text: Much of the Martian surface is deeply covered by dust as fine as talcum powder. The global predominance of dust obscures the underlying bedrock, making spectroscopic identification of primary minerals impossible from orbit over many areas of the planet. The red/orange appearance of the dust is caused by iron(III) oxide (nanophase FeO) and the iron(III) oxide-hydroxide mineral goethite.
  The Mars Exploration Rovers identified magnetite as the mineral responsible for making the dust magnetic.  It probably also contains some titanium.
  The global dust cover and the presence of other wind-blown sediments has made soil compositions remarkably uniform across the Martian surface. Analysis of soil samples from the Viking landers in 1976 shows that the soils consist of finely broken up basaltic rock fragments and are highly enriched in sulphur and chlorine, probably derived from volcanic gas emissions.