The Role of Impact Driven Chemistry on the Lithosphere of Mars

The University of Kent's two stage light gas gun was used to simulate Martian impacts in order to investigate two processes: serpentinisation and devolatilisation. Understanding these processes is vital to understanding surface mineralogy and the source of any methane, and other volatiles detected in the Martian atmosphere by past, present and future missions. Here, Martian analogue minerals were shocked and subsequently analysed using Raman Spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to characterise the behaviour of these minerals during planetary impacts.