Magnetic enhancement on the surface of Mars?

The magnetic properties experiments on the Viking missions and the Pathfinder mission indicate that the Martian soil and airborne dust are somewhat magnetic (average saturation magnetization, σS ∼ 4 A m2kg−1). While hematite, superparamagnetic or macrocrystalline, is not sufficiently magnetic to yie...

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Veröffentlicht in:Journal of Geophysical Research 2000-01, Vol.105 (E1), p.1819-1827
Hauptverfasser: Hargraves, R. B., Knudsen, J. M., Bertelsen, P., Goetz, W., Gunnlaugsson, H. P., Hviid, S. F., Madsen, M. B., Olsen, M.
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:The magnetic properties experiments on the Viking missions and the Pathfinder mission indicate that the Martian soil and airborne dust are somewhat magnetic (average saturation magnetization, σS ∼ 4 A m2kg−1). While hematite, superparamagnetic or macrocrystalline, is not sufficiently magnetic to yield the results obtained, pyrogenetic titaniferous magnetite (TiMt) might conceivably be the cause. However, the σS of the dust is considerably higher than that in any of the known Martian meteorites, some of which may be representative of the bedrock from which the Mars soil formed. Furthermore if the reported TiO2 content of Mars soil (∼1% by weight) was entirely present as TiMt of composition Usp 60 (that typical of terrestrial ocean floor basalts), the calculated abundance (
ISSN:0148-0227
2156-2202
DOI:10.1029/1999JE001032