Martian Soil

Approximate composition
of Martian Soil
(elements by mass)

The constituents of the Martian soil listed below are not actually present in the form of raw elements but are chemically incorporated in the rocks and minerals which make up the Martian soil. For example, on Earth would say oxygen and silicon as constituants of the soil, when actually we mean "sand", because sand is mostly made up of oxides of silicon.

Data taken at the Viking 1 landing site.
Oxygen, iron, aluminum and magnesium are
"exploded" for emphasis on the pie-chart.
Transparency Master 		The soil of Mars is extremely dry and resembles an iron rich clay-like dusty sand.

It has been demonstrated, using simulated Martian soil, that when the soil is mixed with water it can be used to make quite good "bricks" more than half as strong as conventional concrete.

element percent composition
by mass 		possible use(s)
oxygen 40 - 45 breathing, synthesis of water, oxidizer for rocket fuel
silicon 18 -25 computer chips
iron 12- 15 strong building material
potassium 8 synthesis of plant fertilizer
calcium 3 - 5 can be baked to produce lime (for cement)
magnesium 3 - 6 light weight construction material
sulphur 2 - 5 various chemical processes
aluminum 2 - 5 light weight construction material
cesium 0.1 - 0.5 construction of some semiconductors and photocells
The Martian soil is rich in minerals containing iron. It is this iron which is responsible for the reddish colour of the planet's surface. In fact, Mars has a distinctly reddish tint when viewed with the unaided eye from the Earth.

Iron is fairly easily extracted from the Martian soil. In the low Martian gravity iron has about the same weight (per unit volume) as aluminum on Earth and is therefore an excellent building material for future Martian pioneers.

Aluminum and magnesium can also be extracted from the Martian soil, but the process requires much more energy than the extraction of iron.

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Prepared by the YES I Can! Science Team,
Faculty of Pure and Applied Science, York University