Caltech. Credit: Caltech

July 2024

Two papers were presented at the Tenth International Conference on Mars, Pasadena, California. One presents the results suggesting that the rare listwanite mineral assemblage, which is associated with major metal deposition on Earth, may have formed on Mars and may testify to some former bacterial activity (see January 2023). The other one provides laboratory spectral reference data of listwanite led by the research team of Ed Cloutis at University of Winnipeg, Canada.

Mège, D., Gurgurewicz, J., Massironi, M., Pajola, M., Pozzobon, R., Tornabene L. L., Baschetti, B., Douté, S., Hauber, E., Keszthelyi, L., Lucchetti, A., Perry, J., Seelos, F., Pommerol, A., Ziethe, R., Cremonese, G., Thomas, N., 2024. Liswanitization identified on Mars. Tenth International Conference on Mars, Pasadena, California, Abstract #3046. Mars10 Abstract 3046. PDF

Cloutis, E.A., Turenne, N.N., Applin, D.M., Beinlich, A., Mège, D., 2024. Reflectance spectra of listvenites: low-temperature carbonate-silica-rich alteration products of mafic silicates. Tenth International Conference on Mars, Pasadena, California, Abstract #3507. Mars10 Abstract 3507. PDF

Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets (Wiley): Top Downloaded Article Award. The Journal of Geophysical Research cover with a CaSSIS image used in the awarded work. Credit: Wiley

July 2024

This distinction was awarded to our article with colleagues from the CaSSIS science team of the ExoMars TGO mission: Hydrothermal alteration of ultramafic rocks in Ladon basin, Mars – Insights from CaSSIS, HiRISE, CRISM and CTX (see January 2023).

Mège, D., Gurgurewicz, J. Massironi, M., Pozzobon, R., Tognon, G., Pajola, M., Tornabene, L.L., Lucchetti, A., Baschetti, B., Davis, J., Hauber, E., De Toffoli, B.,Douté, S., Keszthelyi, L., Marinangeli, L., Perry, J., Pommerol, A., Pompilio, L., Rossi, A. P., Seelos, F., Sauro, F., Tognon, G., Ziethe, R., Cremonese, G., Thomas, N., 2022. Hydrothermal alteration of ultramafic rocks in Ladon basin, Mars – Insights from CaSSIS, HiRISE, CRISM and CTX. Journal of Geophysical Research–Planets 128, 1, e2022JE007223. doi:10.1029/2022JE007223. PDF

PhD defence of EXOMHYDR PhD student Pierre-Antoine Tesson: Example of output of semi-automatic mapping of lava flows using the AROMAS algorithm developed during the PhD. Credit: Pierre-Antoine Tesson

May 6, 2024

The reviewers of the defence committee included Dr. Daniela Tirsch (DLR Berlin), Prof. Stanislaw Mazur (Institute of Geological Sciences PAS, and Dr. hab. Marek Awdankiewicz (Wroclaw University), who were impressed by the qualitty of the work, in particular the development of the AROMAS python code for mapping and determining the stratigraphy of hundreds of overlapping lava flows on rocky planetary bodies as well as shedding light onto lava flow viscosity.

Tesson, P.A., 2023. Multi-approach chronostratigraphic reconstruction of Tharsis volcanism in the Arsia Mons-Noctis Labyrinthus province, Mars. Defended at the Space Research Centre PAS on May 6, 2024. PDF

Colleagues celebrating new research at Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, March 2024. Credit: Daniel Mège

March 2024

Our results on the plausible occurrence of listwanite, a rare mineral assemblage identified on Earth only so far, on Mars, was presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference at The Woodlands, Texas.

Mège, D., Gurgurewicz, J., Massironi, M., Pajola, M., Pozzobon, R., Tornabene L. L., Baschetti, B., Douté, S., Hauber, E., Keszthelyi, L., Lucchetti, A., Perry, J., Seelos, F., Pommerol, A., Ziethe, R., Cremonese, G., Thomas, N., 2024. Amazonian hydrothermal activity in Ladon basin, Mars: listwanitization of serpentinized lava flows? 55th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston, Texas, Abstract #1210. LPSC2024 Abstract 1210. PDF

Portion of the Yellow Lake Fissure, credit: Daniel Mège

November 2023

Following field work in the Danakil depression, Ethiopia in January 2018 and 2019, a polyextreme environment for biological organisms, we published this article in which we describe a hydrothermal fissure that formed in late 2004 or early 2005 in response to emplacement of a magma body at depth (Mège et al., 2023). Hydrothermal fissures such as this one may be terrestrial analogues of hydrothermal sites on other rocky planetary bodies. For instance, similar fissures may host living organisms on Mars, shielded from the deadly surface conditions.

The Danakil depression is the continuation of the Red Sea when it enters the African continent. It is the tectonic plate boundary between Africa (Nubian plate) and the Danakil microplate (a small tectonic block locked between the Nubian plate in the west and the Arabian plate in the east), north of the Afar triple and junction and the East African rift valley.

Mège, D., Hauber, E., Dyment, J., Allemand, P., Moors, H., De Craen, M., Choe, H., 2023. Tectonic and hydrothermal activity at the Yellow Lake fissure in response to the 2004 Dallol dyke intrusion event in Afar. Frontiers in Earth Science 11, 1250702. doi:10.3389/feart.2023.1250702. PDF

EXOMHYDR results presented in the French edition of Scientific American. Credit: Pour la science

March 2023

The results presented in Communications Earth & Environments in November was widely advertised in Poland and abroad:

• Nature, Behind the Paper: 18-11-2022
• The Conversation – France, 21-11-2022
• Yahoo News, 21-11-2022
• Paris-Saclay Université, Communication, 24-11-2022
• National Geographic Polska, 30-11-2022
• France Culture (radio): Journal des sciences, 01-12-2022
• CNRS communication: tweet 01-12-2022
• Pour la Science 544, 19-01-2023: L'asymétrie martienn, vestige d'une collision.
• Ciel & Espace, March 2023: Web article: Et si la jeune planète Mars avait été percutée par un énorme astéroïde ?

Gurgurewicz, J., Mège, D., Schmidt, F., Douté, S., Langlais, B. Megashears and hydrothermalism at the Martian crustal dichotomy in Valles Marineris. Communications Earth & Environment, 3, 282. doi:10.1038/s43247-022-00612-5. PDF

ExoMars TGO/CaSSIS view of a geologic site in the Ladon basin of Mars where listwanite has been identified (here in yellow-orange colour). CaSSIS image MY36_020649_201_3, credit: ESA/Roscosmos/CaSSIS. Hover image: Three-dimensional view using a MRO/CTX-based digital terrain model (Mège et al., 2023)

January 2023

A long-term effort led the ExoMars TGO CaSSIS science team to the possible discovery of listwanite, a hydrothermal mineral assemblage previously unrecognized on Mars. It testifies to intense hydrothermal circulation in ultramafic rocks in the Ladon volcano-sedimentary basin. On Earth, listwanite forms in the oceanic crust transported to the continents on Earth, and is a major source of metals such as gold, chromium, nickel, mercury, and meany others.

Mège, D., Gurgurewicz, J. Massironi, M., Pozzobon, R., Tognon, G., Pajola, M., Tornabene, L.L., Lucchetti, A., Baschetti, B., Davis, J., Hauber, E., De Toffoli, B.,Douté, S., Keszthelyi, L., Marinangeli, L., Perry, J., Pommerol, A., Pompilio, L., Rossi, A. P., Seelos, F., Sauro, F., Tognon, G., Ziethe, R., Cremonese, G., Thomas, N., 2022. Hydrothermal alteration of ultramafic rocks in Ladon basin, Mars – Insights from CaSSIS, HiRISE, CRISM and CTX. Journal of Geophysical Research–Planets 128, 1, e2022JE007223. doi:10.1029/2022JE007223. PDF

A brittle-ductile shear zone identified in Valles Marineris on Mars. This deformation pattern is interpreted as a reactivation of a ring structure in the Martian crust formed by the Borealis meteorite megaimpact 4.5 Ga ago, from which the planetary dichotomy boundary may have originated. Image: HiRISE ESP_016053_1755. Credit: NASA/Arizona State University

November 2022

The planetary dichotomy boundary of Mars, currently higlighted in the Martian topography, is thought to originate from a meteorite mega-impact that almost destroyed the planet at 4.5 Ga. The margin of the impact basin crosses the Valles Marineris trough system. In this paper, we advocate that before the Valles Marineris troughs formed, ~3.5 Ga ago, hydrothermal activity started along some of the impact structures ("ring faults"), and may have lasted for millions of years. Such a hydrothermal circulation, according to the current knowledge, could have been prone to the emergence of life on Mars at that time. It might also have generated deposits of primary minerals that may be rarely exposed elsewhere on the Martian surface, including for instance some base and rare metals.

Gurgurewicz, J., Mège, D., Schmidt, F., Douté, S., Langlais, B. Megashears and hydrothermalism at the Martian crustal dichotomy in Valles Marineris. Communications Earth & Environment, 3, 282. doi:10.1038/s43247-022-00612-5. PDF

Examples of radiometric correction of CaSSIS colour images (Pommerol et al., 2022). Hover image: filter assembly integrated on the CaSSIS camera focal plane assembly (Thomas et al., 2017, doi:10.1007/s11214-017-0421-1)

Novembre 2022

The Colour and Stereo Surface Science Imaging System (CaSSIS) of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter returns on average twenty images per day of the Martian surface, most of them in 3 or 4 colours. CaSSIS uses a push-frame approach to acquire colour images, with four bandpass filters deposited directly above the sensor and an imaging cadence synchronized with the ground track velocity to cover the imaged area with tens of small, partially overlapping images. These “framelets” are later map-projected and mosaicked to build the final image. This approach offers both advantages and challenges in terms of radiometric calibration. While the collection of dark and flatfield frames is considerably enhanced by the frequent and fast acquisition of tens of successive images, mosaics assembled from the adjacent framelets highlight the straylight and changes in the bias of the detector. Both issues have been identified on CaSSIS images, with low intensities overall (up to a few %), but sufficient to generate prominent artefacts on the final assembled colour images. We have therefore developed methods to correct these artefacts that are now included into the radiometric calibration pipeline.

Pommerol, A., Thomas, A., Almeida, M., Read, M., Becerra, P., Cesar, C., Valantinas, A., Simioni, E., McEwen, A.S., Perry, J., Marrineri, C., Munaretto, G., Pajola, M., Tornabene, L., Mège, D., Da Deppo, V., Re, C., Cremonese, G., 2022. In–flight radiometric calibration of the ExoMars TGO Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System. Planetary and Space Science 223, 105580. doi:10.1016/j.pss.2022.105580. PDF

Map of all the targets acquired by CaSSIS in stereoscopic mode on the MOLA height map of Mars. Red dots show the digital terrain models reconstructed at the time of manuscript preparation and available at the ESA repository at the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics. Hover image: from left to right: Digital terrain model of ExoMars TGO/CaSSIS MY34_005684_218 stereo couple in grayscale mode; coloured and texturized height map (heights between -900 m and 1300 m); panchromatic orthoimage (Re et al., 2022)

June 2022

The Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) on board the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), operating in push-frame mode, acquires stereo pairs fundamental for the initialization of the photogrammetric process to perform three-dimensional reconstruction of the Martian surface at the best resolution of 4.6m per pixel for regions up to ~400 km2 in one imaging sequence. The 3D points derived from the stereo processing are used to generate Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) with height accuracy on the order of one image pixel on ground allowing high-resolution morphometric studies and in general improving the understanding of the geology and geomorphology of the surface of Mars. This work provides a review of the CaSSIS stereo products supported by a description of the applied methods and examines some specific approaches directed to science analysis. Furthermore, our development of methods is herein focused on the proof of concept and the performance of our dedicated pipeline.

Re, C., Fennema, A., Simioni, E., Sutton, Mège, D., Gwinner, K., Józefowicz, M., Munaretto, G., Petrella, A., Pommerol, A., Cremonese, G., Thomas, N., 2022. CaSSIS–based stereo products for Mars after three years in orbit. Planetary and Space Science 219, 105515. doi:10.1016/j.pss.2022.105515. PDF

The chlorine cycle on Mars and chlorine isotope reservoirs. Published in Geophysical Research Letters, 2021 by Liuzzi et al.

April 2021

The two spectrometer suites of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter spacecraft, ACS and NOMAD, identified chlorine in the atmosphere of Mars. This is the first time chlorine is detected in the Martian atmosphere. Using the bets retrieval from the NOMAD instrument, Liuzzi et al. could measure the isotope ratio of chlorine, which informs on its source. The EXOMHYDR group participate dto the interpretation of data and identified potential sources in the Martian crust, which rose to the atmosphere and now particpate to the Martian atmospheric chlorine cycle. Volcanic and yydrothermal activity are two of the plausible reservoirs.

Liuzzi, G., Villanueva, G.L., Viscardy, S., Mège, D., Crismani, M.M.J., Aoki, S., Gurgurewicz, J., Tesson, P.A., Mumma, M.J., Smith, M.D., Faggi, S., Kofman, V., Knutsen, E., Daerden, F., Neary, L., Schmidt, F., Trompet, L., Erwin, J.T., Robert, S., Thomas, I.R., Ristic, B., Bellucci, G., Lopez-Moreno, J.J., Patel, M.R., Vandaele, A.C., Probing the atmospheric Cl isotopic ratio on Mars: implications for planetary evolution and atmospheric chemistry. Geophys. Res. Lett. 48, e2021GL092650, doi:10.1029/2021GL092650. PDF

One of the 147 stereo-derived digital elevation models from the ExoMars TGO/CaSSIS instrument generated by the EXOMHYDR project in collaboration with The Italian National Institute for Astrophysics in Padua and ABM Space, draped by the CaSSIS colour image. Credit: EXOMHYDR

December 2020

On November 30th, ABM Space ended its contact with the EXOMHYDR project. The objectives were successfully met, with 147 digital elevation models (DTM) generated for the benefit of the project and the whole CaSSIS science team. As oF today, EOMHYDR has been the first contributor to the repository. Thirty-one stereoscopic images were processed but did not yield results, due to the poor quality of the data source or issues with the ancillary data going with the images.

The data were processed using the stereo pipeline developed for ESA at the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) at the Observatory of Padua, under the guidance and technical support of the team at Padua, to which we are the most grateful. The successful DTMs were transferred the official CaSSIS DTM repository at INAF. We have already started analysing a few of them, most of them covering sites of major geologic interest for the project. Analysing all the generated DTMs is a lifetime's work!

A scientific paper, led by the Padua team, is bening prepared that will provide an in-depth evaluation of the DTMs generated using their stereo pipeline.

Focus on the origin of the Interior Layered Deposits (ILD) in Valles Marineris. View of ILD (foreground) in the Candor canyon of Valles Marineris, reconstructed from Mars Express/HRSC stereoscopic images. The thickness of the ILD pile is here nearly 4 km, which is also the height of the slope in the background where the spurred are observed Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

December 2020

The interior layered deposits (ILD) of Mars, which are part of a global set of light-toned stratified layers on Mars, show a large diversity in morphology, probably related to compositional changes. Preliminary results obtained in the project led us to hire a new group member to investigate more the variations of composition of the ILDs, and in particular, seek relationships with hydrothermal modification of magmatic rocks for some ILD units. This is rather long-term work, which has two parts: developing the best method of mineralogical identification, using the orbital Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter/CRISM and Mars Express/OMEGA hyperspectral data, and applying the method to representative ILD exposures. This will be the work of Gaspard Salomon, a master student from University Paris-Saclay, who just joined the team.

Examples of Martian rockfalls: boulders and tracks in the northern Arsia Mons rift zone. The downslope direction is towards the top, where dunes are seen. The fallen boulders are blue. Detail of HiRISE image PSP_008631_1725. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Like a rolling stone: Convolutional Neural Network trained to detect rockfalls on Mars

May 2020

Active Martian rockfalls are important features to identify areas of recent seismic activity. In the last year, Pierre-Antoine established new collaborations with the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, and the Swiss Institute of Technology, Zurich, in order to train a Deep Learning algorithm to his Martian rockfall dataset, and detect more easily, in the future, sites in the giant Tharsis volcanoes where recent seismic activity may have occurred.

High-resolution images of the surface of Mars often reveal meters-wide tracks on sloped area left by massive blocks detached from rocky cliffs upslope. The non-eroded tracks of these rockfalls indicate that they fell not so long ago (in geological timescale). Recent rockfalls can serve as palaeoseimometer and highlight past or current seismic activity on Mars. However, using such a technique requires a large number of well-distributed rockfalls and mapping them by hand is time consuming. An experienced human can scan an HiRISE image and find as many rockfalls as possible in ~30 min in average. Progress in image processing from Deep Learning techniques now allows to automatically detect an object in a image by training an artificial neural network. However, training requires an existing dataset of examples to “show” the neural network what it needs to recognize and detect. Work presented in Tesson et al (2020, see an earlier box) included an extensive database of rockfalls tracks on Mars that we can use to train a Convolutional Neural Network to detect recent rockfalls on HiRISE images.

Training consists of drawing bounding boxes around already known boulder and its track in order for the algorithm to understand the signal of a recent rockfall. Neural networks have been trained on martian rockfall data and are able to achieve a maximum recall of up to 0.78 and a maximum precision of up to 1.0, with a mean average precision of 0.71. Average processing time per HiRISE image is ~45s using an NVIDIA Titan Xp, which is more than one order of magnitude faster than a human operator. The developed deep learning-driven infrastructure can be deployed to map martian rockfalls on a global scale and within a realistic timeframe and the detector can now be applied to detect recent rockfalls in potentially active features in Tharsis (e.g. Olympica Fossae or the caldera of giant shield volcanoes), or elsewhere.

Bickel, V.T., Conway, S.J., Tesson, P.A., Manconi, A., Loew, S., and Mall, U., 2020. Deep Learning-Driven Detection and Mapping of Rockfalls on Mars. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 13, 2831-2841, doi:10.1109/JSTARS.2020.2991588. PDF

Second National Mars Science Seminar. Credit: Jagiellonian University

Second National Mars Science Seminar

October 2020

We participated to the online National Mars Science Seminar on October 16, 2020, with two oral presentations in the morning and participation to the afternoon workshop, an opportunity to think of potential joint Mars projects. Like in 2019, the seminar was fully organised by the team of Joanna Kozakiewicz at Jagiellonian University.

Mège, D., 2020. Current activities of the Mars geoscience group at the Space Research Centre PAS

Tesson, P.-A., 2020. Amazonian Chronology of Arsia Mons and Southeast Tharsis

Mapping of lava flows on the eastern side of the Arsia Mons volcano of the Tharsis dome on Mars. Credit: Pierre-Antoine Tesson

Mapping and dating of recent volcanic and tectonic activity at the Arsia Mons shield volcano on Mars using machine learning

September 2020

How young are the lavas erupted at the Tharsis volcanoes, which are among the most recent lavas erupted on Mars? Pierre-Antoine is investigating this by mapping and dating the most recent flows obsered on the eastern side of one the three large Tharsis dome volcanoes, Arsia Mons. Although conceptually straightforward, delineating recent lava flows is nbot that easy, because o the complexity of fresh lava flow morphology and the intermingling of flow lobes. Dating them, using impact crater retention ages, is complex due to the complexity of fresh lava flow morphology, overlapping flows, the number of surface features which may or not be taken as impact craters, and secondary impact craters (craters which formed in addition to the main one after meteorite fragmentation in the atmosphere). We used innovative machine learning and cluster analysis techniques, developed by our collaborator Anthony Lagain (Curtin University, Perth) to solve these problems, and could retrieve the age of these flows, which are found to be 60-160 Ma. This result was published at the virtual Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) on September 28, 2020. Similar ages had been found in the main caldera of this volcano, which therefore suggests that massive volcanic activity occurred very recently on the history of the planet, and strengthens the hypothesis that being currently dormant, the Arsia Mons should be the site of ongoing hydrothermal activity.

Tesson, P.-A., Mège, D., Lagain, A., Gurgurewicz, J., 2020. Late Amazonian lateral lava flows coeval with caldera eruptions at Arsia Mons. EPSC Abstracts, 14, EPSC2020-710. Online video.

Rockfalls in Valles Marineris seen with the HiRISE telescope of NASA/Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA/JPL/Univ. Arizona

Rockfalls: Evidence of ongoing seasonal geologic activity

May 2020

There are many ways gases can be released from the crust to the atmosphere. One of them, which we do not always think of, is rockfalls. Rockfalls expose new shallow material to the surface, which on Mars can include rocks and fluids. In the May 15th, 2020 issue of Icarus, a team led by Pierre-Antoine is publishing a mechanism for rockfalls initiation on Mars and investigates the orbital conditions.

Tesson, P.-A., Conway, S., Mangold, N., Ciazela, J., Lewis, S., Mège, D. Evidence for thermal fatigue on Mars from rockfall patterns on impact crater slopes. Icarus 342, 113503, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2019.113503.

Ongoing structural mapping of Valles Marineris (Abstract #1 below). Credit: FNP/TEAM/EXOMHYDR and NCN/V-MACS projects.

EXOMHYDR presentations at the LPSC 51st edition

March 2020

This year we are presenting 2 series of results. The first is a new structural geology map of the Valles Marineris canyons on Mars, partly funded by FNP/TEAM and partly by NCN/OPUS. It is only a map... but when you look at the details, there are many new things and some of them, revolutionary! Several papers are being written.

Pierre-Antoine has already worked a lot on the evolution of Arsia Mons, one of the large Tharsis volcanoes, perhaps still active today and prone to ongoing hydrothermal activity. Strangely enough, its volcanic evolution, as well as its deformation under various forces exerted onto the edifice, are not well constrained and in this presentation Pat presents some preliminary results that emphasize a rich and very recent activity.

LPSC presentations:

1. Mège, D., Gurgurewicz, J., Tesson, P.A., 2020. Structural remapping and recent findings in Valles Marineris, Mars. 51st LPSC, Abstract 1541.

2. Tesson, P.A., Lagain, A., Mège, D., Ciążela, J., Ciążela, M., Gurgurewicz, J., 2020. Investigation of distinct late Amazonian eruptive episodes south east of Arsia Mons. 51st LPSC, Abstract 2506.

In addition to EXOMHYDR work, this LPSC presented new results from spectral measurements of tholin-hydrocarbon mixtures in Titan temperature and pressure conditions obtained by Daniel and co-workers in 2013 and 2014 at Univesity of Arkansas.

COVID-19 events. The COVID-19 has not got tickets to EXOMHYDR events so far. Credit: Joe Heller, politicalcartoons.com, published March 5, 2020.

How does the COVID-19 affect the EXOMHYDR activities?

March 2020

How does the COVID-19 affect the EXOMHYDR activities? COVID-19 has so far not attained the EXOMHYDR group members, most of whom are working at home during the crisis. The EXOMHYDR team maintains weekly telecons during confinement.

The crisis has temporarily affected space mission management at ESA, including the management of the ExoMars TGO mission, with less manpower available. Between March 24th and April 2nd, ESA shut down all the instruments of its space missions, keeping only the BepiColombo mission in full activity due to ongoing critical manoeuvers, an Earth gravity-assist on the way to Mercury.

March is the month of the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) at the Woodlands near Houston, Texas, and EXOMHYDR has 2 presentations this year (see the next box). The 51st edition of LPSC was physically cancelled, after 50 years without any uninteruption. Nevertheless, the papers were maintained: LPSC has traditionally offerred scientists to have print-only presentations, which over the years has become the only way of presenting results at LPSC when the first author already has too many presentations, oral and posters. In 2021, all the presentations were turned to print-only.

The ACS and NOMAD spectrometers study processes in the Martian atmosphere. Credit: ESA

EXOMHYDR participated to the grand joint ACS-NOMAD-MAVEN meeting in Jussieu, Paris

February 2020

On February 18-21, for the first time, the ACS and NOMAD teams of ExoMars TGO, and the MAVEN science team, had a joint meeting. MAVEN is a NASA mission launched in 2013 that studies the atmosphere of Mars, like the ACS and NOMAD instruments of ExoMars TGO. It was held at the Jussieu Campus in Paris.

EnVision, the European mission to Venus? Presentation of work done in DLR's Planetary Spectroscopy Laboratory relevant to Venus by Jörn Helbert. Can you identify the EXOMHYDR team member in the room? Credit: EnVision Team

EXOMHYDR attended the EnVision conference held in CNES, Paris, and discussed possible involvement in the mission to be selected (or not) by ESA next year

February 2020

EnVision is an orbiter mission to Venus proposed by the team of Richard Ghail (Royal Holloway, University of London) to ESA and currently in its concept study phase. The concept was selected in May 2018 as a finalist to become the fifth Medium-class mission (M5) of the Cosmic Vision programme of ESA, to be launched in 2032. EnVision is in competition with two other missions. The instruments would study the active geologic processes (tectonics, volcanism) of Venus, 40 years afer NASA's Magellan mission. Daniel attended the EnVision conference held in Paris on February 12-14 and confirmed the interest of the Planetology group in CBK in being scientifically involved in the mission, which should be selected, or not, by ESA in 2021. If selected, it could becomd one of the major research axes in our group in the next decade, after the end of the EXOMHYDR project.

A wrinkle ridge on Mars seen by the CaSSIS camera (image ID MY34_005137_348). Is Sainte-Victoire in Provence (small image) a terrestrial analogue? Credits: ESA/Univ Bern; Daniel Mège

Is compression of the crust of Earth-like planets exemplified by the Sainte-Victoire?

February 2020

When planetary crusts undergo compressive stress, in some conditions it results in the formation of "wrinkle ridges". There are probably hundreds of thousands of them on the Moon, Mars, Venus, and Mercury. This one was shot by the CaSSIS instrument of ExoMars TGO on January 17th, 2019 south of the Valles Marineris canyons.

Is Mount Sainte-Victoire, which is better known for inspiration of many painters, starting with Paul Cézanne, an overlooked terrestrial analogue? Daniel went to examine this possibility on February 12th, 2020 in the field with our colleague Nicolas Espurt from CEREGE, one of the most renowned specialists of the geology of Mount Sainte-Victoire. Detailed comparison with wrinkle ridges on Mars has started, based on CaSSIS stereoscopic images analysis, with our collaborator Sylvain Douté at IPAG.

The issue will be debated by the CaSSIS science team during a field geology excursion in the region of Cassis, France, to be organised after the end of the Covid-19 crisis by EXOMHYDR group with in cooperation with CNRS in Grenoble (Sylvain Douté, IPAG) and CEREGE in Aix-en-Provence.

Jakub next to the NOMAD demonstration instrument at the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA) in Brussels

Visit at the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA) in Brussels to work with NOMAD data

November 2019

Jakub visited the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA) in Brussels from 24th to 29th November, 2019. During his visit he participated in two NOMAD meetings of the BIRA team and started our work with NOMAD data focused on geological aspects of methane emissions. Our team is searching for methane in 12 selected regions of Mars, especially in the Tharsis and Elysium volcanic provinces. At the moment, we work mostly with solar occultation data and plan to start analyzing complementary NADIR observations by the end of 2020.

MIRORES instrument presented at the COSPAR Symposium in Israel. Credit: CBK PAN

A space instrument to detect ore deposits on Mars presented at COSPAR Symposium

November 2019

During the 4th COSPAR Symposium “Small satellites for sustainable Science and Development” (November 4-8, 2019), we presented the concept of MIRORES, our Far-IR spectrometer for detecting ore metals on Mars. The concept, initiated by Jakub, has been designed by scientists and engineers from the Solar Physics Group at the Research Centre PAS in Wroclaw with scientific insight from the EXOMHYR team. The instrument concept, on which we work since 2018, was for the first time announced in 2019, and would be ready for a launch starting from 2026-2028.

EXOMHYDR presentation:

Ciążela, J., Bąkała, J., Barylak, J., Ciążela, M., Kowaliński, M., Płócieniak, S., Gurgurewicz, J., Mège, D., Pieterek, B., Szaforz, Ż., Tesson, P.-A., Giuranna, M., Pirajno, F., 2019. Design of far-IR spectrometer to detect metal resources on Mars. 4th COSPAR Symposium, Herzliya, Israel, November 4-8, 2019. (Poster)

The Mars geology group in Wroclaw presented its projects to the national scientific community interesed in Mars research at the First Mars National Seminar held in Krakow. Credits: Joanna Kozakiewicz, Daniel Mege

Coordination of the national Mars research community launched on October 18, 2019 at Jagiellonian University; EXOMHYDR contributes

October 2019

The First Mars National Seminar was held in Krakow on October 18, 2019, a welcomed initiative by Dr Jonna Kozakiewicz at the Astronomical Observatory and the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management of the Jagiellonian University. A 30 min presentation by Daniel was illustrated by 6 posters from the whole EXOMHYDR group (the same that had been presented at the Europlanet/PLANMAP workshop held in Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse workshop last June, check that News to see and download them). The seminar was attended by authorities of the Jagiellonian university and all those researchers and students interested in Mars research. The afternoon was dedicated to a discussion about directions to strengthen and federate Mars science in Poland, and a visit to some of the equipments that can be made available to our community at the Jagiellonian University.

Jakub trains potential future Mars miners at the Astronomical Institute in Wroclaw. Credit: Pawel Pres/Lower Silesian Science Festival

Metal resources for Mars colonies, a talk at the Lower Silesian Science Festival 2019

September 2019

After entertaining his audience on Martian methane last year, Jakub presented this year a lecture entitled "Kolonizacja Marsa, a potencjalne zasoby metali" (Mars colonisation and potential metal resources) at the 22st Lower Silesian Science Festival. The lecture was held at the Astronomical Institute of the Wroclaw University on September 21st.

Where is gold? Curiosity Rover. Credit: NASA

Poland seeks gold on Mars

October 2019

Our scientific and engineering efforts (MIRORES instrument concept, to be presented here soon) to search for gold (and other metals) on Mars were featured in magazine Wszystko Co Najważniejsze. The magazine editors asked Jakub to write popular-science paper on the topic following his invited lecture at the Astronomical Institute of Wroclaw University in June 2019.

Seminar participants in the Mirror Room of Staszic Palace. Joanna is starting the lecture. Credit: Anna Długosz

Joanna introduced EXOMHYDR project during seminar in Staszic Palace in Warsaw

April 2018

During 45 minutes (11:45-12:30), Joanna was holding the lecture Enigmatyczne wystąpienia metanu w atmosferze Marsa: jakie procesy geologiczne mogą za nie odpowiadać? (Enigmatic methane occurrences in the atmosphere of Mars: which geological processes?) at the seminar Kierunek: Mars (Direction: Mars) organized by the Space Research Centre PAS and Polish Geophysical Society in Staszic Palace in Warsaw (06.04.2018). Among other invited lecturers from CBK PAN, prof. Włodek Kofman presented results of radar observations on Mars, prof. Marek Banaszkiewicz talked about evolution of the Red Planet, and dr Paweł Wajer about observations of Mars from ancient times till nowadays. The session was followed by a discussion about Polish and SRC PAS involvement in Mars exploration, especially the ExoMars mission.

The Second Planetary Mapping and Virtual Observatory Workshop (main page). Daniel is explaining is poster to colleagues (box). Credit: OpenPlanetary

EXOMHYDR participates to the Planetary Mapping and Virtual Observatory Workshop in Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse

July 2019

Planetologists develop a number of open source software, methods and techniques that can be sahred by the community. The Second Planetary Mapping and Virtual Observatory Workshop, held in the enchanting Chevreuse valley southwest of Paris on July 1st-3rd, is organised by the VESPA activity of Europlanet and PLANMAP, an international planetary geologic mapping project funded the European Union Horizon 2020 programme, and dedicated to the presentation of the state-of-the-art developments of these tools to the planetary community, presentation of scientific results that might benefit from these developments, and of course, a lot of discussions. All the EXOMHYDR group members participated to the workshop and presented their results in the form of short talks and posters.

EXOMHYDR presentations:

1. Ciążela, J., Geomorphological constraints on the current eruptive flux in the Tharsis volcanic province. Second Planetary Mapping and Virtual Observatory Workshop, Abstract. (Poster)

2. Ciążela, M., Thermal mapping of the martian surface. Second Planetary Mapping and Virtual Observatory Workshop, Abstract, Presentation. (Poster)

3. Gurgurewicz, J., Structural and compositional mapping of shear zones in northern Valles Marineris. Second Planetary Mapping and Virtual Observatory Workshop, Abstract, Presentation. (Poster)

4. Mège, D., Diversity of tectonics in Valles Marineris and surroundings revealed by structural mapping. Second Planetary Mapping and Virtual Observatory Workshop, Abstract, Presentation. (Poster)

5. Tesson, P.A., Tectonic mapping of Hydrae Cavus, Valles Marineris, Mars. Second Planetary Mapping and Virtual Observatory Workshop, Abstract, Presentation. (Poster)

The Danakil depression viewed from the western side of the Dallol dome (main page); High-resolution magnetic map of the Yellow Lake Fissure area, Danakil depression (box). Credits: Hanjin Choe; Hanjin Choe and Daniel Mège

New results from EXOMHYDR presented at EPSC-DPS

September 2019

This year at EPSC (16-20 September), hosted at the International Conference Centre in Geneva and in a joint meeting with the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society, we presented 3 series of EXOMHYDR results. Marta presented new analysis of 15 years of surface temperature data collected by the Mars Express Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS), which alows to detect ice at surface or in the very shallow subsurface. Daniel presented new results from his ground magnetics survey in Dallol, Afar region of Ethiopia, conducted with Hanjin Choe (Institut de Physique du Globe, Paris), and with the help in the field from geologists from Yara Dallol. Thiss very-high resolution survey helps uderstand how hydrothermal circulation occurs along faults, which is a key issue for the understanding how hydrothermal fluid circulation on Mars proceeds around fractures such as in the many fracture systems that developed in the volcanic regions of Mars. The third work reports on the geology of the Ladon area site selected by the CaSSIS team as one of the first study sites, in close collaboration with our collaborators from the University of Padova. It is a further development of a work presented at the EGU meeting, April 2019, and the CaSSIS meeting in Bern, September 2018.

Moreover, the CaSSIS DTMs generated by ABM Space, our subcontracted company, for the CaSSIS Science Team, represents some 50% of the ca. 1000 DTMs realised to date! Details are given here.

In addition to all this EXOMHYDR work, this EPSC presented further results from spectral measurements of tholin-hydrocarbon mixtures in Titan temperature and pressure conditions obtained by Daniel and co-workers in 2013 and 2014 at Univesity of Arkansas.

EXOMHYDR presentations:

1. Ciążela, M., Ciążela, J., Mège, D., Giuranna, M., Podgórski, P., Gurgurewicz, J., Tesson, P.-A., Pieterek, B., 2019. First thermal inertia maps from PFS/MEX dataset to track ice distribution on Mars. EPSC Abstracts, 13, EPSC-DPS2019-1523. (Poster)

2. Mège, D., Choe, H., Dyment, J., Tsegaye, H., Ayele, B., Tadesse, B., Hansen, H., 2019. Very high-resolution ground magnetics characterisation of hydrothermal processes in the Danakil depression. EPSC Abstracts, 13, EPSC-DPS2019-804. (Oral presentation)

3. Mège, D., Massironi, M., De Toffoli, B., Gurgurewicz, J., Marinangeli, L., Pompilio, L., Pozzobon, R., Davis, J., Douté, S., Hauber, E., Kofman, W., Pajola, M., Perry, J., Pommerol, A., Seelos, F., Tornabene, L., Lucchetti, A., McEwen, A., Cremonese, G., Thomas, N., 2019. CaSSIS colour imaging of late lava flows and hydrothermal alteration in Ladon Basin, Mars. EPSC Abstracts, 13, EPSC-DPS2019-504. (Poster)

Group photos of the ExoMars NOMAD SWT#15 (main page) and the visit to the castle of Ksiaz (box). Credit: Daniel Mege

The EXOMHYDR team hosts the NOMAD Science Working Team Meeting #15

Septembre 2019

On September 12-13 the NOMAD spectrometer science team had one of its periodic meetings held in Wroclaw. Because the rooms are small at CBK in Wroclaw, and the NOMAD science team is large, the meeting was hosted at the Conference Centre of the nearby Labour Inspectorate (Ośrodek szkolenia Państwowej Inspekcji Pracy). The discussions, dedicated to instrumet status, current results, and perspectives, involved 35 conference participants.

Because the Conference Centre is located at the heart of WUWA (Wohnung und Werkraum Ausstellung), a major architectural estate prepared for a 1929 exhibition, the participants could benefit from a visit of the WUWA buildings after the first day sessions, led by architect Thomas Arns, a specialist of WUWA and the 5 other similar estates built in Europe in the 1920's. The evening continued at Dinette, one of the finest bistros in Wroclaw, located in front of the Opera, and for some of them, ended much later at the Market Place (Rynek).

A social event was organised on Saturday 14, where 10 of us visited the castle of Ksiaz, near Walbrzych (Waldenburg), a famous historic place in the Sudetes, full of history, and of scientific activities: it is in some of the tunnels carved by the end of the second world war connected to the castle that the Space Research Centre PAS operates, at a depth of 52 m below the surface, a geodynamic laboratory and conducts high-level gravimetric, geodetic, and seismological observations. The NOMAD science team members visited the laboratory, guided by its director, Professor Marek Kaczorowski, then the castle; they had a scenic walk in the forest around the castle before ending the day at the well-deserved Palm House coffee shop.

The Danakil depression viewed from the western side of the Dallol dome (main page); Daniel, Hanjin, their car driver and security officer have just ended field work (box). Credit: Hanjin Choe

Mapping hydrothermal patterns in the Danakil depression

January 2019

With the field support from Europlanet, and also with some logistics from Yara Dallol B.V. (a potash mining company operating locally), the study of the Danakil depression planetary analogue resumed in 2019. After identification of an active fissure in January 2018 located just south of Mount Dallol, Hanjin Choe (Institut de Physique du Globe, Paris) and Daniel conducted a very-high resolution magnetic survey of the fissure to determine the geometry of hydrothermal circulation patterns around the fissure. This information is precious to locate potential hydrothermal activity on Mars in fractured volcanic regions.

The Apollo Saturn V rocket in the Rocket Park of the Space Center Houston and (main page) discussion between Jakub and mythic planetary volcanologists Lionel Wilson (left) and Pete Mouginis-Mark (right), in front of the LPSC posters on Tharsis presented by Pete and Jakub. Credit: Daniel Mège

Several EXOMHYDR presentations show the status of the art of the project at the 50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference

March 2019

There is always a good reason to be in Houston in March. The third week of March is always the season of the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), and in 2019, this is the 50th LPSC, a conference which initiated in 1969 for the first scientific analysis of data from the Apollo mission. Special retrospective science sessions and other events were organised. This oe certainly one of the best LPSC to date, with also a very high quality level of presentations. Daniel and Jakub were there.

We presented results on the distribution and age of Tharsis volcanism on Mars, empahsizing the development of parasitic cones associated with the giant Tharsis volcanic edifices, presented further analysis of shear zone sin Valles Marineris, and how destabilisation of the shallow subsurface by trapped liquids and/or gases under the influence of climatic cyclicity can be detected from unstable slope morphology. In he meantime, still no trace gases identified from orbit by the ExoMars spectrometers...

1. Ciążela, J., Mège, D., Pieterek, B., Ciążela, M., Gurgurewicz, J., Lagain, A., Tesson, P.-A., 2019. Largest Tharsis volcanoes keep growing and mark > 4 Ga lasting Martian hot spots. 50th LPSC, Abstract 1354.

2. Mège, D., Gurgurewicz, J., Douté, S., Schmidt, F., Schultz, R.A., 2019. Brittle-plastic shear zones on Valles Marineris floor: identification and implications. 50th LPSC, Abstract 2064. (Poster)

3. Pieterek, B., Ciążela, J., Mège, D., Lagain, A., Tesson, P.-A., Ciążela, M., Gurgurewicz, J., Lagain, A., Muszynski, A., 2019. Parasitic cone sin the Tharsis volcanic province on Mars: implications for its recent magmatic plumbing system. 50th LPSC, Abstract 1369.

4. Tesson, P.-A., Conway, S., Mangold N., Ciążela, J., Lewis, S., Mège, D., 2019. Evidence for thermal fatigue on Mars from rockfall patterns on impact crater slopes. 50th LPSC, Abstract 2352.

In addition to EXOMHYDR work, this LPSC presented further results from spectral measurements of tholin-hydrocarbon mixtures in Titan temperature and pressure conditions obtained by Daniel and co-workers in 2013 and 2014 at Univesity of Arkansas.

Participants to the CaSSIS Science Working Team meeting in Bern, 24-26 September 2018. Find Daniel, Joanna and Pierre-Antoine on the stairs. Credit: CaSSIS Team

EXOMHYDR analyses one of the first CaSSIS colour images presented at CaSSIS SWT meeting in Bern

September 2018

At this first meeting after the ExoMars TGO spacecraft is in science orbit, the Science Team focuses on analysis of one of the first colour images obtained by CaSSIS, north of Ladon Valles. Daniel and Joanna presented a very detailed analysis of the area displayed on the CaSSIS image, based on CRISM data from the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft, MRO/SHARAD ground-penetrating radar permittivity, geomorphometric analysis of MRO/CTX topography processed by Joel Davis (Natural History Museum, London) and Sylvain Douté (Planetology and Astrophysics Institute, CNRS, Grenoble), and of course... geological expertise. This work is one of the basis of a joint wotk with University of Padova.

Zoom on a shear zone in the Valles Marineris giant canyon system. HiRISE image. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

First discovery of a deep, eroded shear zone on Mars

September 2018

At the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC), Daniel and Joanna report on a major discovery for the understanding of the evolution of the Valles Marineris canyon system on Mars, with probably much broader tectonic implications.

Gold and silver mineralisations (and many others) are frequently observed in similar shear zones on Earth; have we found gold on Mars? Much more work is required to answer and of course, the definitive answer will come from the first geologists who will once be walking there!

We presented both a talk and a poster. Below are the links to the two abstracts and the poster.

1. Gurgurewicz, J., Mège, D., 2018. Deep tectonics exposed in northern Valles Marineris, Mars. EPSC Abstracts, 12, EPSC2018-430.

2. Mège, D., Gurgurewicz, J., 2018. Mapping of regional C-C’-S shear zones on the floor of Valles Marineris troughs. EPSC Abstracts, 12, EPSC2018-739-1. (Poster)

After intense discussions, the NOMAD Science Team takes rest at the London Eye. Credit: NOMAD Science Team

First discoveries of the NOMAD spectrometer are presented at NOMAD SWT#12 in London.

August 2018

Pierre-Antoine, Joanna and Daniel attended meeting on behalf of the EXOMHYDR team, held at the Royal Astronomical Society, betweeen Hyde Park and St James's Park. Today it can be written - at that time it was embargoed, NOMAD has not (yet?) found any trace gas of potential geologic origin, such as methane, in its few months of operations, nor has ACS. This is of course a little disappointing for us as geologists, but waiting for better times, our work is focusing on geological sites of past hydrothermal gas emissions on Mars.

ESOC in Darmstadt. Credit: Wikipedia

The EXOMHYDR team members attend the ExoMars 2016 SWT#15 meeting at ESOC in Darmstadt

July 2018

Every few months, the European Sapce Agency (ESA) organises a meeting aiming of all the science teams of a given space mission. On July 2-5, 2018, the ExoMars TGO science teams met at ESA's European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. For most team members it was a premiere, which allowed them to meet all the key scientists and engineers of EXoMars TGO, and get up to date information on the status of the mission, the datasets obtained so far, and the first results obtained by the science teams.

The third day was a joint meeting bringing together the scientists of ExoMars TGO and Mars Express. The Mars Express team celebrated the 25th year of healthy Mars Express spacecraft since launch!

Can you identify who are the four shot EXOMHYDR team members on the main page photograph?

A typical hydrothermal system in a stratovolcano, from TEAM collaborator Franco Pirajno, Univefsity of Western Australia. Credit: Franco Pirajno. Check his 2009 monument book: Hydrothermal Processes and Mineral Systems, edited by Springer!

The ACS Team of ExoMars TGO meets EXOMHYDR

April 2018

On April 5, 2018, the EXOMHYDR team (specifically, Daniel and Marta) meets the Atmospheric Chemistry Suite (ACS) Science Team at LATMOS (Laboratoire atmosphères, milieux, observations spatiale) in Guyancourt. We presented the project and what type of use we may make of the ACS data: methane if detected, and thermal data that are being obtained by the TIRVIM instrument of ACS.

The photo on the main page is the Fourpeaked volcano, Alaska, credit: Cyrus Read, Alaska Volcano Observatory, USGS.

Footprint of a CaSSIS image taken by EXOMHYDR during this February session. Credit: Physikalisches Institut, Universität Bern and P.A. Tesson

Like in November 2018, the TEAM group participates to image targeting for the CaSSIS camera of ExoMars TGO

February 2019

Another CaSSIS data acquisition planning session of was then made, this time remotely from CBK in Wrocław, in March 25-29 2019. Images were acquired in May 2019. The targeted images are selected among a huge quantity of requests by the whole CaSSIS Science Team, and includes, of course, some targets which are high-priority for the EXOMHYDR project!

City of Padova from the top of the Observatory. Credit: Pierre-Antoine Tesson

Collaboration starts between EXOMHYDR and two space science laboratories in Padova

February 2019

From the 14th to the 19th of February 2019, Daniel, Joanna and Pierre-Antoine went to Padova, Italy, to meet Gabriele Cremonese and his group at the Astronomical Observatory of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) in Padova. The team in Padova presented to EXOMHYDR team their current state on the development of the CaSSIS DTM generation pipeline as well as their repository. After the presentation, discussions followed to frame the collaboration between the Padova team and ABM Space, which had been appointed in November last year by EXOMHYDR project to produce DTM for the team.

While in Padova, the EXOMHYDR team members also met Matteo Massironi and his group at the Department of Geosciences of the University of Padova. Meetings included discussions about Pierre-Antoine’s PhD (Massironi is his foreign mentor), as well as exchange of knowledge/techniques between the two teams regarding CaSSIS image planning.

Observatory of the Astronomical Institute, Wroclaw University. Credit: Wikipedia

Jakub holds invited lecture about searching for gold on Mars at the Astronomical Institute, Wroclaw University

June 2019

Jakub held the lecture entitled ‘Where to look for gold on Mars?’ at the Astronomical Institute of Wroclaw University. The 60-min-lecture, hold on June 14th, was followed by unexpectedly long (one hour!) discussion with about 40 participants including students and scientists representing various fields, and members of the Mars Society. The content of the lecture will be published in a popular-science article for Wszystko Co Najważniejsze magazine this fall, and further discussed during interdisciplinary debate about colonization on Mars to be organized at the Institute of Political Science (Wroclaw University) during academic year 2019/2020.

The Sierra Nevada in Spain. Credit: Wikipedia

Marta and Jakub participated to the ExoMars TGO NOMAD SWT#14 meeting in Granada

May 2019

The meeting was held at the Andalusian Institute of Astrophysics in Granada, on 21-23 May. On Friday, 24 May, the participants took part in a hiking tour in the Sierra Nevada planned and guided by the host Miguel López-Valverde. About 50 participants discussed the scientific results, current state and future plans for the NOMAD/TGO instrument. On behalf of the EXOMHYDR project members, Jakub invited everyone to the NOMAD SWT#15 meeting in Wroclaw to be held on September 12-13.

Color-coded digital elevation model of a section of Coprates Chasma in Valles Marineris, generated by photogrammetric processing of a CaSSIS stereo pair. Credit: EXOMHYDR/INAF/ABM Space

ABM Space releases the first series of digital elevation models for the EXOMHYDR project

April 2019

On April 18th, 54 CaSSIS digital elevation models (DTM) produced by ABM Space for EXOMHYDR using the INAF DTM generation pipeline developed by Gabriele Cremonese and his group were released to INAF's CaSSIS DTM repository.

This is a huge amount of data, and enough for one researcher for several years!

The DTMs are now proprietary to the CaSSIS Science Team for one year. The EXOMHYDR team is starting to evaluate this dataset for project use, with the help of ABM Space and Cristina Re, a member of Gabriele's group. In the meantime, a new version of the stereophotogrammetric software is being implemented by Emanuele Simioni, another member of the Italian group.

Location of spots on Mars where methane has been unsuccessfully sought by the ACS and NOMAD spectrometers. MSL locates NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover (Curiosity) exploration site. Credit: ESA-Roscosmos

April 10th, 2019: The first results from ExoMars TGO are disclosed at EGU and published in Nature

April 2019

The first results from the ACS and NOMAD spectrometer suites have been disclosed at the European Geosciences Union meeting in Vienna, in parallel to publication in Nature. The EXOMHYDR project is interested in trace gases emitted from hydrothermal sites in volcanic regions either today or in the past. Although various instruments and teams have identified methane in the last 15 years, for the moment, the analysed data from ACS and NOMAD do not show any methane in the martian atmosphere. This is most likely explained by the seasonality of methane emissions reported before. Waiting for the next ACS and NOMAD data, the EXOMHYDR team continues to focus on past hydrothermal sites.

The EXOMHYDR project is interested in hydrothermal sites such as on the right of this graph. Credit: Daniel Mège

The EXOMHYDR project at the Space Research Centre is presented to colleagues at the University of Wroclaw

May 2018

On May 28th, 2018, EXOMHYDR organised a barbecue in the park of the Wroclaw Observatory, where the TEAM group is hosted, to celebrate the starting project and he recruitment of the young TEAM members. In order to attend, it was necessary to follow a EXOMHYDR seminar just before, which introduced the project to our colleagues. Check out this presentation to learn more about the project too!

Ciazela, J., Ciazela, M., Gurgurewicz, J., Mège, D., Tesson, P., Gancarczyk, K., Konopka, E., 2018. The EXOMHYDR project at the Space Research Centre. Seminar, University of Wroclaw, Institute of Astronomy, May 28, 2018.

Screenshot from CaSSIS planning software. The green line represents TGO orbit track on nadir and the green range the possible image acquisition; the blue footprints represent potential CaSSIS acquisitions along this orbit, and the red footprint a target suggestion made by CaSSIS team members using CaST. Credit: Physikalisches Institut, Universität Bern and P.A. Tesson

A EXOMHYDR team member in Bern to plan CaSSIS images

October 2018

CaSSIS camera onboard ExoMars TGO was designed to acquire colour and stereoscopic images of the martian surface and provide geological context to potential trace gas sources. Since the beginning of the Science Phase of TGO in April 2018, members of the EXOMHYDR team proposed potential targets in several areas of interest for the project using the CaSSIS Suggestion Targeting (CaST) web tool. CaSSIS images are planned weeks in advance based on the predicted spacecraft trajectory provided by ESA. From that, images are planned based on the previously made suggestions and the potential targets which TGO is flying over during a specific orbit.

Between October 22 and November 2, 2018, Pierre-Antoine was at the Institute of Physics, University of Bern, Switzerland, where the CaSSIS camera acquisitions are managed, to learn the targeting procedure and plan images based on suggestions made people, potential targets and technical constraints. Images planned during this timeframe were acquired by CaSSIS in early January, 2019, and were made available by the people in Bern to the Science Team. In such planning sessions, two planning sessions, several areas of interest for the EXOMHYDR project can be imaged according to the image suggestion priority list, in stereo and/or colour, such as Tharsis volcanoes summit calderas and tectonic features on Valles Marineris floor.

An overview of the first 9 months of imaging with CaSSIS was presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2019.

Thomas, N., et al., 2019. CaSSIS: Overview of imaging in the first 9 months of the prime mission. 50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston, Texas, Abstract #1585.

Graphical abstract of the NOMAD science objectives, ExoMars TGO spacecraft. Source: Vandaele et al., 2015.

Marta and Jakub attended in ExoMars TGO NOMAD SWT#13 meeting held at the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) in Rome

January 2019

Marta and Jakub attended in NOMAD SWT#13 meeting (29-31.01.2019) held at the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) in Rome. About 50 participants discussed the scientific results, current state and future plans of the NOMAD/TGO instrument. In addition, we signed a new collaboration agreement for the use of the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) data on surface temperature and methane in volcanic provinces on Mars with Marco Giuranna, the principal investigator of the PFS instrument onboard of Mars Express.

Credit: Lower Silesian Science Festival

Jakub holds outreach lectures on methane on Mars during the Lower Silesian Science Festival

September 2018

Jakub presented a lecture entitled ‘Zagadka metanu w atmosferze Marsa: skąd pochodzić i o czym nam mówi?’ at the 21st Lower Silesian Science Festival in Wrocław on September 22, 2018, which was hold in Polish and was addressed to a broader audience. The 45-min-lecture was followed by 15-minute-discussion with 30 participants including students, scientists representing various fields, and non-professionals interested with new developments of planetary sciences.

The Polish Mineralogical Society. Credit: PTMin

The 25th meeting of the Petrology Group of the Mineralogical Society of Poland has five EXOMHYDR abstracts.

October 2018

The Petrology Group of the Mineralogical Society of Poland has been organizing annual meetings since 1993. The aim of the meetings is the presentation of results of Polish and foreign researchers dealing with the broadly understood petrology. The Jubilee 25th Session aimed at showing application of petrological methods and approach in various disciplines of geology and related sciences including space research, sedimentology, soil sciences, and geophysics. Marta and Jakub attended the conference (25-28.10.2019) on behalf of the EXOMHYDR team and held three talks on related to Mars (1, 2) and ore-forming processes (3). Jakub was the second author of one further talk (4) and one poster related to ore-forming processes (5). The latter was awarded with Ryszard Kryza award for the best poster of a young researcher.

1. Ciazela, M., Mège, D., Ciazela, J., Gurgurewicz, J., and Tesson, P-A. (2018). Lithology of the Martian surface from thermal remote sensing data. ineralogia special papers 48, 42.

2. Ciazela, J., Mège, D., Ciazela, M., Gurgurewicz, J., Tesson, P-A., Pieterek, B., and Muszyński, A. (2018). Volcano heights reveal prolonged magmatic and hydrothermal activity in the Tharsis province on Mars. Mineralogia special papers 48, 41.

3. Ciazela, J., Pieterek, B., Panczyk, M., Czupyt, Z., Fiege, A., Muszyński, A., Koepke, J., and Lazarov, M. (2018). Pioneer SHRIMP measurements of S isotopes in pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite: details of the method and first insight into S isotope fractionation during cooling of sulfide liquid. Mineralogia special papers 48, 40.

4. Patko, L., Ciazela, J., Aradi, L.E., Liptai, N., Kovacs, I.J., Holtz, F., and Szabo, C. (2018). Fe and Cu isotope signatures in sulfide blebs from various upper mantle xenoliths from the Nógrád-Gömör Volcanic Field (Northern Pannonian Basin). Mineralogia special papers 48, 72.

5. Pieterek, B., Ciazela, J., Dick, H.J.B., and Muszyński, A. (2018). Local example of sulfide differentiation through melt-rock reaction at the lower oceanic crust (U1473A, Atlantis Bank, Southwest Indian Ridge). Mineralogia special papers 48, 73.

Principle of digital terrain model acquisition using the stereoscopic mechanism of the ExoMars TGO CaSSIS camera. Source: Nicolas et al., 2017)

ABM Space won the competition for digital terrain model generation using CaSSIS stereoscopic data for the EXOMHYDR project.

November 2018

On November 28, 2018, ABM Space signed a contract with the Space Research Centre PAS for the generation of digital terrain models (DTM) from CaSSIS. The contract starts in December and will end in October 2020. After a training of 3 months at the Observatory of Padova of INAF, ABM Space will start to generate DTMs for the scientific work to be conducted in EXOMHYDR, but will also help the other members of the CaSSIS Science Team upon request.

The Dabbahu fissure, which opened in northern Afar on September 26, 2006. Credits: Elizabeth Baker, Royal Holloway, University of London (large image), and Julie Rowland, Royal Holloway, University of London (small image)

Asfawossen Asrat, Professor at the University of Addis Ababa, is invited by EXOMHYDR and gives a popular science seminar on geotourism in Ethiopia at the Observatory of Wroclaw, Wroclaw University.

April 2018

Ethiopia is a hit in terrestrial geology, where tectonic plates break in open air and are giving birth to a new ocean. This has many implications, including not only active volcanism and tectonics, but also an incredible diversity of landscapes and cultures. In this popular science seminar, hold on April 27th, Asfawossen Asrat, invited by EXOMHYDR to discuss tectonics, volcanism and hydrothermal processes in Ethiopia, gave an acclaimed presentation. Many questions and certainly, ideas of down-to-earth exploration for our friends astronomers.

Observatory of Padova son et lumière. Credit: Daniel Mège

Daniel presents the EXOMHYDR project at the ExoMars/CaSSIS team meeting in Padova

February 2018

Every few months, the CaSSIS science team meets to get information on, and discuss news about the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter mission status and the status of the CaSSIS camera. On February 19-21, the CaSSIS Science Team met in Padova, where eit was organised by the National Institute of Astrophysics of Italy (INAF). http://www.oapd.inaf.it/index.php/en/ The Observatory of Padova of INAF is in charge of the generation of digital elevation models from the stereoscopic images of CaSSIS.

European Geoscience Union General Assembly. Credit: EGU

EGU General Assembly held in Vienna with 16,273 participating scientists and 5 EXOMHYDR abstracts.

April 2019

The European Geoscience Union (EGU) General Assembly held annually in Vienna is the largest geoscience conference in Europe, with 16,273 scientist from 113 countries participating this year. Jakub attended the conference (7-12.04.2019) on behalf of the EXOMHYDR team.

He kicked off the volcanology session on Friday with his talk on the transport of precious metals in oceanic magmas. Our group was involved in three other studies. One is on metallogenic processes, which although of interest to the EXOMHYDR project, is a separate work.

One of the EXOMHYDR studies focuses on the Ladon Basin site that the CaSSIS Science Team selected as a priority observation target for the CaSSIS camera (already mentioned in the box of the CaSSIS meeting in Bern, September 2018), a likely huge hydrothermal field dated ca. 1 Ga. The other presentation is about the magmatic plumbing structure of the Tharsis and Olympus region of Mars, which has controlled hydrothermal activity - and may still be controlling it.

EXOMHYDR presentations:

1. Massironi, M., De Toffoli, B., Pozzobon, R., Mège, D., Marinangelli, L., Gurgurewicz, J., Pompilio, L., Rossi, A.P., Sauro, F., Pajola, M., Lucchetti, A., Tornabene, L., Cremonese, G., Thomas, N., 2019. Late lava flows and hydrothermal alteration in Ladon basin, Mars. Geophys. Res. Abs. 21, EGU2019- 19135.

2. Pieterek, B., Ciążela, J., Mège, D., Lagain, A., Tesson, P.-A., Ciążela, M., Gurgurewicz, J., Muszyński, A., 2019. Link between parasitic cones and giant Tharsis volcanoes: new insights into the Tharsis magmatic plumbing system. Geophys. Res. Abs. 21 EGU2019-12535.

Third Interdisciplinary Conference of FNP. Credit: FNP

FNP holds its third Interdisciplinary Conference in Warsaw.

April 2019

The conference included posters from all the projects currently funded by FNP, selected oral presentation, plenary sessions about variou chanllenges faced by Science today, as well as very interesting splinters dedicated to ERC grants, setting up international collaborations, open access publishing, science and business, and training of young scientists. Daniel and Joanna attended the conference on behalf of the EXOMHYDR team; it was an excellent occasion to see all the research currently done in the name of FNP, provided food for thougts for potential future collaborations, and... meet with a glass of (excellent) wine all the FNP staff that helps the EXOMHYDR project to be run! In our (poster) we presented the status of the art of some major aspects of our current work.

Ciel & Espace gives a 10 pages report on the Danakil expedition of January 2019 (Vol.564, p. 34-43)

The 2019 Danakil expedition to the Yellow Lake hydrothermal fissure, south of the Dallol dome, is featured in Ciel & Espace.

April 2019

The Danakil expedition of January 2019, conducted thanks to a grant from Europlanet 2020 RI (now capped by the Europlanet Society) with the logistical support from the Ibn Battuta Centre, was followed by Emilie Martin, a journalist of Ciel & Espace, the grand magazine of the French Astronomy Association. Emilie wrote a GREAT paper about the expedition, covering all the aspects of the Danakil depression, from cultural and social to economical and scientific. Find it here!

The Yellow Lake Fissure, with Dallol in the background. Credit: D. Mège

The EXOMHYDR project and Europlanet reveal hydrothermal activity at one of the most famous terretrial analogues of a Martian rift zone

September 2018

Some of the past, and perhaps present, hydrothermal activity on Mars is related to volcanic fissures in "rift" zones. Biological activity in such environment develop irrespective of climate conditions, it is rather controlled by local crustal and fluid properties, making comparison between their terrestrial and martian geoenvironments particularly relevant. The Danakil rift (Afar triangle, Ethiopia) is particularly attractive as a terrestrial rift analogue because of the evaporitic environment. Investigating the geomorphology and structure of the Danakil rift, correlated with the biological content of its hydrothermal sites, may therefore provide useful about environments on Mars prone to current and past biological activity to be expected.

Within the framework of the EXOMHYDR project, complemented with a travel grant obtained from the Europlanet Reseach Infrastructure (H2020 programme), the Danakil rift south of the Dallol dome was studied during a week in January 2018. Field work revealed an active hydrothermal fissure, which could be tracked back to spring 2004 (between April 4 and June 10) using satellite imagery.

The fissure, which we called the Yellow Lake Fissure, has been analysed by Hugo Moors and Mieke de Craen, two colleagues from the Nuclear Research Centre of Belgium for geochemistry and possible biologic activity in the very saline waters that bubble in pools along the fissure. They even won a photo contest organised by Nature!

The Danakil depression is the tectonic plate boundary between the Nubian plate and the Danakil microplate, a transitional plate between Nubia and Arabia. In addition to its extraterrestrial interest, this fissure is the current manifestation of tectonic plate separation between Nubia and Arabia. In other words, we could identify the precise location of the current tectonic plate boundary!

The results were presented at the European Planetary Science Congress 2018 in Berlin.

Mège, D., Hauber, E., De Craen, M., Moors, H., Minet, C., 2018. Discovery of a hydrothermal fissure in the Danakil depression. EPSC Abstracts, 12, EPSC2018-381-1.

Launch of ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, 14 March 2016. Credit: ESA

The EXOMHYDR members have been recruited.

March 2018

The EXOMHYDR team members have been recruited in March 2018. Check the TEAM section below!

Credit: G.E. Ulrich, USGS

The EXOMHYDR contract is signed.

Novembre 2017

The EXOMHYDR contract is now signed by the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP), the Space Research Centre (CBK PAN) and the project PI.

The positions are now open.

October 2017

The EXOMHYDR project offers 3 positions for young researchers, each for 33 months, starting from March 1st, 2018: 1 PhD student and 2 postdoc (1 full-time, 1 part-time).

Snapshot of the first version of the EXOMHYDR web site

The project site is now open!

October 2017

The EXOMHYDR project is funded!

June 2017

After a review by a social-economic panel, then a sientific review by peers, followed by an audition at the headquarters of the Foundation for Polish Science, the project was accepted for funding. The letter arrived on June 12.