Research Project: X-Ray Florescence (XRF) Technologies For Biosignature Screening In Aeolian Environments
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- Tice, Michael
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The overarching research goal driving this study is to understand the influence of planetary surface sedimentary processes on biosignature preservation. We explore this goal by studying the influence of physical processes on the preservation of geochemical biosignatures in aeolian environments. Our study tests two primary hypotheses. (1) We hypothesize that microbial crusts in wet aeolian environments develop elemental compositions distinct from interstratified sediment through physical sorting and accumulation of silt-sized heavy mineral grains and bio/chemical concentration of nutrients and cements. (2) We further hypothesize that eroded microbial crust chips retain coupled elemental enrichments associated with crust growth, but enrichments become decoupled into separate size fractions and physically separated into different modes of aeolian transport during progressive disaggregation. To test our hypotheses, we proposed a three-year field and laboratory study that includes using a ?(micro)XRF testbed to simulate PIXL instrument analyses planned for the Mars 2020 mission. We identify the geomorphic and stratigraphic distribution of microbial and associated elemental material in aeolian environments and analyze the material using imaging ?XRF technology. Our modern aeolian field site is at Padre Island National Sea Shore (PAIS), Texas, and our ancient aeolian field site is within the Jurassic Entrada formation near Canyonlands National Park, Utah. Both field sites are wet aeolian systems with microbial material present at Padre Island and microbial textures present within the Entrada formation.
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