Analytical Chemistry Seminar: Katie Primm
February
29
Mon
2016
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Open to Public
Analytical & Environmental Chemistry Division and Atmospheric Chemistry Program Seminar
Jointly sponsored by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, CIRES, and the Environmental Program
Supercooling and ice formation of perchlorate and chloride brines under Mars-relevant conditions
by Katie Primm - Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry-CIRES, University of Colorado Boulder
Perchlorate and chloride salts, discovered in the Martian regolith at multiple landing sites, may provide pathways for liquid water stability on current Mars. It has previously been assumed that perchlorate and chloride brines form in the Martian regolith via melting or deliquescence, they would be present only briefly because efflorescence into a crystal or freezing to ice would soon occur. Here, we used a Raman microscope to study the temperature and relative humidity (RH) conditions at which magnesium perchlorate and magnesium chloride brines will deliquesce into aqueous droplets, form ice, and effloresce back into crystalline particles.