The geological units on the floor of Jezero crater, Mars, are part of a wider regional stratigraphy of olivine-rich rocks, which extends well beyond the crater. We investigated the petrology of olivine and carbonate-bearing rocks of the Seitah formation in the floor of Jezero. Using multispectral images and x-ray fluorescence data, acquired by the Perseverance rover, we performed a petrographic analysis of the Bastide and Brac outcrops within this unit. We found that these outcrops are composed of igneous rock, moderately altered by aqueous fluid. The igneous rocks are mainly made of coarse-grained olivine, similar to some martian meteorites. We interpret them as an olivine cumulate, formed by settling and enrichment of olivine through multistage cooling of a thick magma body.

The Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) is a robotic arm-mounted instrument onboard NASA's Perseverance rover. SHERLOC combines imaging via two cameras with both Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy to investigate geological materials at the rover's Jezero crater field site. SHERLOC requires in situ calibration to monitor the health and performance of the instrument. These calibration data are critically important to ensure the veracity of data interpretation, especially considering the extreme martian environmental conditions where the instrument operates. The SHERLOC Calibration Target (SCT) is located at the front of the rover and is exposed to the same atmospheric conditions as the instrument. The SCT includes 10 individual targets designed to meet all instrument calibration requirements. An additional calibration target is mounted inside the instrument's dust cover. The targets include polymers, rock, synthetic material, and optical pattern targets. Their primary function is calibration of parameters within the SHERLOC instrument so that the data can be interpreted correctly. The SCT was also designed to take advantage of opportunities for supplemental science investigations and includes targets intended for public engagement. The exposure of materials to martian atmospheric conditions allows for opportunistic science on extravehicular suit (i.e., "spacesuit") materials. These samples will be used in an extended study to produce direct measurements of the expected service lifetimes of these materials on the martian surface, thus helping NASA facilitate human exploration of the planet. Other targets include a martian meteorite and the first geocache target to reside on another planet, both of which increase the outreach and potential of the mission to foster interest in, and enthusiasm for, planetary exploration. During the first 200 sols (martian days) of operation on Mars, the SCT has been analyzed three times and has proven to be vital in the calibration of the instrument and in assisting the SHERLOC team with interpretation of in situ data.

As we look for traces of ancient life on Mars, we need to consider the impact of ionizing radiation in the biosignature preservation process. Here, we irradiated two organic rich terrestrial samples (Enspel and Messel shales) that have Martian analog mineralogies, with simulated cosmic rays to a dose of 0.9 MGy, equivalent of 15 million years of radiation exposure on the Martian surface. We compared a range of biosignatures before and after exposure, including total organic carbon, bulk stable carbon isotope ratios, diagnostic lipid biomarkers (hopanes and steranes), and Raman signatures akin to those collected by the Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) instrument on Perseverance. While we did not observe a significant difference in total organic carbon, bulk stable carbon isotopes, or Raman G-band signatures, we found that five lipid biomarkers decreased by a factor of two to three in the Enspel shale. This degree of degradation exceeds current predictions by existing models or experimental studies in organic rich samples and challenges our current understanding of complex biosignatures under ionizing irradiation.

We present a synthesis of PIXL elemental data and SHERLOC Raman spectra collected on two targets investigated by the Perseverance rover during the first year of its exploration of Jezero Crater, Mars. The Bellegarde target (in the M acute accent aaz formation) and Dourbes target (in the Se acute accent itah formation) exhibit distinctive mineralogies that are an ideal case study for in situ analysis by SHERLOC and PIXL. Each instrument alone produces valuable data about the chemistry and spatial distribution of mineral phases at the sub-millimeter scale. However, combining data from both instruments provides a more robust interpretation that overcomes the limitations of either instrument, for example: 1) Detection of correlated calcium and sulfur in Bellegarde by PIXL is corroborated by the co-located detection of calcium sulfate by SHERLOC. 2) Detection of sodium and chlorine in Dourbes is consistent with either chloride or oxychlorine salts, but SHERLOC does not detect perchlorate or chlorate. 3) A Raman peak at 1120 cm-1 in Dourbes could be sulfate or pyroxene, but elemental abundances from PIXL at that location are a better match to pyroxene. This study emphasizes the importance of analyzing co-located data from both instruments together, to obtain a more complete picture of sub-millimeter -scale mineralogy measured in situ in Jezero crater, Mars, by the Perseverance rover.

New data on the high-pressure melting curve of Ta up to 48 GPa are reported. Evidence of melting from changes in sample texture was found in five different experiments using scanning electron microscopy. The obtained melting temperatures are in excellent agreement with earlier measurements using X-ray diffraction or the laser-speckled method but are in contrast with several theoretical calculations. The results are also compared with shock-wave data. These findings are of geophysical relevance because they confirm the validity of earlier experimental techniques that resulted in low melting slopes of the transition metals measured in the diamond-anvil cell, including iron. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A new method for measuring melting temperatures in the laser-heated diamond cell is described. This method circumvents previous problems associated with the sample instability, thermal runaway, and chemical reactions. Samples were heated with a single, 20 milliseconds rectangular pulse from a fiber laser, monitoring their thermal response with a fast photomultiplier while measuring the steady state temperature with a CCD spectrometer. The samples were recovered and analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. Focused ion beam milling allowed to examine both the lateral and the vertical solid-liquid boundaries. Ambient pressure tests reproducibly yielded the known melting temperatures of rhenium and molybdenum. Melting of Re was measured to 50 GPa, a 5-fold extension of previous data. The refractory character of Re is drastically enhanced by pressure, in contrast to Mo. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4730595]

The properties of solid and liquid phases of H2O at high pressure and temperature remain an active area of research. In this study, Brillouin spectroscopy has been used to determine the temperature dependence of sound velocities in H2O as a function of pressure up to 26 GPa through the phase field of ice VII and into the liquid to a maximum temperature of 1200 K. The Brillouin shift of the quasi-longitudinal acoustic mode moves to lower frequencies upon melting at each pressure. As a test of the method, measurements of the melting of Ar by Brillouin scattering at several pressures show a similar behavior for the acoustic mode, and measured melting points are consistent with previous results. The results of H2O melting are consistent with previously reported melting curves below 20 GPa. The data at higher pressure indicate that ice melts at a higher temperature than a number of previous studies have indicated.

Temperature, thermal history, and dynamics of Earth rely critically on the knowledge of the melting temperature of iron at the pressure conditions of the inner core boundary (ICB) where the geotherm crosses the melting curve. The literature on this subject is overwhelming, and no consensus has been reached, with a very large disagreement of the order of 2,000 K for the ICB temperature. Here we report new data on the melting temperature of iron in a laser-heated diamond anvil cell to 103 GPa obtained by X-ray absorption spectroscopy, a technique rarely used at such conditions. The modifications of the onset of the absorption spectra are used as a reliable melting criterion regardless of the solid phase from which the solid to liquid transition takes place. Our results show a melting temperature of iron in agreement with most previous studies up to 100 GPa, namely of 3,090 K at 103 GPa.

We demonstrate a new level of precision in measuring melting temperatures at high pressure using laser flash heating in a diamond cell followed by an analysis using scanning electron microscopy and focused ion beam milling. The new measurements on tantalum put unprecedented constraints on its highly debated melting slope, calling for a reevaluation of theoretical, shock compression, and diamond cell approaches to determine melting at high pressure. X-ray analysis of the recovered samples confirmed the absence of chemical reactions, which likely played a significant role in previous experiments.

Human emissions of CO2 now outpace natural sources by two orders of magnitude. The current concentration of CO2 has not been substantially exceeded in the past 30 million years. Multiple model exercises indicate that consuming all fossil fuels would result in concentrations more than double present levels, even after 10,000 years. The global warming effect of carbon emissions appears within 5-7 years. However, since the effect of present infrastructure over its expected life would only modestly increase CO2 concentrations and global temperature, human choices over its replacement will decisively influence ultimate carbon impacts, both short-term and long-term.