Mineralogy of the sources for magnetic anomalies on Mars

Abstract

Recent discovery of intense magnetic anomalies on Mars, which are due to remanent magnetization, requires some explanation for the possible minerals responsible for the anomalous signature. Thermoremanent magnetization (TRM) in single domain (SD) and multidomain (MD) sized magnetite, hematite, and pyrrhotite, all potential minerals, are considered. The intensity of TRM (in 0.05 mT) is in descending order: SD-sized magnetite, SD-sized pyrrhotite, MD-sized hematite, MD-sized pyrrhotite, MD-sized magnetite, SD-sized hematite. The TRM intensity is <4% of the saturation isothermal remanence (SIRM) for all but the MD hematite, which may have >50% of the SIRM. Each of these minerals and estimated concentrations of magnetic remanence carriers (assumed to be titanomagnetite) in the Shergotty-Nakhla-Chassigny martian meteorites are used in a thin sheet approximation model to reveal the concentration of each mineral required for the generation of an observed magnetic anomaly (1500 nT at 100 km altitude) assuming TRM acquisition in a 0.05 mT magnetic field.