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Fluid Inclusions in Extraterrestrial Samples Fact or Fiction?

Over the years there have been numerous reports of liquid inclusions in meteorites. Roedder reviews the reported occurrences of liquid inclusions in meteorites and states that "silicate-melt inclusions are expectable and apparently ubiquitous, but the presence of actual liquid inclusions (i.e., with moving bubbles at room temperature) would seem almost impossible." The reason for this conclusion is that meteorites (presumably) form in space at high temperatures and very low pressures where liquid water (or carbon dioxide) is not stable. Perhaps the most infamous report of fluid inclusions in meteorites was that of Warner et al. In that study, the authors reported the presence of two-phase, liquid-vapor inclusions in a diogenite from Antarctica. This report of fluid inclusions generated considerable interest in the meteorite community, and caused many to question existing models for the origin of the diogenites. This interest was short-lived however, as later investigations of the same samples showed that the inclusions were most likely artifacts. Rudnick et al. showed that many of the inclusions in meteorites prepared at the Johnson Space Center contained a fluid that fluoresced strongly under the laser beam on the Raman microprobe. They interpreted this to indicate that the inclusions contained Almag oil used in the preparation of thin sections. Presumably, the Almag oil entered empty vesicles along fractures that were opened intermittently during cutting. Here, the occurrence of unambiguous fluid inclusions that could not have been introduced during sample preparation are described in samples from two different extraterrestrial environments. One environment is represented by the SNC (martian) meteorites ALH 84001 and Nakhla. The second environment is represented by the Monahans 1998 meteorite that fell recently in the USA.

Bodnar, R. J.↗

Ceramic Inclusions In Powder Metallurgy Disk Alloys: Characterization and Modeling

Powder metallurgy alloys are increasingly used in gas turbine engines, especially as the material chosen for turbine disks. Although powder metallurgy materials have many advantages over conventionally cast and wrought alloys (higher strength, higher temperature capability, etc.), they suffer from the rare occurrence of ceramic defects (inclusions) that arise from the powder atomization process. These inclusions can have potentially large detrimental effect on the durability of individual components. An inclusion in a high stress location can act as a site for premature crack initiation and thereby considerably reduce the fatigue life. Because these inclusions are exceedingly rare, they usually don't reveal themselves in the process of characterizing the material for a particular application (the cumulative volume of the test bars in a fatigue life characterization is typically on the order of a single actual component). Ceramic inclusions have, however, been found to be the root cause of a number of catastrophic engine failures. To investigate the effect of these inclusions in detail, we have undertaken a study where a known population of ceramic particles, whose composition and morphology are designed to mimic the 'natural' inclusions, are added to the precursor powder. Surface connected inclusions have been found to have a particularly large detrimental effect on fatigue life, therefore the volume of ceramic 'seeds' added is calculated to ensure that a minimum number will occur on the surface of the fatigue test bars. Because the ceramic inclusions are irregularly shaped and have a tendency to break up in the process of extrusion and forging, a method of calculating the probability of occurrence and expected intercepted surface and embedded cross-sectional areas were needed. We have developed a Monte Carlo simulation to determine the distributions of these parameters and have verified the simulated results with observations of ceramic inclusions found in macro slices from extrusions and forgings. The ultimate goal of this study will be to use probabilistic methods to determine the reliability detriment that can be attributed to these ceramic inclusions.

Bonacuse, Pete↗

Experimental Simulation of Shock Reequilibration of Fluid Inclusions During Meteorite Impact

Fluid inclusions are microscopic volumes of fluid trapped within minerals as they precipitate. Fluid inclusions are common in terrestrial minerals formed under a wide array of geological settings from surface evaporite deposits to kimberlite pipes. While fluid inclusions in terrestrial rocks are the rule rather than the exception, only few fluid inclusion-bearing meteorites have been documented. The rarity of fluid inclusions in meteoritic material may be explained in two ways. First, it may reflect the absence of fluids (water?) on meteorite parent bodies. Alternatively, fluids may have been present when the rock formed, but any fluid inclusions originally trapped on the parent body were destroyed by the extreme P-T conditions meteorites often experience during impact events. Distinguishing between these two possibilities can provide significant constraints on the likelihood of life on the parent body. Just as textures, structures, and compositions of mineral phases can be significantly altered by shock metamorphism upon hypervelocity impact, fluid inclusions contained within component minerals may be altered or destroyed due to the high pressures, temperatures, and strain rates associated with impact events. Reequilibration may occur when external pressure-temperature conditions differ significantly from internal fluid isochoric conditions, and result in changes in fluid inclusion properties and/or textures. Shock metamorphism and fluid inclusion reequilibration can affect both the impacted target material and the meteoritic projectile. By examining the effects of shock deformation on fluid inclusion properties and textures we may be able to better constrain the pressure-temperature path experienced by shocked materials and also gain a clearer understanding of why fluid inclusions are rarely found in meteoritic samples.

Madden, M. E. Elwood↗

The crack-inclusion interaction problem

The general plane elastostatic problem of interaction between a crack and an inclusion is considered. The Green's functions for a pair of dislocations and a pair of concentrated body forces are used to generate the crack and the inclusion. Integral equations are obtained for a line crack and an elastic line inclusion having an arbitrary relative orientation and size. The nature of stress singularity around the end points of rigid and elastic inclusions is described and three special cases of this intersection problem are studied. The problem is solved for an arbitrary uniform stress state away from the crack-inclusion region. The nonintersecting crack-inclusion problem is considered for various relative size, orientation, and stiffness parameters, and the stress intensity factors at the ends of the inclusion and the crack are calculated. For the crack-inclusion intersection case, special stress intensity factors are defined and are calculated for various values of the parameters defining the relative size and orientation of the crack and the inclusion and the stiffness of the inclusion.

Xue-Hui, L.↗

The crack-inclusion interaction problem

The general plane elastostatic problem of interaction between a crack and an inclusion is considered. The Green's functions for a pair of dislocations and a pair of concentrated body forces are used to generate the crack and the inclusion. Integral equations are obtained for a line crack and an elastic line inclusion having an arbitrary relative orientation and size. The nature of stress singularity around the end points of rigid and elastic inclusions is described and three special cases of this intersection problem are studied. The problem is solved for an arbitrary uniform stress state away from the crack-inclusion region. The nonintersecting crack-inclusion problem is considered for various relative size, orientation, and stiffness parameters, and the stress intensity factors at the ends of the inclusion and the crack are calculated. For the crack-inclusion intersection case, special stress intensity factors are defined and are calculated for various values of the parameters defining the relative size and orientation of the crack and the inclusion and the stiffness of the inclusion.

Liu, X.-H.↗

Chemical compositions of refractory inclusions from the Vigarano and Leoville carbonaceous chondrites

The contents of the major and the trace elements of three refractory inclusions from Leoville and two hibonite-rich refractory inclusions and a dark clast from Vigarano were investigated using INAA technique, and the results were compared with results reported for an Allende inclusion. It was found that two out of the three refractory inclusions from Leoville and both inclusions from Vigarano have lower Na and Au contents than the coarse-grained inclusion from Allende. It is shown that the concentrations of all volatile elements in refractory inclusions in the Leoville and Vigarano meteorites tend to be either below or at the low end of their concentration ranges in Allende coarse-grained inclusions. This is considered to be due to the fact that the former were altered in parts of the solar nebula where grain-bias separation processes removed the inclusions from chemical communication with the gas at a higher temperature or after a shorter time than for the inclusions from Allende.

Mao, Xue-Ying↗

Distribution of Inclusion-Initiated Fatigue Cracking in Powder Metallurgy Udimet 720 Characterized

In the absence of extrinsic surface damage, the fatigue life of metals is often dictated by the distribution of intrinsic defects. In powder metallurgy (PM) alloys, relatively large defects occur rarely enough that a typical characterization with a limited number of small volume fatigue test specimens will not adequately sample inclusion-initiated damage. Counterintuitively, inclusion-initiated failure has a greater impact on the distribution in PM alloy fatigue lives because they tend to have fewer defects than their cast and wrought counterparts. Although the relative paucity of defects in PM alloys leads to higher mean fatigue lives, the distribution in observed lives tends to be broader. In order to study this important failure initiation mechanism without expending an inordinate number of specimens, a study was undertaken at the NASA Glenn Research Center where known populations of artificial inclusions (seeds) were introduced to production powder. Fatigue specimens were machined from forgings produced from the seeded powder. Considerable effort has been expended in characterizing the crack growth rate from inclusion-initiated cracks in seeded PM alloys. A rotating and translating positioning system, with associated software, was devised to map the surface inclusions in low-cycle fatigue (LCF) test bars and to monitor the crack growth from these inclusions. The preceding graph illustrates the measured extension in fatigue cracks from inclusions on a seeded LCF test bar subjected to cyclic loading at a strain range of 0.8 percent and a strain ratio (max/min) of zero. Notice that the observed inclusions fall into three categories: some do not propagate at all (arrest), some propagate with a decreasing crack growth rate, and a few propagate at increasing rates that can be modeled by fracture mechanics. The following graph shows the measured inclusion-initiated crack growth rates from 10 interrupted LCF tests plotted against stress intensities calculated for semi-elliptical cracks with the observed surface lengths. The expected scatter in the crack growth rates for stress intensity ranges near threshold is observed. These data will be used to help determine the distribution in growth rates of cracks emanating from inclusions as well as the proportion of cracks that arrest under various loading conditions.

Bonacuse, Peter J.↗

Effectiveness of Shot Peening In Suppressing Fatigue Cracking At Non-Metallic Inclusions In Udimet(Registered Trademark)720

The fatigue lives of modern powder metallurgy disk alloys can be reduced over an order of magnitude by cracking at inherent non-metallic inclusions. The objective of this work was to study the effectiveness of shot peening in suppressing LCF crack initiation and growth at surface nonmetallic inclusions. Inclusions were carefully introduced at elevated levels during powder metallurgy processing of the nickel-base disk superalloy Udimet 720. Multiple strain-controlled fatigue tests were then performed on machined specimens with and without shot peened test sections at 427 C and 650 C. The low cycle fatigue lives and failure initiation sites varied as functions of inclusion content, shot peening, and fatigue conditions. A large majority of the failures in as-machined specimens with the introduced inclusions occurred at cracks initiating from inclusions intersecting the specimen surface. These inclusions reduced fatigue life by up to 100X, when compared to lives of material without inclusions residing at specimen surface. Large inclusions produced the greatest reductions in life for tests at low strain ranges and high strain ratios. Shot peening improved life in many cases by reducing the most severe effects of inclusions.

Barrie, Robert L.↗

A Transmission Electron Microscopy Study of a Refractory Metal Grain from a Calcium-Aluminum-Rich Inclusion in the Leoville CV3 Chondrite

Introduction: Calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) are an important component of chondritic meteorites. They can contain materials that are thermodynamically predicted and isotopically age dated to be among the first-formed solids in our solar system [1-5]. Observed in some CAIs are micron to sub-micron sized inclusions rich in Fe, Ni, and high-Z elements such as Pt, Os, Ir and W, in the form of refractory metal nuggets (RMNs), fremdlinges, and ‘nugget like objects’ (NLOs) [1,6]. Refractory siderophile elements such as Os, Ir and Ru are thermodynamically predicted to condense at temperatures well in excess of the major CAI phases such as melilite, perovskite, spinel and hibonite [2,7-9]. These refractory metal inclusions in CAIs can therefore serve as probes into the thermodynamic landscape of the early solar protoplanetary disk. Here we report on a refractory grain identified in a CAI of the Leoville CV3 chondrite. This work is part of an ongoing effort to gain insight into the thermochemistry of the early solar system through systematic analyses of the structure and chemistry of various components in CAIs [10-13]. Sample and Analytical Techniques: A fluffy type A CAI (Fig. 1A) was identified in a section of the Leoville, CV3 chondrite (Center for Meteorite Studies, Arizona State University collection, #821_C_3) using a JOEL-JXA 8530F electron microprobe at Arizona State University. Backscattered electron (BSE) imaging and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) were used to identify refractory metal grains in the CAI using a Thermo Fisher (formerly FEI) Helios NanoLab 660 G3 focused-ion-beam scanning-electron microscope (FIBSEM) located at the Kuiper Materials Imaging and Characterization Facility (KMICF) at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona. The FIB is equipped with an EDAX EDS system. We selected one of the larger (micron-sized) refractory metal grains, designated as ‘Spud’ (Fig. 1B) for further analysis. ‘Spud’ was extracted and thinned to electron transparency (<100 nm) using the FIB-SEM located in KMICF, following methods described by [14- 15]. The FIB section was analyzed using a 200 keV Hitachi HF5000 scanning transmission electron microscope (S/TEM) located at KMICF. The HF5000 is equipped with cold-field emission gun, 3rd-order spherical aberration corrector for STEM imaging, and an Oxford Instruments X-Max N 100 TLE energydispersive spectroscopy (EDS) system with dual 100 mm2 windowless silicon-drift detectors (Ω = 2.0 sr). Selected-area electron-diffraction (SAED) patterns were acquired to aid in determination of crystallinity and phase. Results: The mineralogy, texture, and morphology of the CAI are consistent with that of a fluffy type A (FTA) CAI [16]. BSE imaging at high magnifications revealed grains with high contrast, indicative of compositions rich in elements of higher atomic number relative to surrounding material. These high-Z grains have sizes that range from ∼250 nm to 4 µm. EDS analyses confirm that the bright grains are metal-rich inclusions. A minor fraction of the grains are composed of only Fe and Ni, but the majority (∼60%) of the identified inclusions also contained various refractory siderophiles including Os, Ru, Zr, Ir and Mo. EDS analysis on the FIB-SEM of Spud shows that it contains Fe, Ni, Mo and Ru. High-angle annular dark-field (HAAFD) imaging and EDS mapping in the TEM (Fig. 2) show that Spud occurs in melilite (Ca1.9Al1.99Si1.06O7). Spud contains a subhedral to anhedral morphology and is compositionally heterogenous (polyphasic, Fig. 2). Local spatial correlation occurs among Fe, Ni, and Pt, and also among Os, Ru, and Mo. SAED patterns show that the Fe-Ni-Pt, Fe-Os-Mo-Ru and Fe-Pt regions are crystalline. Discussion: CAIs can contain various types of inclusions rich in Fe, Ni and refractory siderophiles such as Os, Ru, W and Pt [1]. RMNs are micron-sized, single phase alloy grains and can contain Os, Ir, Ru and Rh [1,7,17]. NLOs are also micron-sized inclusions, but contain two phases, a refractory metal, and an oxide [6]. Fremdlinge are the largest of such inclusions (tens of microns in size) and are complex aggregates of Fe-Ni alloy, silicates, oxides, and sulfides [1,17]. While the size of Spud matches previous descriptions of RMNs and NLOs, Spud is neither a single-phase alloy like RMNs, nor does it contain one metal phase and one oxide like NLOs. Spud does not match the above described categories of refractory metal inclusions. The presence of refractory siderophiles such as Mo, Os, Ru, and Pt suggests a high-temperature origin. Thermodynamic modelling by [7] indicates condensation temperatures of 1917 K, 1693 K, 1613 K and 1415 K for Os, Mo, Ru and Pt respectively. These models also show that following the initial condensation of a refractory metal, alloying of solutes such as Fe, Ni and W, occurs in levels proportional to their partial pressures in the surrounding gas. Such alloying occurs at temperatures above the condensation temperatures of common CAI phases such as melilite (1529 K), perovskite (1441 K), spinel (197 K) and forsterite (1354 K) [2]. The polyphasic nature of Spud could be the result of such high-temperature alloying, possibly shortly after the condensation of Mo and Ru at 1693 K and 1613 K respectively. That Spud occurs as an inclusion is consistent with it having formed prior to and at temperature above that of its host melilite in this FTA CAI, which is qualitatively consistent with such prior thermodynamic modeling. Further, the polyphasic nature of Spud is similar to refractory grains from a FTA CAI in the Northwest Africa (NWA) 8323, CV3 chondrite [11-13]. These data suggest that such refractory metal grains could have been widespread in the inner and early solar protoplanetary disk and represent some of the earliest formed solids to have condensed. Acknowledgments: Research and instrumentation supported by NASA grants #NNX12AL47G, #NNX15AJ22G and #80NSSC19K0509, and NSF grants #1531243 and #0619599. Fig 2. STEM data on ‘Spud’. HAADF Image (Top) False-color EDS Maps (Bottom) References: [1] MacPherson G. J. (2014) T. of Geochem. Vol I: Met. And Cosmochem. Processes, 139-179. [2] Lodders K. (2003) ApJ, 591, 1220-1247. [3] Ebel D. S. (2006) Met. & the Early S. Sys. II., 253- 277. [4] Amelin Y. (2002) Science, 297, 1678-1683. [5] Connelly J.N. et.al. (2012) Science, 338, 651-655. [6] Schwander D. et al. (2015) GCA, 18, 70-87. [7] Palme H. and Wlotzka F. (1976) EPSL, 33, 45-60. [8] Berg T. et al. (2009) ApJ, 702, 172-176. [9] Liffman K. et al. (2021) Icarus, 221, 89-105. [10] Zega T.J. et al. (2021) PSJ, 2, 115. [11] Ramprasad T. et al. (2020) LPSC LI, Abstract #2472. [12] Ramprasad T. et al. (2021) Microscopy & Microanalysis, S1, 2792-2794. [13] Ramprasad T. et al. (2021) 84th MetSoc, Abstract #6123. [14] Zega T.J. et al. (2007) MAPS, 42, 1373-1386. [15] Ramprasad T. et al. (2022) MAPS, in revision. [16] Grossman L. (1975), GCA, 39, 433-454. [17] El Goresy A. et al. (1978) LPSC IX, Abstract#1100

T. Ramprasad↗

The effects of carbonaceous inclusions and their distributions on dynamic failure processes in boron carbide ceramics

Commercially available boron carbide ceramics typically have heterogeneous microstructures that contain distributions of processing-induced inclusions. The inclusions that are rich in carbon (i.e., carbonaceous) govern the underlying mechanisms of brittle fracture through wing crack formation, and thus dictate the mechanical response of the ceramic. In this study, we investigate the dynamic failure of five boron carbide ceramic materials with different inclusion populations. All of the materials were prepared by hot-pressing; four of these boron carbides contained different sizes and concentrations of carbonaceous inclusions, while one contained no carbonaceous inclusions. The heterogeneity distributions were characterized in some detail for statistical analysis using scanning electron microscopy and quantitative image analysis. A modified compression Kolsky bar setup with in situ ultra-high-speed microscopic imaging (10 million frames per second) was then used to study the influence of the inclusion distributions on the dynamic failure processes in these materials, at nominal high strain rates of 10 2 -10 3 s -1 . The in situ ultra-high-speed microscopy highlighted the link between micro and macroscale failure processes and demonstrated that the carbonaceous inclusions are indeed the preferential sites for nucleation of wing cracks, as previously hypothesized based on post-mortem observations. The relative orientation of an inclusion with respect to the compression axis was shown to affect the likelihood that it would participate in crack nucleation. In conclusion, all of the ceramics were also found to have orientation-dependent peak compressive stress, regardless of the presence of carbonaceous inclusions, suggesting that grain orientation distributions are also important.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Physical Education Teachers’ Representations of Their Training to Promote the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities

School inclusion is based on the need to adopt and implement a holistic view of education, training, and human development embodied in the idea of everyone, for everyone. In the context of Physical Education (PE), there are still several constraints to the realization of this universal desideratum. Among these, teacher training and qualification for the inclusion of students with Specific Health Needs (SHNs) stands out. That is, students with physical and mental health problems whose impact is significantly manifested in the learning process. Thus, the objective of this study was to identify the representations of PE teachers about their training to develop inclusive processes with students with SES. Participants in this study were 151 PE teachers from different regions and districts of Portugal (Algarve, Aveiro, Castelo Branco, Lisbon, Porto, and Viseu) who had 23.6 ± 8.1 years of teaching service. Teachers answered an online questionnaire, on the Google Forms platform, with open and closed questions about their education and training to develop inclusive processes in PE. The results indicate two significant dimensions: (1) initial training for teaching inclusive PE and (2) continuous training for inclusion. Regarding initial training, a large majority of the teachers under study, at the end of their initial training, did not have the essential skills to teach PE to students with SES. It was also identified that a large majority reported not having had any contact with students with SES throughout their training process for teaching. It was also recognized that this training was not adjusted to the development of intervention skills with students with SHN. Regarding continuous training, it was identified that attendance at this training increased their skills to teach PE to students with SHN. Workshops/actions/training courses are the main training models adopted. However, it is recognized that the training provided does not respond concretely to their training needs to intervene with students with SHN, since teachers essentially seek to improve intervention in the context of inclusive physical education. We conclude that teacher training for inclusion is not yet fully adjusted to the reality of the inclusive school paradigm. In this sense, in practical terms, the following are suggested: (1) the need for reinforcement in study plans with specific and long-term curricular units; (2) the introduction of real practice components in context; and (3) supervised pedagogical practice in diverse contexts.

Celestino, Tadeu (ORCID:0000000163087981)↗

Shock Re-equilibration of Fluid Inclusions

Fluid inclusions (microscopic volumes of fluid trapped within minerals as they precipitate) are extremely common in terrestrial minerals formed under a wide range of geological conditions from surface evaporite deposits to kimberlite pipes. While fluid inclusions in terrestrial rocks are nearly ubiquitous, only a few fluid inclusion-bearing meteorites have been documented. The scarcity of fluid inclusions in meteoritic materials may be a result of (a) the absence of fluids when the mineral was formed on the meteorite parent body or (b) the destruction of fluid inclusions originally contained in meteoritic materials by subsequent shock metamorphism. However, the effects of impact events on pre-existing fluid inclusions trapped in target and projectile rocks has received little study. Fluid inclusions trapped prior to the shock event may be altered (re-equilibrated) or destroyed due to the high pressures, temperatures, and strain rates associated with impact events. By examining the effects of shock deformation on fluid inclusion properties and textures we may be able to better constrain the pressure-temperature path experienced by terrestrial and meteoritic shocked materials and also gain a clearer understanding of why fluid inclusions are rarely found in meteorite samples.

Madden, M. E. Elwood↗

Effectiveness of Shot Peening in Suppressing Fatigue Cracking at Non-Metallic Inclusions in Udimet(trademark) 720

The fatigue lives of modern powder metallurgy disk alloys can be reduced by over an order of magnitude by surface cracking at inherent non-metallic inclusions. The objective of this work was to study the effectiveness of shot peening in suppressing LCF crack initiation and growth at surface nonmetallic inclusions. Inclusions were carefully introduced at elevated levels during powder metallurgy processing of the nickel-base disk superalloy Udimet 720. Multiple strain-controlled fatigue tests were then performed on machined specimens at 427 and 650 C in peened and unpeened conditions. Analyses were performed to compare the low cycle fatigue lives and failure initiation sites as a function of inclusion content, shot peening, and fatigue conditions. A large majority of the failures in as-machined specimens with introduced inclusions occurred at cracks initiating from inclusions intersecting the specimen surface. The inclusions could reduce fatigue life by up to 100X. Large inclusions had the greatest effect on life in tests at low strain ranges and high strain ratios. Shot peening can be used to improve life in these conditions by reducing the most severe effects of inclusions.

Barrie, Robert L.↗

Diversity in C-Xanes Spectra Obtained from Carbonaceous Solid Inclusions from Monahans Halite

Monahans meteorite (H5) contains fluid inclusion- bearing halite (NaCl) crystals [1]. Microthermometry and Raman spectroscopy showed that the fluid in the inclusions is an aqueous brine and they were trapped near 25degC [1]. Their continued presence in the halite grains requires that their incorporation into the H chondrite asteroid was post metamorphism [2]. Abundant solid inclusions are also present in the halites. The solid inclusions include abundant and widely variable organics [2]. Analyses by Raman microprobe, SEM/EDX, synchrotron X-ray diffraction and TEM reveal that these grains include macromolecular carbon similar in structure to CV3 chondrite matrix carbon, aliphatic carbon compounds, olivine (Fo99−59), high- and low-Ca pyroxene, feldspars, magnetite, sulfides, lepidocrocite, carbonates, diamond, apatite and possibly the zeolite phillipsite [3]. Here we report organic analyses of these carbonaceous residues in Monahans halite using C-, N-, and O- X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES). Samples and Methods: Approximately 100 nm-thick sections were extracted with a focused ion beam (FIB) at JSC from solid inclusions from Monahans halite. The sections were analyzed using the scanning transmission X-ray microscope (STXM) on beamline 5.3.2.2 at the Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for XANES spectroscopy. Results and Discussion: C-XANES spectra of the solid inclusions show micrometer-scale heterogeneity, indicating that the macromolecular carbon in the inclusions have complex chemical variations. C-XANES features include 284.7 eV assigned to aromatic C=C, 288.4-288.8 eV assigned to carboxyl, and 290.6 eV assigned to carbonate. The carbonyl features obtained by CXANES might have been caused by the FIB used in sample preparation. No specific N-XANES features are observed. The CXANES spectra obtained from several areas in the FIB sections include type 1&2 chondritic IOM like, type 3 chondritic IOM like, and none of the above. The natures of the macromolecular carbon in the solid inclusions observed by C-XANES are consistent with the previous studies showing that the carbonaceous solid inclusions have not originated from Monahans parent body [1-3], and have various origins, including various chondritic meteorite parent bodies as well as other unknown source(s).

Kebukawa, Y.↗

Cumberland Falls chondritic inclusions - Mineralogy/petrology of a forsterite chondrite suite

The mineralogy and petrology of a suite of chondritic inclusions from the Cumberland Falls aubrite are investigated in order to clarify the relation of the inclusions to each other, forsterite chondrites, and the aubrites. Thin sections of nine chondritic inclusions and the achondritic matrix of Cumberland Falls were examined in reflected light, then analyzed for up to 12 elements by electron microprobe techniques. Minerals detected in abundant quantities include low-Ca pyroxene, olivine, plagioclase, kamacite, taenite, schreibersite, troilite, ferroan alabandite and daubreelite; diospide, oldhamite and a Ti-rich sulfide are found in one or two inclusions. The mineralogic compositions indicate similar degrees of reduction for the inclusions in the Cumberland Falls meteorites and in four meteorites identified as forsterite chondrites (Kakangari, Mt. Morris, Pontlyfni and Winona). The inclusions are found to be of a primitive composition, corresponding to petrological types 2 or 3, while the identification of jadeitic pyroxene in nearly all inclusions indicates a substantial degree of shock. The results suggest that the inclusions formed from nebular material that condensed and accreted over a broad redox range, and experienced tertiary shock in a collision with an enstatite meteorite in which the Cumberland Falls meteorite formed.

Neal, C. W.↗

Fluid inclusions in stony meteorites - A cautionary note

Newly discovered fluid inclusions in thin sections of Bjurbole chondrules, shergottite EETA79001, lunar meteorite ALHA81005, and Apollo 16 glasses possess physical properties similar to those of fluid inclusions found in thin sections of five stony meteorites recently described by Warner et al. (1983). The distribution and physical properties of these new fluid inclusions indicate they may be artifacts of thin section preparation; it is suggested that saw coolant was sucked into vacuum vesicles in glasses and minerals through submicroscopic fractures produced during sawing. The similarities between these fluid inclusions and fluid inclusions previously described by Warner et al. (1983) indicate that many of the fluid inclusions reported earlier may be artifacts. Consequently, the origin of any fluid inclusions observed in thin sections of extraterrestrial materials must be interpreted with caution. The most probable true extraterrestrial fluid inclusions are those that have been observed in grains prepared without exposure to liquids of any kind.

Rudnick, R. L.↗

Presolar isotopic and chemical signatures in hibonite-bearing refractory inclusions from the Murchison carbonaceous chondrite

The mineralogy and the major-element composition of phases within individual hibonite-bearing inclusions were determined, using SEM with EDAX analysis, for 37 hibonite-bearing inclusions which comprised 26 spinel-hibonite-perovskite inclusions, ten platy hibonite crystal fragments, and one blue hibonite aggregate. Results from all inclusions studied indicated the presence of correlations in hibonite isotopic systematics and chemistry. Namely, no inclusion had both a large Ti-50 anomaly and radiogenic Mg-26, and inclusions that were depleted in the ultrarefractory elements had radiogenic Mg-26 with the exception of those which a had a large Ti-50 anomaly. These features establish a relationship between chemical and isotopic characteristics of the inclusions which must predate their formation. It is suggested that depletions in ultrarefractory elements observed in these inclusions may be a memory of stellar condensation and are not necessarily related to a condensation event in the solar nebula.

Ireland, Trevor R.↗

Trace element compositions of spinel-rich refractory inclusions from the Murchison meteorite

Three spinel-rich, perovskite-bearing, pyroxene-rimmed, hibonite-free inclusions from the Murchison C2 chondrite have volatility controlled, modified group II REE patterns. Two have high Eu/Yb ratios, two have small positive Ce anomalies and one has high refractory siderophiles for a group II inclusion. Two additional spinel-rich inclusions have subchondritic Ce/La ratios and negative Eu and Yb anomalies, the Eu anomalies being larger than the Yb ones. One of these inclusions is enriched in La relative to all HREE and the other is enriched in HREE relative to all LREE except La, possibly suggesting the presence of an ultrarefractory component in the latter. One hibonite-rich inclusion has a group III REE pattern with a negative Ce anomaly. A calcium dialuminate-bearing inclusion known to have crystallized from a melt at 2100-1800K has a modified group II REE pattern, rather than a pattern which would be predicted from the evaporation expected from such a droplet, e.g., a group III or ultrarefractory pattern. Volatile element contents of these inclusions are among the lowest found in any refractory inclusions.

Yoneda, S.↗