How can the infrared camera tell if a rock has been formed by contact with water?
The infrared spectrometer, Mini-TES, tells us the minerals that are present in the rocks. Minerals are the building blocks of rocks, if you pick up a piece of rock sometimes you can see the individual mineral grains. In a granite for instance, you usually see pink, clear, and black crystals, each of these is a different mineral usually Feldspars are pink, Quartz in the clear, and a whole variety of minerals are black. When we look at the infrared signature of rocks, we see distinctive patterns that tell us which minerals are in a rock. Certain minerals form in volcanic rocks, and others form if that rock has been in contact with water. So what we are looking for are specific minerals that only form in the presence of water.
