Data recorded of indurated, weathered carbonates by the airborne hyperspectral imaging spectrometer SEBASS show that some massive carbonates exhibit dramatically reduced spectral contrast for the strong carbonate bands at 6.5 and 11.25 μm. If massive carbonates are present on Mars, this type of reduced spectral contrast could explain why they have not been detected using thermal infrared data s...

The site. During the past 25 years a number of fossilized animal skeletal remains had been submitted by farmers and District Surgeons of the south-western coastal area of the Cape Province to the Cape Town Museum and the above department, but no scientist had subsequently investigated those sites. In May, 1951, I was instrumental in locating an extensive fossil site on the farm “Elandsfontein” ...

The current Mars exploration strategy calls first for the detection from orbit of materials of interest for astrobiology and landing site selection. This places the productivity of the 1996 Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) and the 2001 Mars Odyssey 9-band radiometer THEMIS in the critical path of this strategy. Most predictions of mineral detection limits for TES and THEMIS a...

Data recorded of the Mormon Mesa by the airborne hyperspectral imaging spectrometer SEBASS show that some massive carbonates exhibit dramatically reduced spectral contrast for the strong carbonate bands at 6.5 and 11.25 μm. If carbonates are present on Mars, this type of reduced spectral contrast in massive carbonates could explain why they have not been detected using remotely sensed thermal i...