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Goldstein, J. I.

Publications and source records attributed to Goldstein, J. I..

At least 73 records · Page 4

Metal-olivine associations and Ni-Co contents in two Apollo 12 mare basalts

Olivine crystals in mare basalts 12004,8 and 12022,12 are normally zoned with Cr-poor rims. The Ni content of rare 2- to 10-micron metal inclusions in olivine decreases markedly as Fe/Mg in their immediate olivine hosts increases. Each metal grain appears to have been enclosed by late olivine almost immediately after it crystallized. The fractionation trend for the olivine and metal contrasts with the subsolidus equilibration trend for pallasites. For the basalts, not even local equilibrium of Fe, Ni and Co at metal/olivine interfaces can be detected by microprobe. Ni and Co concentrations range from about 300 ppm in olivine cores to about 70 ppm in rims. The limits of detection, at 95% confidence, are 36 ppm (Ni) and 25 ppm (Co). The distribution of Ni and Co in olivine, like that of Mg and Cr, records the depletion of these elements in the melt.

Hewins, R. H.↗

The Tucson meteorite

Tucson is an unusual iron meteorite which contains highly reduced silicate inclusions and elemental silicon and chromium in solution. The metal matrix of Tucson was found to be chemically uniform, suggesting that homogenization has occurred at elevated temperatures. The microstructure of the metal consists of plessite and thin ribbons of kamacite. Nickel and phosphorus concentrations indicate that kamacite nucleated along prior taenite grain boundaries at about 650 C, and grew upon cooling to 500 C. Kamacite growth calculations show that Tucson cooled at about 1 C/1000 yr, a rate which corresponds to a depth of burial at the center of a 15-km-radius parent body or closer to the surface of parent bodies of larger sizes. The shapes of the Tucson irons, and the presence and distribution of silicate inclusions in the Fe-Ni matrix appear to be a result of a solidification process.

Miyake, G. T.↗

Nedagolla, a remelted iron meteorite

The Nedagolla meteorite was recognized by Axon to be a rare example of an iron which has been preterrestrially reheated to the point of melting. The dendrite secondary arms are spaced 200 microns apart, implying that Nedagolla solidified and cooled at about 0.02 C/sec. The presence of (Fe, Cr)(1-x)S inclusions precipitated during cooling in the interdendritic regions, and evidence of solute redistribution of Ni, Cr, Co, Si, and P are consistent with this cooling rate. Such a rate indicates that Nedagolla cooled very near the surface of its parent 'body'. Secondary microstructural features including the presence of isothermal taenite and minute phosphide precipitates, which have formed from the dissolution of primary phosphide material, indicate a later reheating to about 750 C for a period of several hours.

Miyake, G. T.↗

The electron microprobe as a metallographic tool

The electron microprobe (EMP) is shown to represent one of the most powerful techniques for the examination of the microstructure of materials. It is an electron optical instrument in which compositional and topographic information is obtained from regions smaller than 1 micron in diameter on a specimen. Photographs of compositional and topographic changes in 1-sq-mm to 20-sq-micron areas on various types of specimens can also be obtained. These photographs are strikingly similar to optical photomicrographs. Various signals measured in the EMP (X-rays, secondary electrons, backscattered electrons, etc.) are discussed, along with their resolution and the type of information they may help obtain. In addition to elemental analysis, solid state detecting and scanning techniques are reviewed. Various techniques extending the EMP instrument capabilities, such as deconvolution and soft X-ray analysis, are also described.

Goldstein, J. I.↗

Metal silicate relationships in Apollo 17 soils

A petrographic, metallographic, and electron probe study of particles from two Apollo 17 soils is reported. A mixing model for the formation of the Apollo 17 soils is proposed. It is found that equilibration temperatures for two-phase metal aggregates range from 375 to 475 C for metal-phosphide particles and from 480 to 630 C for alpha-gamma particles, and that the anorthositic soil particles contain metal of meteoritic Ni-Co content. The Camelot Crater and the Sculptured Hills soil compositions are discussed.

Goldstein, J. I.↗

Chemistry and thermal history of metal particles in Luna 20 soils.

Individual metal particles from Luna 20 thin sections 521, 513 and 514 as well as several small metallic inclusions in silicate particles from Luna 20 thin sections 501 and 502 were examined using optical microscopy and the electron microprobe. All the metallic particles and inclusions analyzed are of meteoritic Co-Ni content as are most of the metallic particles from the Fra Mauro and the Apollo 16 highlands sites. It is proposed that most of the metal at these 3 sites had its origin in the meteoritic projectiles that bombarded and accumulated in the early lunar crust. It is apparent that the metallic particles and some of the metallic inclusions in the Luna 20 soil have been subjected to reheating on the moon and this process has removed any evidence of the original meteoritic microstructure of the metal.

Goldstein, J. I.↗

Metallic particles of high cobalt content in Apollo 15 soil samples.

Single phase alpha-kamacite containing more than 3.2 wt % Co and gamma-taenite containing from 30 to 60 wt % Ni from the Apollo 15 soils - 15031, 15071, 15081, 15261, and 15271 - have been examined by metallographic and electron microprobe techniques. In addition two phase alpha + gamma particles from soils 14003, 15071, 15261, and 15271 with Ni and Co contents well outside the meteoritic range have also been examined. Two distinct types of alpha-gamma structure occur, one analogous to 'clear taenite' in ordinary chondrites, and the other analogous to a 'Widmanstaetten' structure in Ni-rich ataxites. The measured Ni gradients in the two-phase particles are very similar to those meteorites having the same structure. However the Co content is much higher than the meteoritic samples, up to 12 wt % in the alpha phase. Approximate phase equilibria data for the Fe-Ni-Co system indicate equilibration of the two-phase particles during cooling to approximately 350 C. Estimates of cooling rates and second-phase growth times indicate that the maximum time necessary for the development of the high-Co two-phase structures is roughly 25 to 100 m.y. These estimates argue for the development of the two-phase structures during formation of the lunar crust, at a depth of 10 to 20 km beneath the moon's surface.

Axon, H. J.↗

Temperature-time relationships from lunar two phase metallic particles /14310, 14163, 14003/.

Electron-microprobe and metallographic techniques are applied in an analysis of individual phases in two-phase metallic alpha + gamma particles and phosphide-metal particles separated magnetically or mechanically from three lunar soil samples. The interface equilibrium temperatures of the two-phase particles during their lunar residence are inferred from experimental Fe-Ni and Fe-Ni-P equilibrium diagrams. Times of equilibration are determined in some cases.

Axon, H. J.↗

The effect of phosphorus on the formation of the Widmanstaetten pattern in iron meteorites.

Use of a combination of a revised Fe-Ni-P phase diagram and laboratory cooling experiments on Fe-Ni-P alloys to determine the effect of P on the formation of the Widmanstaetten pattern. From the phase diagram results, two reaction paths were found for the formation of kamacite (1) gamma (taenite) yields alpha (kamacite) + gamma (taenite) and (2) gamma yields gamma + Ph /phosphide, (FeNi)3P/ yields alpha + gamma + Ph. The reaction path gamma yields alpha + gamma is preferred at low P contents, while at higher P contents and at Ni contents greater than 7.0 wt.%, the reaction path gamma yields gamma + Ph yields alpha + gamma + Ph controls the formation of kamacite. Above 7 wt.% Ni, the effect of P on the equilibrium nucleation temperature of kamacite is quite small, less than about plus or minus 30 C with respect to the Fe-Ni binary diagram. The addition of P (greater than 0.1 wt.%) to meteorites promotes nucleation of kamacite at higher temperatures and effectively lowers the amount of undercooling necessary to nucleate kamacite homogeneously. Ni has just the opposite effect, decreasing the temperature of nucleation and increasing the amount of undercooling. It is concluded that significant amounts of undercooling, 50 to 100 C, are necessary for the nucleation of the Widmanstaetten structure in meteorites, and that chemical equilibrium is maintained in the various phases of slowly cooled iron meteorites to 650 C and probably to 600 C.

Goldstein, J. I.↗

Metallic particles in the Apollo 14 lunar soil.

The metallographic structures, silicate associations and bulk compositions (Ni, Co, P, S, and Si) were determined by microprobe analysis for 205 metal particles selected by magnetic separation from the less than 1 mm, greater than 125 micron fraction of soil samples 14003,18 and 14163,165. A small number of exotic particles were encountered but almost all the metal could be accommodated within one of four subpopulations, the characteristics and genetic significance of which may be stated as follows: (1) the major proportion has Ni and Co contents corresponding to the range of meteoritic metal; (2) small proportion (about 5%) that not only has meteoritic contents of Ni and Co but also shows still distinguishable indications of meteoritic microstructure; (3) another small population (about 10%) consists of metal excavated from lunar mare basalts by cratering events, and thrown onto the Apollo 14 site; and (4) metallic spheroids (about 5%), analogous to those encountered in the vicinity of the Barringer Meteorite Crater, Arizona.

Goldstein, J. I.↗

Metallographic and electron-microprobe studies of returned lunar samples with significant amounts of metallic Fe-Ni

Metal particles from the Apollo 11 and 12 soil are both meteoritic and lunar in origin. In the Apollo 12 soil, most of the metal particles are meteoritic, based on their Ni-Co contents. On the other hand, there is a much smaller proportion of meteoritic metal among the metallic inclusions in the lunar soil particles. The structures and compositions of the phases present in many of the remelted metal particles indicate either slow cooling or a reheating of those samples on the moon's surface in the 500-600 C temperature range for a year or more. Most of the meteoritic particles studied were probably originally pieces of chondrites.

Goldstein, J. I.↗