Carbonate rocks deconstructed

Characterization of Bitumen Bearing Carbonate Rocks

Several countries, including Canada, contain sizeable bitumen resources in highly fractured carbonate rocks. Any possible recovery of bitumen from these reservoirs will be highly dependent on proper understanding of the rock and fluid properties and how they vary in the reservoir. These carbonates are extremely heterogeneous, and as a result proper reservoir characterization is challenging. In ...

Evidence for Regional Deeply Buried Carbonate-bearing Rocks on Mars

Wray, S. L. Murchie, B. L. Ehlmann, R. E. Milliken, K. D. Seelos, E. Z. Noe Dobrea, J. F. Mustard, and S. W. Squyres, Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA ([email protected]), JHU/Applied Physics Lab, Laurel, MD, USA, IAS/Univ. Paris, Orsay, France, Univ. Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA, Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, USA, Brown Univ., Providence, R...

Orbital evidence for more widespread carbonate-bearing rocks on Mars

Carbonates are key minerals for understanding ancient Martian environments because they are indicators of potentially habitable, neutral-to-alkaline water and may be an important reservoir for paleoatmospheric CO2. Previous remote sensing studies have identified mostly Mg-rich carbonates, both in Martian dust and in a Late Noachian rock unit circumferential to the Isidis basin. Here we report e...

Geochemical Characterization of Sulfide Mineralization in Eastern Wisconsin Carbonate Rocks

Orbital identification of carbonate-bearing rocks on Mars.

Geochemical models for Mars predict carbonate formation during aqueous alteration. Carbonate-bearing rocks had not previously been detected on Mars' surface, but Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mapping reveals a regional rock layer with near-infrared spectral characteristics that are consistent with the presence of magnesium carbonate in the Nili Fossae region. The carbonate is closely associated w...