Join us for an exciting talk by Luke Daly, a planetary geoscientist at the University of Glasgow, as he takes us on a journey through the geological history of a Martian volcano. Using correlative microscopy, Luke has been able to uncover the complex geological history of a group of Martian meteorites known as the Nakhlites, and has used this information to predict the geomorphology of the landscape around the launch crater.
In this talk, Luke will share his insights into the evolution of Mars and the Solar System as a whole, and how his research is informing remote sensing exploration to finally locate the source of the Nakhlite meteorites on Mars.
The talk will take place on March 15th at 11:00 am AEDT, in Madsen Building Room 331, School of Geosciences, University of Sydney and will be live-streamed via Zoom for those who are unable to attend in person. This is an excellent opportunity to learn from Luke and gain insights into the mysteries of our Solar System.
We look forward to seeing you there! For more information, see the details below. See you there!
The Geological history of a Martian Volcano
Martian meteorites are the only physical samples we have from the Mars and hold a wealth of information about volcanic activity and the presence of water on the Red planet. However, beyond ‘From Mars’ we don’t know where these meteorites originate from on the Martian surface. The lack of geological context limits how far we can interpret the geochemistry and petrology of these rocks. In this talk I will show how correlative microscopy can be used to infer the complex geological history of a group of Martian meteorites called the Nakhlites (igneous rocks that contain evidence for fluid-rock reactions on Mars) and use that information to predict the geomorphology of the landscape around the launch crater. This approach is informing remote sensing exploration to finally locate the source of the Nakhlite meteorites on Mars.
About the Speaker
Luke Daly is a Lecturer in Planetary Geoscience at the University of Glasgow. He looks at the very small to get at the very big by tearing extra-terrestrial rocks apart one atom at a time in order to try and understand what the Solar System’s environment was like before there were planets, how asteroids form and evolve and how habitable worlds are made. He also uses correlative microscopy to understand how Mars’ has evolved over time. He on the science team for JAXA’s Hayabusa2 mission to the asteroid Ryugu and Treasurer of the UK Fireball alliance that successfully recovered the Winchcombe meteorite in 2021 – The first meteorite to be recovered in the UK for 30 years.
