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May 2000 - present
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Publications (385)
The SuperCam instrument onboard the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover investigates Martian geological targets by a combination of multiple spectroscopic techniques. As Raman, Visible‐Infrared Spectroscopy, and Laser‐Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) spectra deliver complementary information about the interrogated sample, the multivariate analysis of...
In this work, a geological sample of great astrobiological interest was studied through analytical techniques that are currently operating in situ on Mars and others that will operate in the near future. The sample analyzed consisted of an oncoid, which is a type of microbialite, collected in the Salar Carachi Pampa, Argentina. The main peculiarity...
La Geoda gigante de Pulpí es uno de los hallazgos mineralógicos internacionales más
importantes de las últimas décadas. Sus cristales pinacoidales y prismas de yeso de
excepcional pureza de hasta dos metros de longitud han despertado el interés tanto de
la comunidad científica como del público general. En este trabajo se hace una revisión
bibliográ...
The Europa lander is a concept for a potential future planetary exploration mission which purpose is to characterize the icy shell of Europa and to search for organics. To achieve this objective, the current concept of the lander includes a Raman spectrometer, such as RLS instrument, that could be able to analyse (sub) surface targets in their soli...
The SuperCam and SHERLOC instruments onboard the NASA/Perseverance rover are returning the first Raman spectra to be ever collected from another planet. Similarly, the RLS instrument onboard the ESA/Rosalind Franklin rover will collect Raman spectra from powdered rocks sampled from the subsurface of Mars. To optimize the scientific exploitation of...
The SuperCam instrument, onboard the Perseverance rover (Mars 2020 mission) is designed to perform remote analysis on the Martian surface employing several spectroscopic techniques such as Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), Time-Resolved Raman (TRR), Time-Resolved Fluorescence (TRF) and Visible and Infrared (VISIR) reflectance. In additio...
NASA/Mars 2020 and ESA/ExoMars rover are equipped with the first Raman
spectrometers to be ever used for space exploration missions (namely, SuperCam, Sherloc and RLS). Looking ahead, further Raman prototypes are being developed for future rover missions to Europa (Jupiter’s moon) and other icy planetary bodies. The main scientific objectives of th...
The Perseverance rover is exploring Jezero crater on Mars since February 2021. SuperCam instrument is part of the scientific payload, combining five different techniques in order to characterize the targets to sample: LIBS (Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy), Raman and Visible and Infrared (VISIR) spectroscopies, Sound Recording and a colored Im...
On the NASA 2020 rover mission to Jezero crater, the remote determination of the texture, mineralogy and chemistry of rocks is essential to quickly and thoroughly characterize an area and to optimize the selection of samples for return to Earth. As part of the Perseverance payload, SuperCam is a suite of five techniques that provide critical and co...
SuperCam is a highly integrated remote-sensing instrumental suite for NASA’s Mars 2020 mission. It consists of a co-aligned combination of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), Time-Resolved Raman and Luminescence (TRR/L), Visible and Infrared Spectroscopy (VISIR), together with sound recording (MIC) and high-magnification imaging techniques...
Between February 1 and February 28, 2018, the Austrian Space Forum, in cooperation with research teams from 25 nations, conducted the AMADEE-18 mission-a human-robotic Mars expedition simulation in the Dhofar region in the Sultanate of Oman. As a part of the AMADEE-18 simulated Mars human exploration mission, the Remote Science Support team investi...
The PTAL project aims at building and exploiting a database involving several analytical techniques, the Planetary Terrestrial Analogues Library, to help characterizing the mineralogical evolution of terrestrial bodies, starting with Mars. A total of 94 natural Earth rocks have been collected from selected locations around the world to get a select...
Raman and laser‐induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) spectroscopies will play an important role in planetary exploration missions in the following years, not only with Raman instruments like Raman laser spectrometer on board of Rosalid Franklin Rover or scanning habitable environments with Raman and luminescence for organics and chemicals on board...
A structural analysis of Rare-Earth (RE3+) doped fluoro-tellurite glasses (85TeO2-10PbF2-2.5AlF3-2.5REF3 – in mol%) has been carried out by Raman spectroscopy, at 633, 785 and 1064 nm laser power excitation (RE3+= Pr3+, Nd3+, Sm3+, Eu3+, Gd3+, Tb3+, Dy3+, Ho3+, Er3+, Tm3+ and Yb3+). ATR-FTIR, MGM, SEM-EDX, and XRD have been used as secondary techni...
The Raman Laser Spectrometer (RLS) is one of the Pasteur Payload instruments within the ESA’s ExoMars mission. The RLS instrument scientific goal consists of perform in-situ Raman spectroscopy over different organic and mineral powder samples of the Mars subsoil. It consists of three main units: SPU (Spectrometer Unit), iOH (Internal Optical Head),...
The pumice volcanic samples could have possible connections to the evolution of life and give us insight about their bio-geochemical processes related. In this regard, the samples from the volcanic eruption from La Restinga (El Hierro, Spain) in 2011 have been mainly studied by means of Raman spectroscopy. The research also in...
The secondary products of an arsenopyrite-bearing mine waste dump were characterized in order to ascertain their mineralogical, chemical and environmental features and to appraise their role in the abatement of As in the environment. To this purpose, representative surface samples of weathered sulfides (including cemented phases) and hardpan sample...
Guano is a typical deposit found in caves derived from the excretions of bats and in minor cases of birds. These organic deposits decompose and form a series of acid fluids and gases that can interact with the minerals, sediments, and rocks present in the cave. Over sixty phosphates are known and described from caves, but guano decay also often lea...
The outcrop of “Las Arenas” volcano in Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain) has been presented as Terrestrial volcanic analog for ancient Mars, showing a great variety of alteration processes and interesting mineralogy. The current analysis has been done by means of measurement techniques used or proposed on Martian studies. The new analysis of the zeo...
The concentration of lactic acid in salmon muscle in time and its effect on the degradation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) coatings and polypropylene (PP) films employed in food containers was evaluated. This study employed high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to determine the concentration of lactic acid and potentiodynamic and immer...
Earlier studies determined that portions of salmon were strongly sticking to the polymer coating of the container walls after emptying the cans. In this sense, this work performed high- and low-frequency spectral characterizations of fresh salmon muscle, fat, and skin by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy analyses to elucidat...
The second ExoMars mission will be launched in 2020 to target an ancient landing site interpreted to possess a strong potential for preserving the physical and chemical biosignatures of fossil martian microorganisms, if they existed there. The mission will deliver a lander with instruments designed for atmospheric and geophysical investigations and...
In this paper, our research group proposes a simple solution to a usual problem that appears in the Raman analysis of some substances, which is the presence of weak Raman signals, probably in combination with a high-intensity luminescence background, affected by the presence of distortions in the baseline. Under this condition, the spectroscopist h...
Raman spectroscopy is a very powerful analytical technique with an increasing acceptance in the scientific community. For the optimization of the Raman acquisition, two main parameters, the integration time and the number of accumulations, need to be adjusted to the sample under analysis, as the sample, or even different spots on the same sample, c...
An increasing number of minerals have been described on the Martian surface in recent times. The Mössbauer spectrometer onboard the rover Opportunity has revealed the presence of several hydrous minerals. The development of these miniaturized analytical instruments represented a milestone for Planetary Research. Future missions to Mars will be equi...
The second ExoMars mission will be launched in 2020 to target an ancient location interpreted to have strong potential for past habitability and for preserving physical and chemical biosignatures (as well as abiotic/prebiotic organics). The mission will deliver a lander with instruments for atmospheric and geophysical investigations and a rover tas...
Purpose: To describe a series of retinal acute toxicity cases with severe visual loss after intraocular use of a toxic perfluoro-octane (PFO). The clinical presentation is described, and the likely causes are analyzed. New biological methods for testing safety of intraocular medical devices are proposed.
Methods: Information regarding a series of e...
Searching for biomarkers or signatures of microbial transformations of minerals is a critical aspect for determining how life evolved on Earth, and whether or not life may have existed in other planets, including Mars. In order to solve such questions, several missions to Mars have sought to determine the geochemistry and mineralogy on the Martian...
The sticking of postmortem salmon to the container wall surface protected by polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymer was evaluated. The study focused on the effects of biochemical changes of postmortem salmon on the coating and how muscle degradation inside the food can, resulting from the thermal treatment and storage, favor sticking to the food...
Raman spectroscopy has been used to study fragments of early Visigothic historiated manuscripts from the important mediaeval library at Santo Domingo de Silos which were a part of a Beato dating from the tenth to the mid-eleventh centuries. These fragments are from some of the oldest manuscripts in the scriptorium of the monastery. In this study, a...
Basaltic samples selected from different areas of Tenerife were analyzed by applying laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), Raman spectroscopy and X Ray Diffraction (XRD) in order to identify the basic chemical composition and mineralogy. The basic composition obtained from the analysis was: O, F, Na, K, Mg, Al Si, Ca, Ti and Fe. Raman spectr...
A detailed vibrational Raman-IR spectroscopic and diffractional analyses have been performed on basalts from two locations from Tenerife Island: (1) the Arenas Negras volcano which belongs to the historical eruption not showing visible alteration and (2) Pillow Lavas zone from Anaga Massif which shows a clearly fluid-rock interaction caused by subm...
Unlabelled:
Biosaline formations (BSFs) are complex self-organized biomineral patterns formed by "hibernating" bacteria as the biofilm that contains them dries out. They were initially described in drying biofilms of Escherichia coli cells + NaCl. Due to their intricate 3-D morphology and anhydrobiosis, these biomineralogical structures are of gre...
Differential profile of membrane lipids and pigments of a Synechococcus sp. cyanobacterial strain cells exposed to blue, green, red and white light are determined by means of liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry or diode array detection. Raman and ATR-IR spectra of intact cells under the diverse light wavebands are also reported. Blue light...
In a rediscovered Klimt-artwork “Trompetender Putto” material tests have been conducted. We report studies on different points of the painting. The spots are of different colors, mainly taken in spots of the painting not restaurated. MIMOS II Fe-57 Mössbauer spectroscopy revealed mainly haematite and nano particle oxides in red and red/brown colors...
The European AstRoMap project (supported by the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme) surveyed the state of the art of astrobiology in Europe and beyond and produced the first European roadmap for astrobiology research. In the context of this roadmap, astrobiology is understood as the study of the origin, evolution, and distribution of l...
The new types of knowledge-intensive, multilayer containers consist of steel plates protected against corrosion by nanometric electrolytic chromium (Cr⁰) and chromium oxide (Cr2O3) layers chemically bonded to polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymer coating to preserve food. It was observed that after emptying the cans, the salmon adhered to the po...
The new types of knowledge-intensive, multilayer containers consist of steel plates protected against corrosion by nanometric electrolytic chromium (Cr0) and chromium oxide (Cr2O3) layers chemically bonded to polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymer coating to preserve food. It was observed that after emptying the cans, the salmon adhered to the po...
The painting of a rich Jewish merchant “Bildnis eines jüdischen Kaufmanns” from the Netherlands is dated presumably to the 16th century. After a vivid historical background, i.e. robbed by the Nazis by order of Hermann Göring, it was recently discovered on an Austrian flea market. Different analysis methods were combined to identify the time of the...
The outcrop of “Los Azulejos” is visible at the interior of the Cañadas Caldera in Tenerife Island (Spain). It exhibits a great variety of alteration processes that could be considered as terrestrial analogue for several geological processes on Mars. This outcrop is particularly interesting due to the content of clays, zeolite, iron oxides, and sul...
Different types of hard and soft speleothems (stalactites, stalagmites, columns, crusts, flowstones, micro-gours and botryoidal coralloids) have been observed throughout lava tubes in the Galapagos archipelago, Ecuador. Three lava tubes were studied in this work: Gallardo and Royal Palm volcanic caves (Santa Cruz Island) and Sucre Cave (Isabela Isl...
Several volcanic outcrops from Tenerife Island (Las Canadas Caldera, historical volcanism and Guimar-Malpais outcrop) has been selected as a potential terrestrial analog for Mars, regarding the Martian mineralogy and its volcanic characteristic. Diverse alteration processes, including weathering and hydrothermal alteration have been detected in the...
Raman spectroscopy is a very powerful technique for in-situ and non-destructive analysis of materials without any preparation. Here, we present some case studies in which in-situ Raman spectroscopy has been utilized to obtain valuable information about degradation processes affecting building materials, as well as mineralogical characterization of...
A detailed vibrational Raman-IR spectroscopic and diffractional analyses have been performed on basalts from two locations from Tenerife Island: (1) the Arenas Negras volcano which belongs to the historical eruption not showing visible alteration and (2) Pillow Lavas zone from Anaga Massif which shows a clearly fluid-rock interaction caused by subm...
Structural features of disordered phyllosilicates
Detailed mineralogical and geochemical analysis of exceptional speleothems of hemimorphite found in Iglesiente mine caves.
Se ha llevado a cabo una selección de varios afloramientos volcánicos en la Isla de Tenerife (La Caldera de las Cañadas, vulcanismo histórico y la zona del Malpaís de Güimar) como posibles análogos terrestres de Marte, considerando los procesos volcánicos ocurridos durante algunas de las etapas geológicas del planeta rojo. En la selección de las ár...
Precipitation of salts—mainly hydrated Mg-Na sulfates— in building materials is rated as one of the most severe threats to the preservation of our architectural and cultural heritage. Nevertheless, the origin of this pathology is still unknown in many cases. Proper identification of the cause of damage is crucial for correct planning of future rest...
The Raman Laser Spectrometer instrument (RLS) onboard the ExoMars rover will fly to Mars in 2018. This rover will provide powdered samples to a suite of instruments inside the analytical laboratory drawer of the rover, including the RLS instrument. RLS will analyze up to 30 randomly selected points along a flat surface of the powdered samples. RLS...
The future ExoMars rover mission (ESA/Roscosmos), to be launched in 2018, will investigate the habitability of the Martian surface and near subsurface, and search for traces of past life in the form of textural biosignatures and organic molecules. In support of this mission, a selection of relevant Mars analogue materials has been characterised and...
The material employed in this study is an ecoefficient, environmentally friendly, chromium (VI)-free (noncarcinogenic) metal polymer. The originality of the research lies in the study of the effect of new production procedures of salmon on metal packaging with multilayer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) polymer coatings. Our hypothesis states that...
We performed several multispectral analysis over samples from Faroe islands as a Mars analog site to test for future mission instrumentation.
The persistent adhesion of salmon muscle to food container walls after treatment with urea solution was observed. This work evaluated the diffusion of antibiotics from the salmon muscle to the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) coating protecting the electrolytic chromium coated steel (ECCS) plates. New aquaculture production systems employ antibioti...
The research have been conducted in order to have a better understanding of amino acid adsorption on volcanic matrix surface subjected to different extreme environmental conditions (Martian surface environment, space environment, UV-environment, etc.) simulated by The Planetary Atmosphere and Surfaces Chamber (PASC) at the ”INTA-Centro de Astrobiog...
Raman spectroscopy has been used for a comparative study of the sulphates mineral sequence precipitation in Rio Tinto (Huelva, Spain) under natural and laboratory conditions. In natural conditions spectra were performed in-situ with portable instruments. In laboratory, spectra were performed using a simulator of the riverbank conditions and also sm...
Mineralogical studies in caves have usually required a first stage of sampling before analysis in laboratory. In fact, mineral gathering in caves can provoke irreparable damages. In the case of cave paintings, the threat of deterioration due to sampling is even more evident, given their cultural and historical value. Here, we explore the capability...
RESUMEN El reciente descubrimiento de minerales hidratados sobre la superficie de Marte sugiere la presencia de importan-tes cantidades de agua líquida durante algunas etapas de su historia geológica. A raíz de este hallazgo, los estudios sobre minerales hidratados en ambientes terrestres como potenciales análogos marcianos han adquirido gran rele-...
RESUMEN El reciente descubrimiento de minerales hidratados sobre la superficie de Marte sugiere la presencia de importan-tes cantidades de agua líquida durante algunas etapas de su historia geológica. A raíz de este hallazgo, los estudios sobre minerales hidratados en ambientes terrestres como potenciales análogos marcianos han adquirido gran rele-...
We have built three multivariate analysis mathematical models based on principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares (PLS), and artificial neural networks (ANNs) to detect sulfate minerals in geological samples from laser Raman spectral data. We have critically assessed the potential of the models to automatically detect and quantify th...
Acidic waters and sulphate-rich precipitates are typical by-products of mining activity such as in Rio Tinto (Huelva, SW Spain). This river drains pyrite mines situated in the Iberian Pyrite Belt which have been in operation since the Bronze Age and probably constitutes the oldest continuously operating mining activity over the world. In the presen...
Abstract Water is the fundamental molecule for life on Earth. Thus, the search for hibernating life-forms in waterless environments is an important research topic for astrobiology. To date, however, the organizational patterns containing microbial life in extremely dry places, such as the deserts of Earth, the Dry Valleys of Antarctica, or Mars ana...
In this work we try the detection of several biomarkers over a mineral substrate using a simple remote raman set up.
Up to 380 different minerals have been described in caves over the past century . The presence of particular mineral phases has been used as indicators of specific paleoenvironmental conditions occurred in caves. On the other hand, processes involved in the genesis of some cave minerals have been proposed as potential analogs of minerogenetic mecha...
Introduction: The RLS instrument is a Raman spectrometer which is part of the rover payload of ESA's 2018 ExoMars mission. In order to optimize the spectra acquisition, RLS will be equipped with a set of algorithmic tools to automatically optimize the acquisition parameters taking into account the onboard available time and resources. The set of al...
A Raman spectroscopic study of Li2SO4 aqueous solutions as function of concentration and temperature was performed. The dynamic properties of the sulfate ions were studied by a band profile analysis of their internal modes using Fourier transform methods. This analysis reveals the perturbation of the SO4-2 vibrations due to ionic interactions. From...
La cueva de Altamira se encuentra en la localidad de Santillana del Mar (Cantabria, Norte de España). Esta cavidad permaneció ocupada por el hombre del Paleolítico superior durante un periodo de más de 22.000 años (Lasheras et al. 2012) y que podría extenderse hasta 36.500 años antes del presente (Pike et al., 2012), dejando un rico legado de pintu...
Caracterización de pigmentos en conchas (Patella vulgata) utilizadas como utensilios pictóricos en el arte rupestre de la cueva de Altamira
In this work we present the actual status of development of a Raman spectra database to be applied by the science team of the Exomars Raman instrument.
Data fusion in LIBS and Laser Raman Spectroscopy enables more robust detection of salts in binary mixtures than would be possible using both techniques alone.
In this work we present the development of the calibration target for the Raman Spectrometer Instrument to be onboard the Exomars rover.
RESUMEN El reciente descubrimiento de minerales hidratados sobre la superficie de Marte sugiere la presencia de importan-tes cantidades de agua líquida durante algunas etapas de su historia geológica. A raíz de este hallazgo, los estudios sobre minerales hidratados en ambientes terrestres como potenciales análogos marcianos han adquirido gran rele-...
RESUMEN El reciente descubrimiento de minerales hidratados sobre la superficie de Marte sugiere la presencia de importan-tes cantidades de agua líquida durante algunas etapas de su historia geológica. A raíz de este hallazgo, los estudios sobre minerales hidratados en ambientes terrestres como potenciales análogos marcianos han adquirido gran rele-...
