291-10 Cooling-Controlled Aqueous Mineral Evolution and the Retreat of Habitable Environments on Mars

Session: Mineralogy in the Solar System

Presenting Author:

Author:

Abstract:

The Martian surface records a broad temporal mineralogical transition from early clay minerals, through middle-aged sulfates, to young ferric phases and associated hydrated minerals. This sequence has traditionally been attributed to progressive environmental drying and/or oxidation. Here, I emphasize that long-term climate cooling, through its control on the phase state, mobility, and reactivity of water, played a first-order role in governing the style of water–rock interaction and, consequently, the evolutionary trajectory of hydrated minerals throughout Martian history. Within this framework, clay minerals primarily formed via subaerial, top-down chemical weathering under warm climatic conditions (T > 0°C) on early Mars; sulfates predominantly resulted from freeze–thaw cycles at low-latitude to equatorial regions (T ≈ 0°C) on middle-aged Mars; and young ferric phases, along with associated hydrated minerals, likely originated from (ground) ice–magma/volcano interactions on young Mars under frigid climate (T < 0°C). This staged mineral evolution not only records the trajectory of surface temperature decrease on Mars, but its associated evolving pattern of water–rock interaction also implies a progressive retreat of habitable aqueous environments into the subsurface over time.

Acknowledgements: This study was supported by  National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. SQ2024YFF0800028, No. 2025YFF0811801 ),  the RGC-GRF (Grant No. 17306623, No. 17308625),  National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42441803, No. 42302264).

© Copyright 2026 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved.