Abstract
| Lingua originale | English |
|---|---|
| pagine (da-a) | 51-66 |
| Numero di pagine | 16 |
| Rivista | International Journal of Speleology |
| Volume | 46 |
| Stato di pubblicazione | Published - 2017 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Geology
- Earth-Surface Processes
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Secondary minerals from salt caves in the Atacama Desert (Chile): a hyperarid and hypersaline environment with potential analogies to the Martian subs. / Vattano, Marco; Carbone, Cristina; Sanna, Laura; Sauro, Francesco; De Waele, Jo; Forti, Paolo; Galli, Ermanno.
In: International Journal of Speleology, Vol. 46, 2017, pag. 51-66.Risultato della ricerca: Article
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Secondary minerals from salt caves in the Atacama Desert (Chile): a hyperarid and hypersaline environment with potential analogies to the Martian subs.
AU - Vattano, Marco
AU - Carbone, Cristina
AU - Sanna, Laura
AU - Sauro, Francesco
AU - De Waele, Jo
AU - Forti, Paolo
AU - Galli, Ermanno
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Over the past 15 years several expeditions by French, American and especially Italian cavershave unveiled over 50 caves in the Cordillera de la Sal (Atacama Desert, Northern Chile).Many of these caves contain a variety of speleothems and minerals, some of which haverarely been observed within karst systems. Most of the secondary deposits in these caves arecomposed of halite, but also other halide, carbonate, sulphate, nitrate, phosphate, and silicateminerals have been found. Among the sixteen cave mineral species recognized, atacamite,darapskite, blödite, leonite, anhydrite, and especially antarcticite are worth mentioning. In oneof the samples an unknown Ca-Sr-bearing chloride mineral has also been discovered, but ithas not been possible to carry out detailed mineralogical analyses. These often-rare mineralshave formed in this region due to the very extreme hyperarid and salt-rich environment. Thisresearch reports the mineralogical results and proposes the genetical mechanisms leading tothe formation of antarcticite, powdery anhydrite, and the paragenesis of the halite-darapskiteblödite.This study also shows that Atacama caves may be excellent analogues to studyweathering processes and subsurface secondary minerals in hyperarid and hypersalineenvironments on Mars.
AB - Over the past 15 years several expeditions by French, American and especially Italian cavershave unveiled over 50 caves in the Cordillera de la Sal (Atacama Desert, Northern Chile).Many of these caves contain a variety of speleothems and minerals, some of which haverarely been observed within karst systems. Most of the secondary deposits in these caves arecomposed of halite, but also other halide, carbonate, sulphate, nitrate, phosphate, and silicateminerals have been found. Among the sixteen cave mineral species recognized, atacamite,darapskite, blödite, leonite, anhydrite, and especially antarcticite are worth mentioning. In oneof the samples an unknown Ca-Sr-bearing chloride mineral has also been discovered, but ithas not been possible to carry out detailed mineralogical analyses. These often-rare mineralshave formed in this region due to the very extreme hyperarid and salt-rich environment. Thisresearch reports the mineralogical results and proposes the genetical mechanisms leading tothe formation of antarcticite, powdery anhydrite, and the paragenesis of the halite-darapskiteblödite.This study also shows that Atacama caves may be excellent analogues to studyweathering processes and subsurface secondary minerals in hyperarid and hypersalineenvironments on Mars.
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10447/220832
UR - http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/ijs/vol46/iss1/7
M3 - Article
VL - 46
SP - 51
EP - 66
JO - International Journal of Speleology
JF - International Journal of Speleology
SN - 0392-6672
ER -