Clay minerals on Mars: Riotinto mining district (Huelva, Spain) as Earth analogue for acidic alteration pathways

Abstract:

Combined satellite and in-situ measurements of Mars surface have detected mineral assemblages indicating processes for which Earth analogues exist. Among them, aluminous clay-sulfate assemblages have been observed, which suggest alteration by acidic fluids.

The Riotinto mining district (SW Spain) provides an Earth analogue site for such Martian processes. The parent rocks belong to an Upper Palaeozoic (Late Famennian-Tournaisian) volcano-sedimentary complex including siliciclastic sediments and mafic and felsic volcanics, all of which underwent hydrothermal alteration. The oxidation of an extensive pyrite-rich orebody provided mild to extreme acidic fluxes that leached the surrounding rocks for over 20 million years. The mineral assemblages are strongly dependent on their acidic alteration intensity.

The observed mineralogical parageneses and leaching conditions for our sites at Riotinto are consistent with three alteration sequences: i) Mild: containing a range of clay minerals from vermiculite to kaolinite, with a wide variety of crystal order and mixed-layering; ii) Intermediate: containing smectite to kaolinite with jarosite-group phases; iii) Advanced: containing kaolinite, jarosite-group phases, and iron oxides. Our findings suggest that, even within this general scheme, the specific alteration pathways can be different.