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DESCRIPTION:Join Earth and Planetary Sciences virtually for our Friday semi
 nar featuring the MSA distinguished lecturer\n\nShaunna M. Morrison\n	Earth
  and Planets Laboratory\, Carnegie Institution\, Washington\, DC\, USA\n	Pe
 ter Buseck Public Lecture \n\nDriving Curiosity: Exploring Martian geology
  and habitability through mineralogy \n\n \n\nZoom Link \n\nMeeting ID: 87
 5 7599 6613 \n\nPasscode: 215159 \n\n \n\nTalk Abstract \n\nMars has long 
 been a source of curiosity and intrigue for humankind – we look out to our
  nearest cousin to better understand our own formation and evolution\, the
  broader characteristics of our solar system and beyond\, and whether or n
 ot we are alone in the universe. This desire to explore has led to many or
 bital and landed missions to Mars\, with many striking and surprising disc
 overies made. One such mission is the NASA Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)\,
  with the Curiosity rover housing the most advanced and extensive payload 
 of scientific instrumentation ever sent to another planetary object. Since
  2012\, Curiosity as performed in situ analyses of rocks and soil in Gale 
 crater – providing great insight into Mars’ geologic past\, particularly i
 lluminating that there were\, indeed\, potentially habitable environments 
 with periods of rich water regimes and geologic cycling. Among the instrum
 ents informing our understanding of the martian past is the CheMin X-ray d
 iffractometer\, which performs X-ray diffraction on drilled rock and scoop
 ed sediment samples\, providing quantitative mineralogical identification 
 of major and minor phases\, mineral phase abundance\, unit-cell parameters
 \, chemical composition of major phases\, and\, when coupled with bulk che
 mistry data derived from the MSL APXS (Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer) 
 instrument\, the chemical composition of the abundant amorphous material t
 hat we have discovered to be ubiquitous throughout Gale crater. Minerals\,
  along with their chemical compositions\, tell us the geologic history of 
 a sample\, a deposit\, and a planet – they provide detailed insight and co
 ntext for the complex evolutionary past of Mars.\n\n \n\nIn this seminar\,
  I will outline the MSL mission\, with a brief mention of the newest NASA 
 Mars mission: Mars2020\, describe the MSL payload and detail the specifica
 tions and functions of CheMin\, delve into the crystal chemical methods us
 ed to estimate mineral composition from X-ray diffraction data\, briefly d
 iscuss the abundant amorphous material observed in all Gale crater samples
  and how we determine its chemical composition\, and introduce some advanc
 ed analytics and machine learning techniques that are changing the way we 
 use mineralogy to address questions in Earth and planetary science.\n\nMor
 e information \n\nShaunna Morrison’s research website for more information
 : Research Website and Earth and Planets Laboratory\, Carnegie Institution
  for Science \n
DTSTART:20211001T150000Z
DTEND:20211001T160000Z
LOCATION:Online
SUMMARY:Virtual Seminar-Driving Curiosity: Exploring Martian geology and ha
 bitability through mineralogy 
URL:/eps/channels/event/virtual-seminar-driving-curios
 ity-exploring-martian-geology-and-habitability-through-mineralogy-333783
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