MIT Experimental Petrology Laboratory

MARTIAN LAVAS

Approximately 26 meteorites to date have been linked to Mars, and these provide some enticing clues to history of Martian magmatic processes including the degassing of volatiles from the Martian mantle. We have carried out experiments at MIT on meteorite analog compositions and also on rock compositions remeotely sensed by Martian rovers to infer mantle melting conditions and processes for fractional crystallization in the Martian crust.

Current research isfocussd on the potential for long term, deep sources of undegassed H2O in the mantle or core of Mars. Experiments are being carried out with a Martian mantle analog composition to search for H2O storage capacity in hydrous and nominally anhydrous minerals Martian mantle minerals.