ASSOCIATED MINERAL PHASES IN EOCENE EVAPORATES OF THE WILKINS PEAK MEMBER, GREEN RIVER FORMATION, WYOMING, USING SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY, ENERGY DISPERSIVE X-RAY ANALYSIS, AND X-RAY DIFFRACTION

Several authors have hypothesized that evaporate deposits developed on Mars and such deposits were conducive to the growth and preservation of microbial fossils. The Eocene Wilkins Peak Member of the Green River Formation of Southwestern Wyoming is an exceptional example of an alkaline-hypersaline lake deposit, one that may serve as an antilog for similar Martian deposits.

This research investigates the textural and mineralogical heterogeneity of Eocene trona deposits using electron microscopy and X-Ray diffraction. These observations, used as a guide for correlating compositional and textural patterns of alkaline-hypersaline lakes deposits, can then become a powerful tool in interpretation of hypothesized deposits on Mars.