Hydrous minerals on Mars as seen by the CRISM and OMEGA imaging spectrometers: Updated global view

The surface of Mars has preserved the record of early environments in which its basaltic crust was altered by liquid water. These aqueous environments have survived in the form of hydrological morphologies and alteration minerals, including clays and hydrated salts. Because these minerals probe on Earth aqueous environments compatible with biotic activity, understanding their formation processes on Mars is of great exobiological relevance and also offers insight into Earth's now erased ancient water environments. Using remote sensing, we conducted a large‐scale investigation of the distribution, composition, age, and geomorphic settings of hydrous minerals on Mars, providing a sharpened global view of the…