Potential Sources of Artifacts and Backgrounds Generated by the Sample Preparation of SAM

Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) is one of the instruments of the MSL mission. Three analytical devices are onboard SAM: the Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS), the Gas Chromatography (GC) and the Mass Spectrometer (MS). To adapt the nature of a sample to the analytical devices used, a sample preparation and gas processing system implemented with (a) a pyrolysis system, (b) wet chemistry: MTBSTFA and TMAH (c) the hydrocarbon trap (silica beads, Tenax® TA and Carbosieve G) and the injection trap (Tenax® GR composed of Tenax® TA and 30% of graphite) are employed to concentrate vol-atiles released from the sample prior to GC-MS analysis [1]. This study investigates several propositions for chlo-rinated hydrocarbon formation detected in the SAM background by looking for: (a) all products coming from the interaction of Tenax® and perchlorates, (b) also between some soil sample and perchlorates and (c) sources of chlorinated hydrocarbon precursors. Here we report on the detection of chlorohydrocarbon compounds and their potential origin.