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Analogy between the spectral signature of the jarosite from the Pinchollo area

in Peru and from the Meridiani Planum on Mars and recognition of the

mineralization process

Article · June 2020

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Analogy between the spectral signature of the jarosite from the Pinchollo area in Peru and from the Meridiani Planum on Mars and recognition of the mineralization

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Maria Paula Ramos

Los Andes University (Colombia)

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Universidad De Los Andes

Undergraduate Thesis

Geosciences

Submitted by

Maria Paula Ramos Acosta

Analogy between the spectral

signature of the jarosite from

the Pinchollo area in Peru and from

the Meridiani Planum on Mars and

recognition of the mineralization

process.

Under the guidance of

Bogdan Nitescu, Ph.D.

Professor, Universidad de los Andes

Departament of GeosciencesFaculty of scienceBogota D.C., Colombia

First Semester 2020

i.

Resumen

Este estudio intenta establecer una comparacion entre los entornos que albergan lajarosita mineral en la Tierra y Marte. Con el fin de establecer una comparacion yposible analogıa entre los ambientes de dichos planetas el objetivo de este trabajoes encontrar semejanzas entre las firmas espectrales y el proceso de mineralizaciondel mineral jarosita, un sulfato de hierro y potasio hidratado, que se presenta ycristaliza en ambos lugares y que puede ser un rastro de ocurrencia de agua pasada.Por medio del procesamiento de imagenes tomadas de la base de datos de CRISM,HIRISE Y Hyperion, se buscan los principales focos de acumulacion de la jarositaen la zona del geiser Pinchollo en Peru y en crateres identificados durante la rutadel rover ”Opportunity” en Meridiani Planum. Gracias a la alta resolucion delsensor Hyperion fue posible reconocer algunas zonas depresionales cerca al geiserque evidencian mayor presencia de materiales con una firma semejante a la jarositade referencia tomada de Beckman Coulter instrument. Por otro lado, las imagenes deCRISM sugieren una mayor abundancia de materiales con firma espectral semejentea la jarosita en zonas donde la erosion y el transporte eolico impacta el terrenomarciano cerca del Eagle y Endeavour crater.

Abstract

This study tries to establish a comparison between environments hosting the mineraljarosite on Earth and Mars. In order to establish a comparison and possible anal-ogy between the environments of these planets, the objective of this work is to findsimilarities between the spectral signatures and the mineralization process of thejarosite, a potassium and iron sulphate hydrous mineral, found in both places, andmight be a possible signal of the previous water occurrence. Through the processingof images taken from the CRISM, HIRISE and Hyperion databases, looking for themain spots of accumulation of jarosite in the area of Pinchollo geyser in Peru and incraters identified by the rover ”Opportunity” in Meridiani Planum. Thanks to thehigh spectral resolution of the Hyperion sensor, it was possible to recognize somedepressive areas near the geyser that show greater presence of materials with a spec-tral signature similar to that of the reference jarosite taken from Beckman Coulterinstrument. On the other hand, the CRISM images suggest a greater abundanceof materials with a similar spectral signature of jarosite in areas where erosion andwind transport impact the Martian terrain near to Eagle and Endeavour craters.

ii.

Acknowledgments

First of all, I thank my advisor Bogdan Nitezcu for the patience and understandingduring the development of this project. For guiding me in the process of writing andscientific technique. Secondly, I really thank my professor Fabian Saavedra for all theknowledge he shared with me and the learning he gave me about planetary scienceand the geology of Mars.In addition, I want to thank geologist Msc Miguel AndresFigueroa for all the guidance in the mineral processes and the main components todistinguish.

I would also like to show gratitude to researcher Krzysztof Gaidzik and his teamfor letting me use previously published information about the Pinchollo zone in Peruand the mineral components.

Finally, to my family for giving me the love and possibilities to learn and trainas a Geoscientist,without them the execution of this thesis would not have beenpossible.

Contents

1 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1 Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.2 Area of study on Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.3 Area of study on Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.4 Data Acquisition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 2 Geological Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.1 Earth: Peru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.2 Mars: Meridiani Planum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3 3 Conceptual Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83.1 The Mineral Jarosite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4 4 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84.1 Processing of images from Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4.1.1 Hyperion sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94.1.2 Metadata of the images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

4.2 Processing of images from Mars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104.2.1 Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104.2.2 Metadata of the images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

5 5 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125.1 Pre-processing and Corrections of the images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

5.1.1 Earth: Peru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125.1.2 Mars: Meridiani Planum HIRISE images . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

5.2 Spectrometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145.2.1 Earth - Peru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155.2.2 Mars: Meridiani Planum CRISM image . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

5.3 Morphological parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

6 6 Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256.1 Geostatistical analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

6.1.1 Earth-Peru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256.1.2 Mars-Meridiani Planum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

6.2 Spectral Signatures analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296.3 Morphological analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

6.3.1 Earth-Peru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306.3.2 Mars: Meridiani Planum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

6.4 Process of mineralization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

iii

iv.

7 7 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

List of Figures

1 Location of the Pinchollo geyser. On the left, regional location onEarth. On the right, the local location with relation with the faultnetwork and morphological profile by Ciesielczuk et al. (2013). . . . . 2

2 Target zone on Mars. Meridiani Planum coordinates based on theGCS MARS 2000) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3 Imagen Geological map of the region in Pinchollo Peru with 1:100.000scale take from Servicio Geologico de Peru. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

4 Geological map of the region near the Opportunity landing site. Gray= HNhu (Hesperian and Noachian highlands), brown = mNh (middleNoachian highlands), and yellow = impact materials. Geological mapand data from Tanaka et al. (2013). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

5 Flowchart of image for images processing from the Hyperion databasebased on the procedure to be carried out in this study. . . . . . . . . 9

6 Flowchart of image processing for images from the CRISM and HIRISEdatabases based on a previous spectroscopy study in Planetary Sci-ence (Figuera et al.,2018) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

7 Image of the area of study in the Pinchollo region of Peru acquired bythe Hyperion EO-1 sensor.Combination of bands of the wavelengthrange involved the visible spectrum (400 to 700 nm). Taken fromUSGS (2013). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

8 HIRISE images showing also the route Opportunity rover in MeridianiPlanum area to analyze the main geological structures of these cratersand the specific location. The images involved wavelengths of visiblespectrum (380-700 nm) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

9 Base spectral signature of K-jarosite used for supervised classificationanalysis of the spectral information for the area of study. Taken fromthe Spectral library Viewer of the ENVI software (2020) . . . . . . . 15

10 Color ilustration of the areas in the Hyperion image of the Pincholloregion that present the spectral signature similar to the K- jarositereference signature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

11 Spectral signatures taken from processing EO-1 Hyperion image ofPinchollo zone in Peru in infrared and visible wavelength zone . . . . 17

12 Spectral signatures taken from processing CRISM image of MeridianiPlanum region on Mars in infrared wavelength zone . . . . . . . . . . 18

13 Abundance of materials with the same absorption than spectral sig-nature of K-jarosite in Endeavour crater. First, absorption for band1470 nm, second one absorption for band 1850 nm in the infraredwavelength zone. In yellow: low presence of jarosite, red: mediumpresence of jarosite and blue/purple: high presence of jarosite. . . . . 19

v

vi.

14 Abundance of materials with the same absorption than spectral signa-ture of K-jarosite in Eagle crater. First, absorption for band 1470 nm,second one absorption for band 1850 nm in the infrared wavelengthzone. In yellow: low presence of jarosite, red: medium presence ofjarosite and blue/purple: high presence of jarosite. . . . . . . . . . . . 20

15 Maps of the area of study in the Pinchollo region of Peru. A) Elevation(relief) map. Colors correspond to elevation intervals, with elevationvalues in meters. B) Map of slopes. Colors corresponds to slopeintervals, with slope values in degrees. C) Map of slope orientation.Colors correspond to orientation intervals, with orientation (azimuth)values in degrees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

16 Maps of the Endeavour crater in Meridiani PLanum region on Mars A)Elevation (relief) map. Color correspond to elevation values in meters.B) Map of slopes. Color correspond to slope intervals with slopevalues in degrees. C) Map of slope orientations. Colors correspondto orientation intervals, with orientation (azimuth) values in degrees. 23

17 Maps of the Eagle crater in Meridiani PLanum region on Mars A)Elevation (relief) map. Color correspond to elevation values in meters.B) Map of slopes. Color correspond to slope intervals with slopevalues in degrees. C) Map of slope orientations. Colors correspondto orientation intervals, with orientation (azimuth) values in degrees. 24

18 Geostatistical Analysis of the area of study in the Pinchollo region ofPeru with an histogram of variance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

19 Geostatistical Analysis of the area of study in the Endeavour craterin Meridiani Planum region on Mars with an histogram of variance . 27

20 Geostatistical Analysis of the area of study in the Eagle crater inMeridiani Planum region on Mars with an histogram of variance . . . 28

21 Comparison between the spectral signature resulting from the spec-trometric analysis of the Pinchollo region and Meridiani Planum region. 29

22 Bright wind streaks on Meridiani Planum region with emphasis onEagle and Endeavor crater (Sullivan et al., 2005) . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

23 Basaltic sand ripples on Eagle crater. Microscopy image and regionalimage (Sullivan et al., 2005) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

24 Schematic diagram illustrating the supergene and steam-heated ter-restrial environments in which jarosite can form (Papike et al., 2006) 34

1 Introduction 1.

1 Introduction

1.1 Context

Throughout history the science discovered a wide variety of similar environmentsbetween terrestrial and Martian surfaces. The jarosite, iron sulfate and hydratedpotassium, whose formula:

(K)Fe3(SO4)2(OH)6 (1)

is a mineral formed on Earth mainly in acidic, oxidizing, sulfate rich environ-ments and, in some cases, related to meteoric waters (Navrotsky, Forray, & Drouet,2005). In last decade, jarosite was identified by Mossbauer spectrometry (Fernandez-Remolar, Morris, Gruener, Amils, & Knoll, 2005) in the data taken by the or-biters and landing modules such as the ”Opportunity” exploration rover on sur-face in Meridiani Planum on Mars, which could indicate occurrence of past water.(Gargaud, Amils, & Cleaves, 2011).

In the Western Cordillera to south of Peru, in the town of Pinchollo is re-ported a geyser at the base of the Hualca Hualca volcano, which presents a complexgeology and hydrothermal activity with low to neutral pH waters. The mineraliza-tion is mainly composed by sulfates including jarosite (Ciesielczuk, Zaba, Bzowska,Gaidzik, & G logowska, 2013). Consequently, arises the possibility of comparing themineralogy present in mentioned region with that found in Meridiani Planum onMars in order to propose a possible mineral analogy between K-jarosite present onthose zones. This procedure is based on comparing the absorption’s of the spectralsignature of K-jarosite that results from CRISM and Hyperion image processing.

The main objectives of this procedure are recognize the main differences andsimilarities of the traces of the spectral signatures found between the K-jarosite ofPeru and Meridiani Planum region, observing the reflectance and absorption peaksthrough image processing. In addition, propose a relationship between the jarositeof Peru and that of Mars in terms of the comparison between the environmentand mineralization processes of both areas based on the physicochemical conditions.Therefore, find the morphometric parameters of the terrain that contribute to theprecipitation of the mineral in both Meridiani Planum and Peru region.

The analogy that is sought to be established between the K-jarosite presentin Martian and terrestrial environment is carried out also with the help of toolsoffered by different processing software such as ArcGis and ENVI. First, apply ananalysis of the geomorphology of the terrain where the jarosite is found to establish

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a relationship between abundance and morphometric parameters. Subsequently, astatistical analysis is carried out to indicate the areas with the highest probabilityof the existence of K-jarosite to confirm the results. Then, obtain a hypothesis thatdescribes the similarities of spectroscopy characteristics and mineralization processof the K-jarosite present in Pinchollo and Meridiani Planum region. Finally, comparethe results with the information of pre-existing bibliography or other similar studiesin other areas of the planet to highlight the main contributions and findings.

1.2 Area of study on Earth

The areas on Earth where the analysis of the jarosite occurrence is carried out, islocated in southern Peru, (Figure 1) in the department of Arequipa, near the town ofPinchollo. This jarosite occurrence was discussed by Ciesielczuk et al. (2013), whoemphasized the finding of jarosite rich in potassium in one of their samples. Thecoordinates of this sample are S15◦ 40´, W71◦ 51’and the altitude is 4353 m.a.s.l(Ciesielczuk et al., 2013) (Figure 1)

Figure 1: Location of the Pinchollo geyser. On the left, regional location on Earth.On the right, the local location with relation with the fault network and morpho-logical profile by Ciesielczuk et al. (2013).

1.3 Area of study on Mars

The area on Mars where the analysis of jarosite occurrence is carried out is the Merid-iani Planum, located near the intersection of the equator and the prime meridian(Fernandez-Remolar et al., 2005). Specifically, the area of study comprises the Eaglecrater coordinates S1.94 ◦, E354.5 ◦and the Endeavour crater coordinates S2,254◦,

1 Introduction 3.

E354,6◦ in the Mars Coordinate System (Figure 2) captured by the ”Opportunity”rover on Mars.

Figure 2: Target zone on Mars. Meridiani Planum coordinates based on the GCSMARS 2000)

1.4 Data Acquisition

Geological and topographic data for the proposed area of study on Earth (Pin-chollo area in Peru) were obtained from the Servicio Geologico Peruano (SGP) web-site.Information on jarosite mineralization and the coordinates of the location ofjarosite occurrence near the town of Pinchollo in Peru were obtained from Ciesiel-czuk et al., 2013.

The satellite data used for the selected area on Earth were acquired by the EO-1Hyperion sensor. The EO-1 Hyperion sensor is the first satellite-borne hyperspectralsensor to orbit the Earth, capable of recording spectral information and the radiance

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in many narrow contiguous bands spanning the visible to near infrared portion of thespectrum (Demuro & Chisholm, 2003). The EO-1 Hyperion images of the Pincholloarea in Peru were acquired by the USGS (United States Geological Survey) in 2013,2015 and 2017.

The satellite data used for the analysis of the Meridiani Planum on Mars wereacquired by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars CRISM.This Spectrometer is a hyperspectral imager on the Mars Reconnaissance OrbiterMRO spacecraft and consists of an Optical Sensor Unit (OSU), a Data ProcessingUnit (DPU) and a Gimbal Motor Electronics module (GME). CRISM is used for themapping of Martian surface using a subset of bands to characterize the mineralogy athigh spectral and spatial resolution, and to measure spatial and seasonal variationsin the atmosphere (Murchie et al., 2007).

Moreover, the CRISM information was complemented with data provided bythe Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s High Resolution Imaging Science ExperimentHIRISE, a camera with a 0.5 m diameter primary mirror, 12 m effective local lengthand a focal plane system. That can acquire images containing up to 28 Gb covering1 percent of the Martian surface (McEwen et al., 2007).

Information on the discovery of jarosite in the Meridiani Planum of Mars wasobtained from Fernandez-Remolar et al. (2005).

2 Geological Setting

2.1 Earth: Peru

In the Borroso group, the volcanic complex under study is called Ampato-Sabancayaand is located 76 km northwest of the city of Arequipa and has 44 active volcanoesand 6 boiler systems due to the subduction between the Nazca and South Americanplates (Macedo Sanchez et al., 2014). This complex is formed at the southern end bythe Ampato stratovolcano of the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene, at the northernend the Sabancaya of Holocenic age and both volcanoes adjoin the southern endof the extinct and eroded Hualca Hualca volcano whose age is possibly from thePleistocene (Ingemmet, 2020)(Figure 3).

The Hualca Hualca volcano is characterized by a horseshoe-shaped caldera andpresents slopes affected by abrasion which may be evidence of pre-existing glacialactivity (Burkett, 2005).Its deposits can be classified into five events: the first tra-chiandesitic lava flows; the second andesite flow interspersed with crystallized tuffs;

2 Geological Setting 5.

the third andesitic porphyritic flows; the fourth event in domes and subsequentdacitic flows with transverse dikes and ridges; and the fifth event related to the col-lapse of the north flank, is representated by debris avalanche deposits towards theColca river that created a dam and subsequent sedimentation of lacustrine depositsbehind it (Quispesivana Quispe et al,. 2003) Near the dome there are geothermalmanifestations and hydrothermal alterations.

One of the manifestations of hydrothermal activity in Arequipa is the emossionof gas from the Pinchollo geyser located 1250 m above the canyon where the ColcaRiver flows. The Pinchollo geyser zone is made up of the crystalline massif of Are-quipa and folded epicontinental silicon sedimentary formations that are introducedby late Mesozoic granuloids and that resent veins of gold and silver. Close to it isthe valley between Chivay and Madrigal, which has lake deposits of sand and siltof volcanic origin. This valley shows tectonism, so the hot springs flow throughfractures at the foot of the Hualca Hualca volcano along with a niche that resultedfrom an avalanche of rubble in the Pleistocene. (Ciesielczuk et al., 2013).

Figure 3: Imagen Geological map of the region in Pinchollo Peru with 1:100.000scale take from Servicio Geologico de Peru.

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2.2 Mars: Meridiani Planum

Meridiani Planum is a region of Mars located close to the intersection of the equatorand the prime meridian, at 2 S 6 W in the Geographic Coordinate System MARS2000, where the rover “Opportunity” landed in January 2004 (Figure ??). This sitewas chosen for investigation with the rover, because the soil in this basin containscrystalline hematite Fe2O3 and the rocks are lacustrine evaporites composed largelyof sulfate minerals (Faure Gunter, 2007).The Martian rock record appears to preserveevidence of diverse ancient environments indicative of the presence of water in thegeologic past. The Meridiani Planum zone presents phyllosilicate minerals datingfrom the Noachian period (4100 to 3700 million years ago), which were formed byalteration in aqueous environments of relatively neutral pH. During this period, theMeridiani Planum region was the site of extensive fluvial erosion, and transport ofsediment to the northwest. Ancient fluvial channels are evident to the south of theMeridiani Planum plains, where they underlie the Burns formation deposits, whichare represanted by sulfate-rich sandstones that embay Endeavour´s rim segments.According to the observations made by the Opportunity rover, the principal depositson the surface of the Meridiani PLanum are basaltic sands and evaporites formed in ashallow environment, interspersed with Hematite concretions of the Burns formationoutcrops, which exhibiting evidence for mild aqueous alteration, including formationof smectites (Powel et al., 2017)

The hypothesis for the formation of sulfate minerlas propose that regional heat-ing in the subsurface of Meridiani Planum was caused by hydrothermal waters,leading to formation of pyrite-rich regional deposits as dunes and playa-like beds ininterdune depressions. Aqueous oxidation of these deposits by atmospheric oxygen(O2) created an acidic environment that allowed formation of sulfates and goethite(Powell et al., 2017). Exploration contucted by NASA´s rover Opportunity hasrevealed that the partial neutralization of the acidic solutions formed through near-surface aqueous oxidation of pyrite, caused the conversion of jarosite to goethitein sulfate and hematite rich sedimentary rocks exposed in craters and other sur-face features of the Meridiani Planum. The jarosite was evidenced like a ferric ironsulfate-hydroxide mineral that was identified by Mossbauer spectrometry in placeswith particular constraints on the paleoenvironmental interpretation of the Merid-iani Planum rocks(Zolotov & Shock, 2005) along with a distribution of Fe-bearingminerals such as pyroxene, olivine and Fe oxides(magnetite and hematite) (Powellel at., 2017).

Examples of craters where the presence of the jarosite has been determinedare the Eagle and Endeavour craters (Figure 4) . The Eagle crater, contains fine-grained siliciclastic rocks, spherules derived from weathering of basaltic rocks, and

2 Geological Setting 7.

sulfate minerals that account for the high concentrations of Sulfure (S) in the out-crop (Faure Gunter, 2007). On the other hand, the Endevour crater formed beforeemplacement of the Burns formation deposits an largely evaporative and aeolianenvironment with sulfate-rich sandstones, basalts rocks and smectites under gener-ally acidic and oxidizing conditions. Endeavour crater present degradation probablydue to fluvial erosion and interspersed strata between these materials (Powell et al,.2017).

Figure 4: Geological map of the region near the Opportunity landing site. Gray= HNhu (Hesperian and Noachian highlands), brown = mNh (middle Noachianhighlands), and yellow = impact materials. Geological map and data from Tanakaet al. (2013).

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3 Conceptual Framework

3.1 The Mineral Jarosite

According to the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) (Pasero, 2017) listof minerals, jarosite is a hydrated mineral of secondary origin and trigonal system,which is part of the alunite supergroup. The formula is AB3(TO4)2(OH)6 where Acan be Na or K, B is Fe and T is S. The current study focuses on potassium jarosite.Minerals within the jarosite group are commonly found in acidic environments, highin sulfate and whose waters are oxidized to ferric iron(Basciano & Peterson, 2007).The K-jarosite is generally found in very fine grain deposits and some geochemicalstudies (X-ray diffraction) indicate that K or Na jarosite varieties were formed inhydrothermal environments on Earth (Verplanck, 2008).

K-jarosite is one of the hydrated minerals discovered by the Opportunity Roverin the Eagle Crater on Mars (Verplanck, 2008) and its processes of formation onMars may be similar to those accounting for the formation of this mineral on Earth(Basciano & Peterson, 2007).The mineral paragenesis in which jarosite typically oc-curs includes hematite, limonite, goethite an pyrite. On Mars the jarosite occurrenceis accompanied by gypsum, bassanite, and anhydrite (Yen et al., 2017).

Some of the hydrated sulphate both in Earth and Mars have formed throughhydrothermal activity. In case of Mars is associated with the impact event into avolatile- and icerich target. This provides a thermal gradient that drives the circu-lation of aqueous solutions (Marzo et al., 2010). Numerical models of groundwaterflow within freshly formed martian impact craters indicate that hydrothermal sys-tems will develop if sufficient water is present(Rathbun & Squyres, 2002). Theseprocesses are analogous to those demonstrated on Earth, where basement structuresact as conduits for the flow of surface and sub-surface water (Marzo et al., 2010).

4 Methodology

4.1 Processing of images from Earth

4 Methodology 9.

4.1.1 Hyperion sensor

The processing described in this section applies to terrestrial acquired by the EO-1Hyperion sensor. The Hyperion data consist of a data ‘cube’ represented by 242spectral bands acquired over an array of 256 pixels (width). The number of lines(length) varies with the data acquisition event and the image is built up with theforward motion of the sensor. After downloading the images from the USGS page,they are analyzed with the Environment for Visualizing Images (ENVI), which isa application used to process and analyze geospatial imagery (Canty, 2014). Inorder to obtain the cleanest spectral signatures in Peru, the atmospheric correctionFLAASH is applied, which corrects wavelengths in the visible through near-infraredand shortwave infrared regions (Felde et al., 2003) in this way the radiation data isconverted to the apparent reflectance. Finally, the bands whose reflectance has noinformation or distort the image with noise are eliminated to better determine theabsorption’s evidenced by the signature composed of calibrated bands. (Demuro &Chisholm, 2003)(Figure 5)

Figure 5: Flowchart of image for images processing from the Hyperion databasebased on the procedure to be carried out in this study.

4.1.2 Metadata of the images

The validity of the results depends on an optimal analysis of the minerals componentsin the study areas. For this, it is important to take into account characteristics-factors, such as cloud cover, sunlight, slope, orientation, atmosphere, time (table:3).

Data set attribute Attribute ValueEntity ID EO1H0030712013111110KFSG101

Acquisition Date 2013/04/21Cloud Cover 20 to 29 percent

Station SG1Scene Start Time 14:27:42

Sun Azimuth 52.931393Sun Elevation 45.928196

Satellite Inclination 98.04

Table 1: Example of metadata for the image used for the study of the Pinchollogeyser area in Peru. Taken from Earth Explorer USGS (2017)

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4.2 Processing of images from Mars

4.2.1 Instruments

The imaging instruments used on MRO Mars Recognition Orbiter (MRO) and in-cludes the Compact Mars Recognition Image Spectrometer (CRISM)(Figure 6) in-cludes the High Resolution Image Scientific Experiment (HIRISE). These instru-ments have high spatial and spectral resolution have high spatial and spectral res-olution and were used to characterize the geology and mineralogy of thousands ofsites on Mars (Murchie et al., 2007).

The data acquired by the instruments is stored as a Planetary Data System(PDS) consisting a part of the Geosciences Node that handles data related to thestudy of the surfaces and interiors of planetary bodies (Flagstaff, 2017). The PDSare oriented to collect, publish and distribute peer of reviewed and documented plan-etary data. The application of PDS in planetary missions ensure that data sets aredelivered to PDS at predetermined times and develop and maintain standards andtools for assembly of documentation of data sets. In addition, provide expert assis-tance to the planetary community in data order functions(Arvidson & Dueck, 1994).After obtaining the images of CRISM PDS as Multispectral Reduced Data logging(MRDR) the study requires to applies radiometric calibration specific observationand corrections for Atmospheric effects (Seelos & Murchie, 2018).

Subsequently, the information passes to an integrated software for images andspectrometers (ISIS) which were developed by the United States Geological Survey(USGS) and involves cartographic and scientific systems used to process and an-alyze NASA’s planetary image data. The current active instrument equipment ofNASA’s planetary spacecraft is using integrated software for imaging and spectrom-eters (ISIS) to support ground data processing (GDP) operations (Becker et al.,2013). Parallel to that, processing need the use of CRISM Analysis Toolkit (CAT),which is an IDL/ENVI-based software system for analyzing and displaying data fromthe Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) (Gaddis etal., 2017). Along with it calibrate and create mosaics of the images obtained fromHIRISE and the output files are transformed into GeoTiff using (Geospatial DataAbstraction Library) GDAL (Figure 6). Finally, the information is georeferencedand the information is classified by relating the topography with mineralogy accord-ing to the objective of the procedure (Hernandez, n.d.).

4 Methodology 11.

Figure 6: Flowchart of image processing for images from the CRISM and HIRISEdatabases based on a previous spectroscopy study in Planetary Science (Figuera etal.,2018)

4.2.2 Metadata of the images

The images taken from the HIRISE processing for the geological and geomorphologicanalysis of the Meridiani Planum region on Mars depend on factors that regulateimage capture. These factors are: The time, the position of the sun, the resolu-tion and the scale. It is important to take these data into account both for Eagle(table:??) and for Endeavour (table:??)craters when performing the analysis.

Data set attribute Attribute ValueEntity SP0501771780

Acquisition Date 10 April 2017Solar incidence angle 31◦, with the Sun about 59◦ above the horizon

Local Mars time 14:03

Table 2: Example of metadata for the HIRISE image used for the study of the Eaglecrater area on Mars. Taken from HIRISE University of Arizona (2017)

Data set attribute Attribute ValueEntity ESP0240151775

Acquisition Date 10 September 2011Solar incidence angle 34◦, with the Sun about 56◦ above the horizon

Local Mars time 14:14

Table 3: Example of metadata for the HIRISE image used for the study of theEndeavour crater area on Mars. Taken from HIRISE University of Arizona (2011)

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5 Results

5.1 Pre-processing and Corrections of the images

This section aims to apply pre-processing and corrections to selected images to ana-lyze the study area of both Earth and Mars, in order to obtain a clearer view of theterrain and a clear image of the visible view of structural geology and geomorphologyof the area.

5.1.1 Earth: Peru

The pre-processing of the image taken from EO-1 Hyperion (Figure 7) comprisesthe radiometric, dark subtraction and FLAASH Atmospheric corrections, whichare carried out in order to eliminate certain effects or bad-bands that may causenoise or lack of precision in the spectral results. The pre-processing of the imagewas done with the ENVI software.The Hyperion image is acquire over 242 spectralbands, the final pre-processing step involved the elimination of atmospheric absorp-tion bands: 120-132; 165-182; and 185-187 (Friedel, Buscema, Vicente, Iwashita, &Koga-Vicente, 2018).

5 Results 13.

Figure 7: Image of the area of study in the Pinchollo region of Peru acquired by theHyperion EO-1 sensor.Combination of bands of the wavelength range involved thevisible spectrum (400 to 700 nm). Taken from USGS (2013).

5.1.2 Mars: Meridiani Planum HIRISE images

HIRISE images have almost three times the spatial resolution (1.5 m by pixel) thanCRISM. This aspect make easy analyze and identify structures and geomorphologyin the geology study area on Mars (McEwen et al., 2007). This images coveringthe Eagle and Endeavor craters were selected, since these are the location wherethe occurrences of jarosite were identified by the Opportunity rover (Klingelhofer etal., 2004). The images were georeferenced on the Meridiani Planum base map, inorder to relate their position to the route of the Opportunity exploration rover in

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the Meridiani Planum area (Figure 8).

Figure 8: HIRISE images showing also the route Opportunity rover in MeridianiPlanum area to analyze the main geological structures of these craters and thespecific location. The images involved wavelengths of visible spectrum (380-700nm)

5.2 Spectrometry

The usefulness of remote multispectral detection techniques to discriminate betweenmaterials is based on the differences between their spectral properties (Hunt, 1977).This section analyzes in detail the spectral response of the terrestrial and Martiansoil mineral components in order to recognize the main absorption and predominantwavelengths for the mineral of interest in this study (K-jarosite).

5 Results 15.

5.2.1 Earth - Peru

After making the specified corrections and extract the bad-bands, we shown one theK-jarosite spectral signatures taken by Beckman Coulter instrument SA (Pritchett,Madden, & Madden, 2012) from the ENVI spectral library viewer. This signature,was compared with the spectral signatures from the Hyperion image of the area ofstudy (Figure 9).

Figure 9: Base spectral signature of K-jarosite used for supervised classificationanalysis of the spectral information for the area of study. Taken from the Spectrallibrary Viewer of the ENVI software (2020)

Using the Adaptive Coherence Estimator Classification tool of ENVI software,it is possible to classify the spectral signatures of the materials present in the area ofstudy, to distribute them according to their similarity or occurrence with an existingsignature (k-jarosite Beckman instrument spectral signature) which is introduced inthe program. The results show the regions within the study area that present themost similar spectral signature of k-jarosite with colors indicator, from maximumcoherence to low or null coherence. Taking into account the information present bythe Hyperion image of the Pinchollo region at the base of the map it is possiblemake the relationship between geology and the abundance of the mineral of interest.(Figure 10)

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Figure 10: Color ilustration of the areas in the Hyperion image of the Pincholloregion that present the spectral signature similar to the K- jarosite reference signa-ture.

We can see that the Beckman spectral signature of the K-jarosite present ad-sorptions at 900 nm, 1470 nm, 1850 nm and 2226 nm. On the basis of the areaswhose spectral signatures show the greatest similarity to the reference BeckmanK-jarosite signature, preliminary practical signatures are extracted from EO-1 Hy-

5 Results 17.

perion image(Figure 11).

Figure 11: Spectral signatures taken from processing EO-1 Hyperion image of Pin-chollo zone in Peru in infrared and visible wavelength zone

5.2.2 Mars: Meridiani Planum CRISM image

This process is carry out by an hybrid classification tool of ENVI software calledMaximum Likelihood Classification, which is a combination of the supervised andunsupervised classification methods. MLC is considered the most accurate classi-fication scheme, since it is recognized as a stable and robust classifier with highprecision and accuracy (Sun, Yang, Zhang, Yun, & Qu, 2013). The classification

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was applied to the k-jarosite spectral signatures extracted from CRISM images ofthe Meridiani Planum study area taken from the Planetary Data System in RAWextension(McMahon, 1996).

On the basis of the areas whose spectral signatures show the greatest similarityto the reference Beckman K-jarosite signature, preliminary practical signatures areextracted from CRISM image of Eagle crater on Meridiani Planum region (Figure12).

Figure 12: Spectral signatures taken from processing CRISM image of MeridianiPlanum region on Mars in infrared wavelength zone

5 Results 19.

Coherence map of K-jarosite of Endeavor crater in Meridiani Planum

Figure 13: Abundance of materials with the same absorption than spectral signatureof K-jarosite in Endeavour crater. First, absorption for band 1470 nm, secondone absorption for band 1850 nm in the infrared wavelength zone. In yellow: lowpresence of jarosite, red: medium presence of jarosite and blue/purple: high presenceof jarosite.

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Coherence map of K-jarosite of Eagle crater in Meridiani Planum

Figure 14: Abundance of materials with the same absorption than spectral signa-ture of K-jarosite in Eagle crater. First, absorption for band 1470 nm, second oneabsorption for band 1850 nm in the infrared wavelength zone. In yellow: low pres-ence of jarosite, red: medium presence of jarosite and blue/purple: high presence ofjarosite.

5 Results 21.

Through the spectral information giving by CRISM image processing in the ar-eas of both Eagle and Endeavour craters in Meridiani Planum region on Mars thathave the greatest abundance of the mineral of interest (k-jarosite) were identified.With the help of color conventions, the places characterized by the strongest absorp-tion for 1470 and 1850 nm (which are indicative of jarosite in the infrared wavelengthzone) are indicated for Endeavour crater (Figure 13) and for Eagle crater (Figure14) .

5.3 Morphological parameters

In order to establish a spatial analogy between the environments where K-jarositeoccurs in the Pinchollo geyser region on Earth and the Meridiani Planum region onMars, we analyzed the morphometric parameters for each of these regions. In thisway, we tried to establish the relationship between the observed spectral response,the geomorphological environments and the mineralization processes at each loca-tion.

The process is carried out using ArcGIS software that analyzes, visualizes andupdates Geographic information. Many researchers have made morphometric anal-ysis using remote sensing and GIS technique (Jagadeesh, Shivakumaranaiklal, &Sitaram, 2014). On this study, a database of the territory is being prepared to al-low the construction of digital terrain models (DTM). As a result, morphologicaland morphometric characteristics of the instability processes were obtained, such aselevation, angle of slope and orientation of slope (Jimenez, Irigaray, El Hamdouni,Fernandez, & Chacon, 2007).

In the Pinchollo region of Peru, the digital terrain model taken from Alos PalsarRadar (Logan et al., 2014) was processed to build three maps: Relief, slope andorientation of the study area where the K-jarosite is located.(Figure 15). In thesame way to processing for Meridiani Planum region on Mars, but in this case,the digital terrain model was taken from MOLA instrument (McMahon, 1996) andwas performed for both the Eagle (Figure 17) and the Endeavor craters (Figure16). Over each of these maps related to the Pinchollo area in Peru, the Hyperionimage that was taken for the spectroscopic study is superimposed on the top, inthis way it is possible to relate the morphometric parameters with the geology andthe components of the terrain that covers the area.In the case of Mars, we take theHIRISE images and superimpose them on the top of the maps of both the EagleCrater and Endevour crater.

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Earth - Peru

Figure 15: Maps of the area of study in the Pinchollo region of Peru. A) Elevation(relief) map. Colors correspond to elevation intervals, with elevation values in me-ters. B) Map of slopes. Colors corresponds to slope intervals, with slope values indegrees. C) Map of slope orientation. Colors correspond to orientation intervals,with orientation (azimuth) values in degrees.

5 Results 23.

Mars - Meridiani Planum

Figure 16: Maps of the Endeavour crater in Meridiani PLanum region on Mars A)Elevation (relief) map. Color correspond to elevation values in meters. B) Map ofslopes. Color correspond to slope intervals with slope values in degrees. C) Mapof slope orientations. Colors correspond to orientation intervals, with orientation(azimuth) values in degrees.

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Figure 17: Maps of the Eagle crater in Meridiani PLanum region on Mars A) Eleva-tion (relief) map. Color correspond to elevation values in meters. B) Map of slopes.Color correspond to slope intervals with slope values in degrees. C) Map of slopeorientations. Colors correspond to orientation intervals, with orientation (azimuth)values in degrees.

6 Interpretation 25.

6 Interpretation

6.1 Geostatistical analysis

6.1.1 Earth-Peru

Figure 18: Geostatistical Analysis of the area of study in the Pinchollo region ofPeru with an histogram of variance

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Based on the results of the spectrometric analysis, we can identify the areas wherepresent a greater quantity of materials with similar spectral characteristics of K-jarosite mineral. It is important to note that the map resulting from the supervisedclassification does not show the exact concentration of this mineral, but the prob-ability that it exists, therefore the color convention shows a scale from high corre-spondence (high probability) to low correspondence (low or zero probability). Withthis in mind, a geostatistical analysis of the results of the supervised classification isperformed in a map of interpolation (Figure 18) in order to specify more preciselythe areas where K-jarosite could accumulate with the support of a histogram show-ing the highest and lower probability value along with the mean and variance. Inthis case, the probability group values from 0.2 (100 percent) to 0 (0 percent).

We can see that in most of the land cover present low probability or correspon-dence to k-jarosite except in the area where the river flows and in some areas in themiddle of the snowy mountains. Due to the value of the mean 0.03, that is to say15 percent, a low mineral abundance can be inferred in terms of quantity along theground, however, due to the high correspondence at specific points, it may only bestable under certain conditions with humidity conditions at time of formation.

6.1.2 Mars-Meridiani Planum

To analyze the Meriadiani Planum zone on Mars, the results of the supervised clas-sification applied to the CRISM images are taken, which show the abundance ofmaterials with high probability (high correspondence) of the presence of K-jarositeand low or no probability (low correspondence) both in Eagle and Endeavour craters.

Based on this, it is possible generate the geostatistical analysis with interpo-lation of results values of coherence map of Endeavour crater in Meridiani Planumregion (Figure 19), together with a histogram of variance with the median and themean. In this case, the group values range from 255 (100 percent) to 0 (0 percent)of probability of present the mineral K-jarosite. On Mars we have less spectral in-formation of the materials that appear in the terrain, so the color difference is not sospecific. However, we can identify that the area with materials that have the highestprobability of the existence of k-jarosite is observed to the south of the image, justat the crater margin, where the topography changes.

Regarding the value of the mean 49.5, that is to say 19.4 percent, we can notethat the value of the average abundance of materials with the possible existence of k-jarosite is similar to presented in Peru but with a slight increase in probability, whichsuggests an adequate environment for the deposition and stability of the mineral atspecific points. Geology can be seen in greater detail on the high spatial resolutionHIRISE image above the interpolation map.

6 Interpretation 27.

Figure 19: Geostatistical Analysis of the area of study in the Endeavour crater inMeridiani Planum region on Mars with an histogram of variance

Likewise, the geoestatistical analysis is generated with interpolation of the re-

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sults values of coherence map of Eagle crater in Meridiani Planum region, togetherwith the variance histogram with mean and median. In this case the values rangefrom 255 (100 percent) to 0 (0 percent) of probability of the presence of the mineralK-jarosite. We identified that the area with the highest values are those near tothe crater, where there are differences in topography and the mineral accumulatesin the surrounding area. The crater is represented by the HIRISE image located onthe top of the map that indicates the geology of this region (Figure 20).

Figure 20: Geostatistical Analysis of the area of study in the Eagle crater in Merid-iani Planum region on Mars with an histogram of variance

6 Interpretation 29.

Regarding the value of the mean 32.3, that is to say 12.6 percent, we can notethat the value of the average abundance of materials with the possible existence ofk-jarosite is similar but with a slight decrease in probability respect to values inPeru, which suggests an environment that is not enough suitable for the depositionand stability of the mineral but has a few specific points that meets the necessaryconditions for the growth. Geology can be seen in greater detail on the high spatialresolution HIRISE image above the interpolation map (Figure 20).

6.2 Spectral Signatures analysis

Taking into account the absorption’s presented in the spectral signature referenceof K-jarosite by the Beckman Instrument. In order to evaluate how similar they areand, therefore, to evaluate the possibility that the signatures correspond of the sameinterest mineral, the same absorption’s in the spectral signatures resulting from thespectrometric analysis of the Hyperion image of Pinchollo and the spectrometricanalysis of the CRISM image of Meridiani Planum region are highlighted (Figure21).

Figure 21: Comparison between the spectral signature resulting from the spectro-metric analysis of the Pinchollo region and Meridiani Planum region.

The green marks indicate the main absorption’s marked by the K-jarosite spec-tral signature of the Beckman instrument applied to the spectral signatures of Peru

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and Mars. A clear similarity can be observed between the signatures, since bothpresent absorption’s in 1470 nm and 2226 nm in the infrared field. The 900 nmabsorption of the visible field occurs in Peru but we do not have information onMars, as does the 1850 nm absorption that occurs on Mars but in Peru not due tothe absence of information in this wavelength range. Furthermore, the absorptionof 2226 nm on Mars has a small gap that may be the consequence of a physicalor chemical alteration. In summary, the spectral signatures share absorption’s and,therefore, the probability that they belong to the same mineral is high.

6.3 Morphological analysis

6.3.1 Earth-Peru

The morphological parameters for the study area in the Pinchollo region give usan indication of the spatial characteristics that surround the areas with the highestpresence of K-jarosite. Based on elevation (relief), slopes and slope orientation ofterrain it is are possible to identify general geological structures that benefit thegrowth of the mineral of interest. In the elevation map with contour lines thatrepresent the topography of the region, the sector where present the high probabil-ity of existence of the mineral K- jarosite, according to the coherence map of thegeoestatistic analysis, are those with lowest height, or depressions in the middle oftwo high snowy mountains. In addition, in the same sectors it is observed that theslopes are steeper, have a greater angle of inclination and, therefore, allow the accu-mulation of heavy minerals. We observe at these points an opposite orientation onthe slopes, forming small accumulation basins and the topographic depression thatallows the flow of the Colca river.

Previous studies of the geyser of the Pinchollo region in Peru suggests thedivision of it into three parts: the one that is close to the geyser, the one thatis slightly away and the last one that is furthest from it, which, in our study isequivalent to the Colca river (Location 2) the profile is shown in the figure in theIntroduction section (Figure 1). The presence of sulfates was verified in it thatcontain potassium, such as jarosite, alunite, and hematite (Ciesielczuk et al., 2013).This jarosite depends on local conditions and it is one of the water soluble minerals.The above suggests that formation and accumulation is consequence of an erosiveand transport agent. The hypothetical formation coincides with the location of thehigh probability of presence of k-jarosite in sectors with low height and high slopeaccording to the morphological maps that allows the accumulation of water andheavy minerals.

6 Interpretation 31.

6.3.2 Mars: Meridiani Planum

In the regions of Meridiani Planum, the analysis of the final morphology of the ter-rain covered by the Eagle crater and the Endeavor crater is carried out. In bothcases, the elevation map (relief) shows the areas with the lowest height. The areasnear the crater identified in the HIRISE image are those that show differences intopography and depressions due to the crater’s footprint. In addition, the highestslopes occur in the same areas, responding similarly to the study environment in thePinchollo region. The orientation of the slopes is not clear, due to the lack of infor-mation on the planet, however, a consecutive trend that coincides towards a singledirection is observed, possibly because only one wall of the craters in question is ana-lyzed. The morphological analysis of both the Eagle crater and the Endeavor allowsus to identify that the K-jarosite accumulation zones between Meridiani Planumand Pinchollo share morphological characteristics since it is possible to relate thecoherence map of the geostatistical analysis in Meridiani Planum previously exposedto the morphology . The areas with the highest probability of existence of K-jarositeare those that present low height and high slopes, such as an accumulation basin,either by the passage of a river or by a crater.

The presence of k-jarosite in areas of depressions formed by the impact of craterssuch as Eagle and Endeavor, possibly due to the fact that sulfates are heavy materialsthat can be mobilized by high-energy agents such as wind or water. In the case ofMars, the opacity of the atmosphere and some surface markings are variable withtime, suggesting that the particles are carried by the wind. The regolith in theMeridiani Planum area has been affected by wind, since the reorientation of thebeds,the soil and the rock grains has been observed (Sullivan et al., 2005). However,if the mineral material is deposited in places such as the bottom of the craters,they are less vulnerable to the wind, which increases the possibility of preservingand accumulating in the same place. Regarding the change in wind direction, it isimportant to highlight the evidence of black streaks near the craters under study(Figure 22) that may suggest an increase in erosive activity that affects materials inthe Meridiani Planum region as K- jarosite and other sulfates (Sullivan et al., 2005).

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Figure 22: Bright wind streaks on Meridiani Planum region with emphasis on Eagleand Endeavor crater (Sullivan et al., 2005)

The large dust storms caused by the wind that mobilizes mineral particles onMars coincide with the shapes of study craters and coincide with the areas whereK-jarosite accumulates(Sullivan et al., 2005). These storms can be the cause of thehigh values and direction of slope that are observed in the maps. In the case of theEagle crater, floor waves occur in patches with different wavelengths ((Figure 23)covered with a monolayer of rounded fragments enriched with hematite in a matrixof fine and coarse sand (Sullivan et al., 2005).

Figure 23: Basaltic sand ripples on Eagle crater. Microscopy image and regionalimage (Sullivan et al., 2005)

6 Interpretation 33.

6.4 Process of mineralization

Several mining studies carried out in different areas of the Earth have resulted inaccumulation and formation of jarosite and other sulfates due to an environment withhydrothermal alteration. Some of these environments are: silicic ,advanced argillic,argillic, phytic-sericitic and propylitic. The Hydrothermal alteration generates pyriteand alunite and jarosite veins related to gold veins and base metal sulfides typicallyit is indicative of argillic alteration (Esteban-Arispe et al., 2007) . In the case of thePinchollo region Current geothermal activity is represented by hot springs, fumarolesand surface precipitates related to active or inactive stratovolcanoes. Hydrothermalactivity is reflected through the longitudinal faults in the Pinchollo geyser region(Ciesielczuk et al., 2013).

On Mars, the evidence of hydrothermal activity in the Meridiani Planum regionis more complex, since it is based on several hypotheses. Regional heating causeda release of sulfide-rich hydrothermal waters which led to the formation of regionalpyrite-rich deposits, and the oxidation of these deposits creates an acidic environ-ment that allows the formation of sulfates and goetite (Zolotov & Shock, 2005). Theevidence for the above is based on the appearance of hematite-rich spherules in thearea where the Opportunity rover lands. An analysis by the Mossbauer spectrometershowed these spherules in a matrix of ferric sulfate hydroxide jarosite. One possi-ble explanation for the formation of hematite-rich spherules is that they formedas diagenetic concretions from the fast decomposition of pre-existing jarosite andother Fe sulfates. The heat source for hydrothermal activity is also uncertain, butcould be associated with volcanic activity, tectonic events, impact events, and burialmetamorphism (Golden, Ming, Morris, & Graff, 2008).

Another hypothesis that explains the formation of jarosite on Mars is the de-gassing of shallow magma that SO4 reserves and reacts with aqueous solutions inaquifers or on the surface of the planet. Meridiani Planum features steam-heatedsupergenic territories in which jarosite can form near the craters (Papike, Karner,& Shearer, 2006). There are two oxidation steps are required to process SO2, onEarth, atmospheric oxygen provides the oxidation of H2S, Fe2 and pyrite that takesplace in zone where rocks cannot buffer pH. On mars, the reduction of atmosphericCO2 to CO is a possible oxidation mechanism. A diagram presented explains whathas been interpreted in this section and the relationship between the jarosite en-vironment on Earth and possibly the jarosite environment on Mars (Papike et al.,2006) (Figure 24).

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Figure 24: Schematic diagram illustrating the supergene and steam-heated terres-trial environments in which jarosite can form (Papike et al., 2006)

7 Conclusions

In conclusion, the spectral signature of K-jarosite in the Pinchollo region of Peru issimilar to the spectral signature of k-jarosite in Meridiani Planum on Mars becausethey share some characteristic mineral absorptions such as that of 2226 nm (exceptfor a small lag) and that of 1470 nm. The main differences are observed in the 900 nmand 1850 nm absorption due to lack of information. Regarding the environment, onboth planets K-jarosite occurs in places of low height and high slope, which may bea consequence of the erosive agent that transports the mineral or the conditions thatallow its accumulation. On the other hand, previous studies confirm the existenceof hydrothermal alteration in the mineral material of both the Meridiani Planumregion and the Pinchollo region, which will follow that this could be the process ofmineralization of the sulfates present such as K-jarosite.

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