Engineering Papers⌕ Search

Engineering topics

Wasson, J. T.

Publications and source records attributed to Wasson, J. T..

At least 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1972

Trace element studies of rocks and soils from Oceanus Procellarum and Mare Tranquillitatis

Neutron activation data on Zn, Ga, Ge, Cd, In and Ir are reported for six rocks and two soils from the Apollo 12 mission. Comparison of these and similar data for Apollo 11 samples indicates extralunar components in the 12070 and 10084 soils of about 1.0 and 1.1% expressed in terms of an assumed composition which is the same as the water-free portion of C1 chondrites. A relationship between the integrated flux of extralunar material and the increase in concentration of such material in the fines of the lunar regolith is derived. Apollo 12 rocks have concentrations of Zn, Ge, Cd, In and possibly Ir which are lower by factors of 60 or more, relative to terrestrial basalts. A mechanism is proposed for the late accretion of volatile-rich materials, including comets, in which a primitive terrestrial atmosphere is invoked to explain the significantly higher concentrations of such substances on the earth.

Baedecker, P. A.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Parent-body models for the formation of iron meteorites.

The iron meteorites appear to have formed by both igneous and non-igneous processes in asteroid-sized parent bodies. Evidence regarding the IIIA-IIIB irons (the most common iron meteorite group) favors their having originated as a central core, which experienced fractional crystallization during solidification. A reevaluation of available data does not confirm earlier reports of variable cooling rates within group IIIA. Members of group IA-IB contain chondritic silicates, have short I-Xe formation intervals and do not show evidence of fractional crystallization. They appear to have formed nonigneously by inhomogeneous agglomeration and accretion of solar nebular condensates.

Wasson, J. T.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Provenance of Apollo 12 KREEP.

Possible origins of KREEP in Apollo 12 lunar samples are evaluated in terms of their probabilities. Preference is given to the assumption that the KREEP may be a mixture of roughly equal proportions of (1) ejecta from Copernicus, (2) ejecta from Reinhold, (3) ejecta from local highlands, and (4) material excavated from Fra Mauro deposits buried below the landing site.

Wasson, J. T.↗
NASA NTRS1972

The extralunar component in lunar soils and breccias.

Concentrations of Ni, Zn, Ga, Ge, Cd, In, and Ir in soils and breccias returned by Apollo 14 and Apollo 15 are reported. The integrated flux of extralunar material at each lunar landing site is estimated on the basis of the siderophilic elements Ni, Ge, Ir, and Au. It falls with time between 3.95 and 3.26 g.y. before the present. The flux versus time relationship indicated by the trace element data is consistent with estimates of the same relationship based on crater statistics and morphologies, as would be expected if the same populations of interplanetary objects were responsible for both properties. The data are consistent with the presence of two populations of material bombarding the moon early in its history, one with a short half-life that was dominant until about 3.8 g.y. ago, and another with a half-life of about 2.0 g.y. that dominated during the more recent era.

Baedecker, P. A.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Relationship between siderophilic-element content and oxidation state of ordinary chondrites.

The concentrations of Ni and Ir have been determined by neutron activation in a suite of ordinary chondrites for which accurate ferromagnesian-mineral compositional data were available. Although hiatus between the individual groups exist, the trends within the groups are in keeping with the hypothesis that the ordinary chondrites form a continuous fractionation sequence. A significant negative correlation is observed between the abundance of Ni or Ir and the Fe content of the ferromagnesian minerals in the H and L groups, and for Ir in the LL group, as expected if the metal-silicate fractionation and the variation in oxidation states were produced by the same or related processes. The Ir/Ni ratio decreases by a factor of 1.2 between the H and LL groups. This fractionation must have occurred at an early stage in the condensation phase of the solar nebula.

Mueller, O.↗
NASA NTRS1971

On the origin of lunar soil 12033

Lunar soil 12033 bulk chemical analysis, suggesting mixture of exotic component with local soil in 41/59 proportion

Beadecker, P. A.↗