In 2007 Dr. Lane’s manuscript describing her comprehensive laboratory work regarding the thermal emission spectroscopy of a diverse suite of terrestrial sulfates was published in American Mineralogist. That work describes the spectroscopic character of the sulfates that arises from the vibrational modes of the sulfate anion and constituent OH, H2O, and other anionic groups when present in the crystal structure. These sulfate spectra are available through the online thermal emission spectral library at Arizona State University (speclib.mars.asu.edu). In 2007 Dr. Lane also submitted a manuscript with her colleagues, Drs. Darby Dyar, Janice Bishop, and Penny King, and students Brendt Hyde and Mario Parente, entitled “Mineralogy of the Paso Robles soils on Mars”. This manuscript was reviewed and accepted and is slated to be published in mid-2008 in American Mineralogist. In this manuscript, she and her colleagues used a broad variety of spectroscopic techniques to analyze the bright Paso Robles soil on Mars exposed in the rover tracks to identify the specific ferric sulfates and phosphates that are present in these anomalous soils. They identified ferricopiapite as the dominant ferric sulfate present (with possible additional contribution by coquimbite/ paracoquimbite and/or fibroferrite, parabutlerite, and rhomboclase), and identified ferristrunzite as the phosphate candidate, with strengite as another possibility. This study was important for understanding the geochemical evolution of Mars because these minerals all indicate a low pH formational environment, suggesting that Mars’ surface was or perhaps even is very acidic.

Dr. Lane’s collaborative team is continuing to analyze the bright soils on Mars exposed in the rover tracks to identify the specific ferric sulfates and phosphates that are present in these anomalous soils. Dr. Lane is continuing her laboratory sulfate work, focusing on the study of hydrous iron sulfates and has introduced phosphates and sulfide minerals to her line of study.

Lane is applying her laboratory spectra to interpreting Martian data from the THEMIS and TES instruments in order to study the sulfates that exist on Mars at areas identified as sulfate-rich by the OMEGA instrument (on Mars Express). Many of these sulfates are located in the Valles Marineris in close proximity to several gray hematite deposits. Lane is working with Drs. Cathy Weitz, Matt Staid, and Eldar Noe Dobrea to do a detailed spectral analysis of the hematite and sulfates, in the Valles Marineris region of Mars. In 2007 Dr. Lane co-authored a manuscript by this group entitled “Gray hematite distribution and formation in Ophir and Candor chasmata” that has been accepted for publication by Journal of Geophysical Research. This paper will be published in early 2008. Dr. Lane has also been working with a group of Italian scientists to derive the optical constants for particulate hematite.

Other spectroscopic studies being conducted by Lane include a study of synthetic jarosite and alunite samples (from the G. Brophy collection and some synthesized by Ron Peterson and Laurel Basciano) and various clay minerals. The clay mineral study entitled “Reflectance and emission spectroscopy study of phyllosilicates: Smectites, kaolinite-serpentines, chlorites and micas”, lead by Dr. Janice Bishop, is being published in 2008.

Dr. Lane also has been studying the spectroscopic trends in a suite of synthetic olivines in order to quantify variation due to cation substitution/solid solution between fayalite and forsterite. Dr. Lane is also studying the spectroscopic properties of various meteorites, including the martian dunite NWA 2737. Her meteorite analyses have been submitted to Journal of Geophysical Research in a paper authored by Dr. Carle Pieters entitled “Martian dunite NWA 2737: Integrated spectroscopic analyses of brown olivine”.

Finally, Dr. Lane has been collaborating with Dr. Bill Farrand to study the peri-glacial regions on Mars in order to identify possible tuyas and hyaloclastite hills on the northern plains of Mars and in the southern Dorsa Argenta region using THEMIS and TES data.

Publiations
Papers

Bishop, J. L., P. Schiffman, E. Murad, M. D. Dyar, A. Drief, and M. D. Lane (2007) Characterization of alteration products in tephra from Haleakala, Maui: A visible-infrared spectroscopy, Mössbauer spectroscopy, XRD, EPMA, and TEM study, Clays and Clay Minerals, 55(1), 1-17.

Lane, M. D. (2007) Midinfrared emission spectroscopy of sulfate and sulfate-bearing minerals, Amer. Mineral., 92, 1-18.

Minitti, M. E., C. M. Weitz, M. D. Lane, and J. L. Bishop (2007), Morphology, chemistry and spectral properties of Hawaiian rock coatings and implications for Mars, J. Geophys. Res., 112, E05015, doi:10.1029/2006JE002839.

Abstracts

Bishop, J. L., M. D. Lane, M. D. Dyar, and A. J. Brown (2007) Multi-spectral study of phyllosilicates and applications to Mars. In Lunar and Planet. Sci. XXXVIII, Abstract #1815, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston (CD-ROM).

Farrand, W. H. and M. D. Lane (2007) “Blebby” terrain and domes on the northern plains of Mars: Evidence of ancient ice ages? In Lunar and Planet. Sci. XXXVIII, Abstract #1972, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston (CD-ROM).

Farrand, W. H. and M. D. Lane (2007) New observations of enigmatic landforms and surface terrains on the northern plains of Mars, GSA Abstracts with Programs, 39 (7), Abstract 197-7, Denver, CO.

Klima, R., C. Pieters, J. Sunshine, T. Hiroi, J. Bishop, M. Lane, D. Dyar, and A. Treiman (2007) Coordinated spectroscopic and petrologic investigation of LAP 04840: First results of infrared, thermal and Raman spectroscopy. In Lunar and Planet. Sci. XXXVIII, Abstract #1710, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston (CD-ROM).

Lane, M. D. and M. D. Dyar (2007) Thermal emission spectroscopy of synthetic olivines: Fayalite to forsterite. Meteoritical Society 70th Annual Meeting, Tucson, AZ. Abstract 5136.

Lane, M. D., J. L. Bishop, M. D. Dyar, M. Parente, P. L. King, and B. C. Hyde (2007) Identifying the phosphate and ferric sulfate minerals in the Paso Robles soils (Gusev Crater, Mars) using an integrated spectral approach. In Lunar and Planet. Sci. XXXVIII, Abstract #2176, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston (CD-ROM).

Lane, M. D., J. L. Bishop, M. D. Dyar, M. Parente, P. L. King, and B. C. Hyde (2007) The ferric sulfate and ferric phosphate minerals in the light-toned Paso Robles rover track soils: A multi-instrument analysis. In The Seventh International Conference on Mars, Abstract #3331, LPI Contribution No. 1353, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston (CD-ROM).

Lane, M. D., M. D. Dyar, and J. L. Bishop (2007) Spectra of phosphate minerals as obtained by visible-near infrared reflectance, thermal infrared emission, and Mössbauer laboratory analyses. In Lunar and Planet. Sci. XXXVIII, Abstract #2210, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston (CD-ROM).

Pieters, C. M., R. L. Klima, T. Hiroi, M. D. Dyar, M. D. Lane, A. H. Treiman, S. K. Noble, J. Sunshine, and J. L. Bishop (2007) The origin of brown olivine in Martian dunite NWA 2737. Meteoritical Society 70th Annual Meeting, Tucson, AZ. Abstract 5062.