Compositional Remote Sensing and Hyperspectral Laboratory Analyses of Sinters in Hydrothermal Fields in Chile, With Relevance to Astrobiological Targets on Mars

Abstract

Siliceous hot spring deposits, or sinters, deposit from hot spring discharge at Earth's surface and are sites of exceptional preservation of biosignatures. Their macro- and micro-textures are regarded as important evidence of past microbial activities in hydrothermal environments. However, biology mimics do occur, and bona fide microbial textures could be destroyed by subsequent diagenesis or other post-depositional processes. Thus, it is paramount to narrow the search for prospective Martian silica-rich deposits that may contain biosignatures from both orbital and rover-based perspectives. This study investigates hydrothermal deposits in Chile, which are analogs of high-silica deposits discovered in the Gusev crater on Mars, through remote sensing and laboratory analysis. Results indicate that compositional remote sensing based on multispectral data with a high spatial resolution of <4 m/pixel reflects various concentrations of silica, which assisted in identifying the direction of discharged hydrothermal flows from the vent to the apron. Micro-infrared mapping of sinters from similar hydrothermal fields linked spectral features to specific textures revealed by scanning electron microscope and chemical compositions confirmed by electron microprobe analysis, indicating that sinters with no shift in their emissivity minimum in the thermal infrared range were more likely to preserve cellular structures. An instrument for collecting multispectral data with higher spatial resolution could aid in characterizing the geologic settings of potential hot springs on Mars. Locating emissivity minima in the infrared regions of silica that do not shift to a lower position would suggest the potential for well-preserved microbial structures in Martian sinters, if life ever did exist there.