This session will focus on understanding the range of habitable environments available on Mars in both the past and present using the geochemical record. It has long been appreciated that many martian surface materials have interacted with or formed in water; the nature of these materials can elucidate the aqueous conditions under which they formed. New datasets from surface and orbital missions have expanded the range of known habitable environments on Mars by revealing novel alteration pathways and secondary mineral phases in a variety of forms (including clays, cements, and coatings). Studies integrating in situ, remote sensing, laboratory, and terrestrial analog datasets are encouraged.
Nina Lanza, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Craig J. Hardgrove, Arizona State University