Antarctic meteorite Queen Alexandra Range (QUE) 94201 is a 12 g basaltic achondrite dominated by plagioclase (now maskelynite) and zoned low- and high-Ca pyroxene. Petrologic, geochemical, and isotopic analyses indicate that it is related to previously described basaltic and lherzolitic shergottites, which are a group of igneous meteorites that are believed to be from Mars. Unlike previous shergottites, however, QUE 94201 represents a bulk melt rather than a cumulate fraction, meaning it can be used to infer magmatic source regions and the compositions of other melts on Mars. This melt has much more Fe and P than basaltic melts produced on Earth and formed at a much lower oxygen fugacity. This has altered the crystallization sequence of the melt, removing olivine from the liquidus to produce a plagioclase and 2-pyroxene assemblage. If the high-phosphorus and low-oxygen fugacity conditions represented by QUE 94201 are common in magmatic regions of Mars, then olivine may be rare in martian basalts. No solar cosmic ray effects were seen in the concentrations of 10Be, 26Al, and 36Cl with depth in the meteorite, implying at least 3 cm of ablation during entry to Earth. Significant excesses of neutron capture noble gas isotopes (80, 82Kr and 128, 131Xe) suggest that the QUE 94201 sample came from a depth 22 cm in a meteoroid of at least that radius. The meteorite also has very low 21Ne/22Ne, which would often be interpreted to mean little ablation (contradicting above evidence) but, in this case, appears to reflect a very low abundance of Mg (the principal target element for Ne) in the meteorite, consistent with our bulk chemical analyses. The meteorite has a terrestrial 36Cl age of 0.29 +/- 0.05 Myr and a 10Be exposure age of 2.6 +/- 0.5 Myr in a 4-pi geometry, implying an ejection age of 2.9 +/- 0.5 Myr.

The oxygen fugacity of olivine-phyric martian basalts is estimated using olivine-pyroxene- spinel equilibria, supported by detailed petrography. Results are plotted, along with previous oxygen fugacity estimates, against La/Yb, which is used as a proxy for long-term incompatible-element depletion or enrichment in martian basalt reservoirs. In general, the correlation between oxygen fugacity and La/Yb observed by Herd et al. (2002a) holds for the olivine-phyric basalts. The implications of the correlation are re-evaluated in light of work by Borg et al. (Forthcoming), which indicates that the variations in radiogenic isotopic composition can be modeled by mixing of mantle sources established by 4.5 Ga through crystallization of a magma ocean in lieu of assimilation of crustal material. The results demonstrate that the crust-like component, interpreted as trapped liquid in a magma ocean cumulate pile, must be oxidized to explain the oxygen fugacity of the martian basalts. Consequently, the pre-eruptive water contents of the more oxidized basalts are expected to be higher, although water is not called upon as the cause of the oxidation. Unmixing of mantle components provides an important context for the interpretation of oxygen isotopes, demonstrated here, and of samples returned from the martian surface.

Radiometric age dating of the shergottite meteorites and cratering studies of lava flows in Tharsis and Elysium both demonstrate that volcanic activity has occurred on Mars in the geologically recent past. This implies that adiabatic decompression melting and upwelling convective flow in the mantle remains important on Mars at present. I present a series of numerical simulations of mantle convection and magma generation on Mars. These models test the effects of the total radioactive heating budget and of the partitioning of radioactivity between crust and mantle on the production of magma. In these models, melting is restricted to the heads of hot mantle plumes that rise from the core-mantle boundary, consistent with the spatially localized distribution of recent volcanism on Mars. For magma production to occur on present-day Mars, the minimum average radioactive heating rate in the martian mantle is 1.6 x 10^(-12) W/kg, which corresponds to 39% of the Wänke and Dreibus (1994) radioactivity abundance. If the mantle heating rate is lower than this, the mean mantle temperature is low, and the mantle plumes experience large amounts of cooling as they rise from the base of the mantle to the surface and are, thus, unable to melt. Models with mantle radioactive heating rates of 1.8 to 2.1 x 10^(-12) W/kg can satisfy both the present-day volcanic resurfacing rate on Mars and the typical melt fraction observed in the shergottites. This corresponds to 43-50% of the Wänke and Dreibus radioactivity remaining in the mantle, which is geochemically reasonable for a 50 km thick crust formed by about 10% partial melting. Plausible changes to either the assumed solidus temperature or to the assumed core-mantle boundary temperature would require a larger amount of mantle radioactivity to permit present-day magmatism. These heating rates are slightly higher than inferred for the nakhlite source region and significantly higher than inferred from depleted shergottites such as QUE 94201. The geophysical estimate of mantle radioactivity inferred here is a global average value, while values inferred from the martian meteorites are for particular points in the martian mantle. Evidently, the martian mantle has several isotopically distinct compositions, possibly including a radioactively enriched source that has not yet been sampled by the martian meteorites. The minimum mantle heating rate corresponds to a minimum thermal Rayleigh number of 2 x 10^6, implying that mantle convection remains moderately vigorous on present-day Mars. The basic convective pattern on Mars appears to have been stable for most of martian history, which has prevented the mantle flow from destroying the isotopic heterogeneity.

Crystallization of a magma ocean on a large terrestrial planet that is significantly melted by the energy of accretion may lead to an unstable cumulate density stratification, which may overturn to a stable configuration. Overturn of the initially unstable stratification may produce an early basaltic crust and differentiated mantle reservoirs. Such a stable compositional stratification can have important implications for the planet's subsequent evolution by delaying or suppressing thermal convection and by influencing the distribution of radiogenic heat sources. We use simple models for fractional crystallization of a martian magma ocean, and calculate the densities of the resulting cumulates. While the simple models presented do not include all relevant physical processes, they are able to describe to first order a number of aspects of martian evolution. The models describe the creation of magma source regions that differentiated early in the history of Mars, and present the possibility of an early, brief magnetic field initiated by cold overturned cumulates falling to the core- mantle boundary. In a model that includes the density inversion at about 7.5 GPa, where olivine and pyroxene float in the remaining magma ocean liquids while garnet sinks, cumulate overturn sequesters alumina in the deep martian interior. The ages and compositions of source regions are consistent with SNC meteorite data.

The major element, trace element, and isotopic compositional ranges of the martian basaltic meteorite source regions have been modeled assuming that planetary differentiation resulted from crystallization of a magma ocean. The models are based on low to high pressure phase relationships estimated from experimental runs and estimates of the composition of silicate Mars from the literature. These models attempt to constrain the mechanisms by which the martian meteorites obtained their superchondritic CaO/Al2O3 ratios and their source regions obtained their parent/daughter (87Rb/86Sr, 147Sm/144Nd, and 176Lu/177Hf) ratios calculated from the initial Sr, Nd, and Hf isotopic compositions of the meteorites. High pressure experiments suggest that majoritic garnet is the liquidus phase for Mars relevant compositions at or above 12 GPa. Early crystallization of this phase from a martian magma ocean yields a liquid characterized by an elevated CaO/Al2O3 ratio and a high Mg#. Olivine-pyroxene-garnet-dominated cumulates that crystallize subsequently will also be characterized by superchondritic CaO/Al2O3 ratios. Melting of these cumulates yields liquids with major element compositions that are similar to calculated parental melts of the martian meteorites. Furthermore, crystallization models demonstrate that some of these cumulates have parent/daughter ratios that are similar to those calculated for the most incompatible-element-depleted source region (i.e., that of the meteorite Queen Alexandra [QUE] 94201). The incompatible-element abundances of the most depleted (QUE 94201-like) source region have also been calculated and provide an estimate of the composition of depleted martian mantle. The incompatible-element pattern of depleted martian mantle calculated here is very similar to the pattern estimated for depleted Earth's mantle. Melting the depleted martian mantle composition reproduces the abundances of many incompatible elements in the parental melt of QUE 94201 (e.g., Ba, Th, K, P, Hf, Zr, and heavy rare earth elements) fairly well but does not reproduce the abundances of Rb, U, Ta and light rare earth elements. The source regions for meteorites such as Shergotty are successfully modeled as mixtures of depleted martian mantle and a late stage liquid trapped in the magma ocean cumulate pile. Melting of this hybrid source yields liquids with major element abundances and incompatible-element patterns that are very similar to the Shergotty bulk rock.