Study of Detection Limits of Carbonate Phases in Mixtures with Basaltic-like Fine Regolith in the MIR (1–5.5 µm) Spectral Range

Abstract

The presence of minerals formed under the occurrence of liquid water during the first billion years on Mars was a key discovery, but there is still a large number of open issues that make the study of these mineral deposits a main focus of remote sensing and laboratory studies. Moreover, even though there is extensive research related to the study of the spectral behavior of mixtures, we still lack a full understanding of the problem. The main goal of this work is the analysis of the detection limits of hydrated and carbonate phases within mixtures with basaltic-like fine regolith in the spectral region 1.0–5.5 µm (1818–10,000 cm−1). We selected two different basalt samples and mixed them with two carbonate phases: a dolomite and a calcite. Spectral features have been investigated isolating the main carbonate absorption features and overtones; deriving trends of spectral parameters such as band depth, band area, full-width-half-maximum; percentage and grain size variations. The results obtained in this work show how the presence of a basaltic component can strongly influence the appearance of the hydrated and carbonate features showing different trends and intensities depending on the grain size and percentage of the carbonate components.