is used to construct a geologic history of these deposits and their local context. The quartz-bearing deposits are consistently found co-located with hydrated silica, and this spatial coherence suggests that the quartz formed as a diagenetic product of amorphous silica, rather than as a primary igneous mineral. Diagenetic quartz is a mature alteration product of hydrated amorphous silica, and indicates more persistent water and/or higher temperatures at this site. There is also spectral evidence for smectites beneath the silica-bearing rocks, in the lowermost exposed Noachian-aged breccia. A similar stratigraphic sequence---smectite-bearing breccias beneath deposits containing minerals indicating a greater degree of alteration---has also been found at nearby exposures at Nili Fossae and Toro Crater, suggesting a widespread sequence of alteration. The two sections of this dissertation provide a global and in-depth view of Martian hydrated silica deposits, thereby broadening and refining our search for past water on Mars.