The record of Martian climatic history in cores and its preservation

Among the questions to be addressed by a Mars Sample Return Mission are the history of the Martian climate and the mechanisms that control the volatile cycles. Unfortunately, the evidence that bears most strongly on those issues lies in the volatile distribution in, and physical configuration of, a very delicate and volatile system: the uppermost Martian regolith. Some useful measurements to be made on returned samples of the regolith are identified, along with the many critical considerations in ensuring the usefulness of returned samples