Reading the chemistry of other worlds.

Mercury · MERTIS · Current

Probing silicate composition and crystallinity on Mercury with BepiColombo.

Silicon is the second-most abundant element in the crusts of rocky planets, behind only oxygen. The mineral phases into which silicon partitions are key indicators of planetary evolution. Identifying these silicate minerals can reveal the nature of the material from which Mercury accreted, as well as the roles of impacts and volcanism in reshaping its surface.

Mercury—the planet closest to the Sun and something of an oddball in our solar system—has a complex history shaped by unusual geochemical processes. By using thermal infrared observations from MERTIS (Hiesinger et al. 2020) to identify the mineral hosts of silicon, I aim to better understand how Mercury formed and evolved.

This project is ongoing (Fall 2026–2028). I look forward to sharing more details through future conference presentations—including EPSC and EGU 2027—and publications.

This work is supported by an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Fellowship for postdoctoral researchers and hosted by the University of Münster. I am grateful to the MERTIS/BepiColombo team and excited to contribute to the scientific exchange as the mission approaches its Mercury science phase!

Mars · SuperCam & PIXL · Published March 2026

Strong nickel enrichment co-located with redox–organic interactions in Neretva Vallis, Mars.

In 2024, NASA’s Perseverance rover explored Neretva Vallis, an ancient river channel that once carried water into Jezero crater. There, the rover encountered fine-grained sedimentary rocks containing organic matter and reduced sulfur—a remarkable combination of findings previously reported as a potential biosignature (Hurowitz et al. 2025).

SuperCam detected nickel in 32 nearby rocks, with concentrations in individual targets reaching approximately 1.1 weight percent: the highest abundance yet observed in Martian bedrock. We contextualized these enrichments using outcrop-scale imagery and petrographic-scale elemental maps from the PIXL X-ray fluorescence instrument, finding that nickel is concentrated in iron sulfides and their weathering products.

The geochemistry and morphology of these iron sulfides resemble pyrite found in terrestrial Archean and Paleoproterozoic sedimentary rocks. Because nickel is essential to microbial life on Earth, its proximity to reduced sulfur and organic matter strengthens the scientific case for returning Perseverance’s sample from this location. Laboratory analysis on Earth could provide important insights into the complex redox chemistry of early Mars.

Mars · SuperCam LIBS · Published December 2024

LIBS plasma diagnostics with SuperCam on Mars: implications for quantification of elemental abundances.

NASA’s Perseverance rover landed in Jezero crater in 2021 to explore an ancient delta for evidence of past life and collect samples for possible future return to Earth. Its SuperCam instrument uses laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) to quantify the elements in rocks and soils along the rover’s traverse. LIBS is especially valuable for planetary exploration because it works at a distance and across different target types.

Changes in laser irradiance with distance and in laser–target coupling could alter the physical conditions of the plasma plume, potentially affecting SuperCam’s elemental calibration. We investigated these conditions by estimating apparent plasma temperature with multiline Boltzmann plots and electron density through Stark broadening of the H-α line.

Apparent plasma temperature neither decreases with distance nor varies systematically between rocks and soils. The full range measured on Mars is represented in SuperCam’s laboratory calibration dataset, indicating that its elemental calibration is robust and that reliable LIBS observations can be made at distances of at least 8 m. Electron density is approximately 1.4 times higher in soils than in rocks, likely because the H-α line depends on topographic relief—an incompletely understood effect that complicates the quantification of hydrogen in Martian spectra.