Engineering topics

Anders, E.

Publications and source records attributed to Anders, E..

At least 19 records

NASA NTRS1991

Interpretation of the ion mass spectra in the mass per charge range 25-35 amu/e obtained in the inner coma of Halley's comet by the HIS-sensor of the Giotto IMS experiment

The IMS-HIS double-focusing mass spectrometer that flew on the Giotto spacecraft covered the mass per charge range from 12 to 56 (amu/e). By comparing flight data, calibration data and results of model calculations of the ion population in the inner coma, the absolute mass scale is established, and ions in the mass range 25 to 35 are identified. Ions resulting from protonation of molecules with high proton affinity are relatively abundant, enabling us to estimate relative source strengths for H2CO, CH3OH, HCN, and H2S, providing for the first time a positive in situ measurement of methanol. Also, upper limits for NO and some hydrocarbons are derived.

Geiss, J.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Interpretation of the ion mass spectra in the mass range 25-35 obtained in the inner coma of Halley's comet by the HIS-sensor of the Giotto IMS Experiment

The IMS-HIS double-focussing mass spectrometer that flew on the Giotto spacecraft covered the mass per charge range from 12 to 56 (AMU/e). By comparing flight data, calibration data, and results of model calculations of the ion population in the inner coma, the absolute mass scale is established, and ions in the mass range 25 to 35 are identified. Ions resulting from protonation of molecules with high proton affinity are relatively abundant, enabling us to estimate relative source strengths for H2CO, CH3OH, HCN, and H2S, providing for the first time a positive in situ measurement of methanol. Also, upper limits for NO and some hydrocarbons are derived.

Geiss, J.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Future directions in meteorite research

Information presently available on meteorite composition and history and the areas in meteorite research that should be covered in future in order to shed additional light on the earliest history of the solar system are discussed. Attention is given to the work needed in the classification schemes for chondrites, the question of the identification of parent bodies of the major meteorite and chondrite types, the igneous differentiation of certain asteroids, the effects of irradiation, the solar-system chronology, and issues concerning the early solar system. Other important areas discussed include the elemental composition of chondrites, the magnetic properties of meteorites, the composition and the petrology of chondrules, the properties of primitive material surviving in chondrites, the micrometeorites, the nebula, the presolar material in meteorites, the nucleosynthesis, and the nucleocosmochronology.

Anders, E.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Local and exotic components of primitive meteorites, and their origin

The chemical and isotopic compositions of chondrites and their implications for chondrite origins are considered, reviewing the results of recent theoretical and experimental investigations. Numerical data are compiled in tables and graphs and discussed in detail. Consideration is given to the properties and classifications of chondrites; components of local origin in the matrix, chondrules, Ca-Al-rich inclusions, and carbon and organic matter; exotic components such as O-16-enriched dust, nucleosynthetic anomalies, and extinct radionuclides; and isotopic anomalies of volatiles such as C, N, and the noble gases. The implications of the chondrite data for the stony fraction of comet nuclei are briefly indicated.

Anders, E.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Cretaceous extinctions - Evidence for wildfires and search for meteoritic material

The results of analyses of the contents of deposits in the Cretaceous-Ternary (K-T) transition at three sites worldwide are discussed. The study was undertaken to examine the composition of the object which may have struck the earth, causing widespread biotic extinction. The data indicate that most of the parent body was destroyed on impact, a condition which would also hold true for comets, suggesting that comets were not a source of prebiotic life. A four-orders-of-magnitude excess of carbon in the K-T layer is considered in terms of its source, which is suspected to be deposits from wildfires. The consequent extinctions of species are regarded as possibly making the current nuclear winter scenarios too optimistic.

Wolbach, W. S.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Unequilibrated ordinary chondrites - A tentative subclassification based on volatile-element content

In view of the lack of correlation sometimes encountered between the volatile content and metamorphism measures of primitiveness for unequilibrated ordinary chondrites (UOCs), a tentative classification scheme is developed which is based on volatile content and complements the Sears et al. (1980) scheme based on metamorphism. The classification is based primarily on C and Xe, which are not significantly affected by shock-induced reheating. It is noted that novel clues to the formation of chondrites may be derivable from Xe and C; their concentrations in UOCs vary by a factor greater than 5, yet the Xe/C ratio remains nearly constant at 0.0034 of the solar system ratio.

Anders, E.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Laboratory simulation of meteoritic noble gases. I - Sorption of xenon on carbon: Trapping experiments

The sorption of Xe-127 at 5 x 10 to the -7th atm onto carbon black, pyrolyzed polyvinylidene chloride, and pyrolyzed acridine at 100-1000 C for 5 min-240 h is measured experimentally by gamma spectrometry. The results are presented in tables and graphs and characterized in detail. The tightly bound Xe remaining in the samples after 4000 min pumping at temperatures above 100 C is found to comprise two components: a low-temperature component attributed to physisorption within an atomic-scale labyrinth of micropores, and a high-temperature component due to volume diffusion. The implications for the trapping of noble gases near grain surfaces of amorphous carbon in meteorites are considered.

Wacker, J. F.↗

NASA NTRS1985

H-chondrites - Trace element clues to their origin

RNAA is used to determine the abundances of 20 trace elements in four H4, two H3, two H5, and two H6 chondrites from the British Museum, as a contribution to a multiple-method study of these objects. The results are presented in tables and graphs and analyzed in terms of the inhomogeneity of the parent bodies and the depletion of volatiles in the higher petrologic types. Features observed include siderophile depletion in H3 chondrites; systematic variation of siderophile abundance pattern with petrologic type; volatile depletion as a primary feature; mineralogy consistent with accretion at 420-500 K; and the factor-analysis groupings siderophiles (Os, Re, Ir, Ni, Pd, Au, and Ge), volatiles (Ag, Br, In, Cd, Bi, and Tl), and alkalis (Rb and Cs).

Morgan, J. W.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Trapping of xenon in ice - Implications for the origin of the earth's noble gases

Although the earth's atmosphere contains Ne, Ar, and Kr in about C1,2-chondrite proportions, Xe is depleted about 20-fold. To test the suggestion that the 'missing' Xe is trapped in Antarctic ice, distribution coefficients for Xe in artifically formed frost at -20 to -60 C were measured, using Xe-127 tracer. The values are 0.098 + or - 0.004 cc STP/g atm for trapping and less than 5 cc STP/g atm for trapping plus adsorption. If these results are representative of natural ice, then the Antarctic ice cap contains less than 1 percent of the atmospheric Xe inventory, or not greater than about 0.001 the amount needed for a C1,2-chondrite pattern. Two possibilities remain for the 'missing' Xe, both on the premise that the earth's noble gases, along with other volatiles, came from chondritic material: (1) xenon is preferentially retained in the mantle and lower crust, due to the strong affinity of Xe for clean silicate surfaces and amorphous carbon; and (2) the source material of the earth's volatiles had high, relatively unfractionated, Ar/Xe and Kr/Xe ratios, like the non-carbonaceous noble gas carriers in C3O and E-chondrites.

Wacker, J. F.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Where is the Earth's missing xenon?

Highly volatile elements (e.g., T1, Pb, B, C1, Br, etc.) in the Earth's crust occur in C-chondrite proportions, and so do the atmospheric noble gases Ne, Ar, and Kr. This has led to the suggestion that the Earth acquired its volatiles from a late veneer of C-chondrite-like material. A glaring exception is Xe, which is depleted approx. 20x relative to Ne, Ar, Kr. Three explanations are discussed for the depletion: (1) Xe is preferentially trapped in the crust, either in sediments (3) or in Antarctic ice (4); (2) the Earth's noble gas inventory is non-chondritic (5); or (3) Xe is incompletely outgassed from the mantle.

Wacker, J. F.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Barium isotopes in Allende meteorite - Evidence against an extinct superheavy element

Carbon and chromite fractions from the Allende meteorite that contain isotopically anomalous xenon-131 to xenon-136 (carbonaceous chondrite fission or CCF xenon) at up to 5 x 10 to the 11th atoms per gram show no detectable isotopic anomalies in barium-130 to barium-138. This rules out the possibility that the CCF xenon was formed by in situ fission of an extinct superheavy element. Apparently the CCF xenon and its carbonaceous carrier are relics from stellar nucleosynthesis.

Lewis, R. S.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Samarium-146 in the early solar system - Evidence from neodymiun in the Allende meteorite

A carbon-chromite fraction from the Allende C3V chondrite shows strikingly large isotopic enrichments of neodymium-142 (0.47 percent) and neodymium-143 (36 percent). Both apparently formed by alpha decay of samarium-146 and samarium-147 (half-lives 1.03 x 10 to the 8th and 1.06 x 10 to the 11th years), but the isotopic enrichment was greatly magnified by recoil of residual nuclei into a carbon film surounding the samarium-bearing grains. These data provide an improved estimate of the original abundance of extinct samarium-146 in the early solar system, Sm-146/Sm-144 = (4.5 + or - 0.5) x 10 to the -3rd, higher than predicted by some models of p-process nucleosynthesis. It may be possible to use this isotopic pair as a chronometer of the early solar system.

Lugmair, G. W.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Enstatite chondrites - Trace element clues to their origin

Three EH and three EL chondrites have been subjected to RNAA analysis for 20 trace elements, and interelement correlations were examined in order to assess the effects of nebular fractionation and metamorphism. The refractory siderophiles Ir, Os, and Re correlate with the normal siderophiles Ni, Pd, Au, Sb, and Ge, in ELs but not in EHs. The two element groups presumably condensed on separate phases at first, but concentrated in metal during metabolism. Volatiles are consistently more depleted in ELs than EHs. Strong correlations are found for In-Tl, Tl-Bi, and Zn-Cd-In, which are equally consistent with predicted condensation curves for the solar nebula and with volatilization curves for artificially heated Abee. The three factors accounting for 93 percent of variance reflect volatile, siderophile, and chalcophile behavior.

Hertogen, J.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Aubrites and diogenites - Trace element clues to their origin

A typically igneous siderophile element pattern emerges from an RNAA analysis of 25 aubrite and nine diogenite samples for 13-29 siderophile, volatile, and lithophile trace elements, although it is noted that abundances are about 10 times higher in the case of aubrites. Se is also surprisingly abundant in aubrites. Factor analysis shows several parallel groupings for aubrites and diogenites. Several element pairs that differ greatly in volatility correlate closely in aubrites, in approximately C1-chondrite proportions, suggesting that aubrites originated by igneous processes in their parent body.

Wolf, R.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Isotopically anomalous nitrogen in primitive meteorites

The extreme enrichement in N-14 (up to 48 percent) found in acid-resistant residues of the Allende and Murchison meteorites cannot be attained by normal solar system processes and must therefore be due to stellar nucleosynthesis. Consequently the xenon component enriched in the heavy isotopes associated with the light nitrogen very probably was made by stellar nucleosynthesis rather than by fission of an extinct superheavy element.

Lewis, R. S.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Interstellar carbon in meteorites

The Murchison and Allende chondrites contain up to 5 parts per million carbon that is enriched in carbon-13 by up to +1100 per mil (the ratio of carbon-12 to carbon-13 is approximately 42, compared to 88 to 93 for terrestrial carbon). This 'heavy' carbon is associated with neon-22 and with anomalous krypton and xenon showing the signature of the s-process (neutron capture on a slow time scale). It apparently represents interstellar grains ejected from late-type stars. A second anomalous xenon component ('CCFXe') is associated with a distinctive, light carbon (depleted in carbon-13 by 38 per mil), which, however, falls within the terrestrial range and hence may be of either local or exotic origin.

Swart, P. K.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Extinct I-129 in C3 chondrites

Eight C3 chondrites were examined by the I-129 to Xe-129 dating method to determine whether their initial I-129/I-127 ratios, or R(0), correlate with any other properties. The R(0)'s range from 1.60 x 10 to the -4th to 1.09 x 10 to the -4th, corresponding to I to Xe ages from 2.0 Myr before to 6.7 Myr after the Murchison magnetite. Three C30's have essentially indistinguishable R(0)'s, while a fourth is undatable. Four C3V's show a distinct spread, ranging from 1.60 + or 0.07 x 10 to the -4th to 1.09 + or - 0.10 x 10 to the -4th. These R(0)'s correlate inversely with four other properties: I, Br, and Cd content, olivine composition, both percent mean deviation, and proportion of iron-poor olivine grains. The simplest model that accounts for the correlations with R(0) involves mixing of two iodine components in the solar nebula, associated with gas and grains, respectively. The second, of lower I-129/I-127 ratio, predominated at later times and thus became enriched in late-formed meteorites.

Crabb, J.↗

NASA NTRS1982

On the siting of noble gases in E-chondrites

Fractions of six E-chondrites were separated by density, grain size, and chemical resistance to determine the siting of noble gases. The samples were taken from the Qingzhen (E3), Indarch (E4), Abee and Saint Saveur (E4-5), and Yilmia and North West Forrest (E6) meteorites. The Ar-rich component of the E6s was concentrated in the enstatite-rich fraction. This subsolar component was resistant to HCl and HNO3 treatment, but could be partially dissolved by HF, implying that the subsolar component is located in the enstatite. The noble gases were transported there by metamorphism. Xe-129 was found in the same regions in the E6s, but was in areas associated with chondrules in the E4s. Additionally, the carbon-rich fraction of the E4 sample displayed Xe and Ne/CCF-Xe isotopic ratios similar to that found in C-chondrites. E3 and E4 primordial gases were analogous, with no subsolar contribution.

Crabb, J.↗