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At least 451 records · Page 25
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1987

Evidence for variations in magma production along oceanic spreading centers - A critical appraisal

Recent geologic, geophysical, and geochemical studies of the oceanic lithosphere near fracture zones have resulted in the proposal that the 'magma budget,' defined as the amount of magma delivered to magma chambers or conduits beneath a spreading center for a given amount of spreading, decreases as fracture zones are approached. Seismic reflection and refraction studies indicate that the crust becomes anomalously thin near fracture zones, but reference must be made to the boundary between residual upper mantle peridotites and overlying cumulate rocks in order to assess potential variations in the magma budget. The position of this interface, however, generally is not constrained by geophysical studies. Geochemical variations in basaltic glasses collected near fracture zones are consistent with a decrease in partial melting as fracture zones are approached, but they could also be produced by variations in open-system magmatic processes with no change in the extent of partial melting. Although a decrease in the magma budget as fracture zones are approached is consistent with these data, so are alternative models that incorporate a constant magma budget.

Karson, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Evidence for variations in magma production along oceanic spreading centers - A critical appraisal

Recent studies of the oceanic lithosphere near fracture zones have resulted in the proposal that the 'magma budget', defined as the amount of magma delivered to magma chambers or conduits beneath a spreading center for a given amount of spreading, decreases as fracture zones are approached. Geochemical variations in basaltic glasses collected near fracture zones are consistent with a decrease in partial melting as fracture zones are approached, but they could also be produced by variations in open-system magmatic processes with no change in the extent of partial melting. Although a decrease in the magma budget as fracture zones are approached is consistent with these data, so are alternative models that incorporate a constant magma budget.

Karson, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1990

A SIMS study of lunar 'komatiitic glasses' - Trace element characteristics and possible origin

In Apollo 16 regolith breccias, Wentworth and McKay (1988) identified a suite of minute (less than 120 microns) 'komatiitic glass beads'. The wide major element compositional range, and ultra-Mg-prime character of the glasses suggest a variety of possible origins from complex impact processes to complex volcanic processes involving rather unusual and primitive magmatism. The extent of trace element depletion or enrichment in these glasses appears to be correlated to the siderophile character of the element (ionization potential or experimentally determined silicate melt/Fe metal partition coefficients. The ultra-Mg-prime glasses are depleted in Co relative to a bulk Moon Mg/Co exhibited by many lunar samples (volcanic glasses, basalts, regolith breccia, estimated upper mantle). The low Co and high incompatible element concentrations diminish the possibility that these glasses are a product of lunar komatiitic volcanism or impact, excavation, and melting of a very high Mg-prime plutonic unit.

Shearer, C. K.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Polyimides Containing Amide And Perfluoroisopropyl Links

New polyimides synthesized from reactions of aromatic hexafluoroisopropyl dianhydrides with asymmetric amide diamines. Soluble to extent of at least 10 percent by weight at temperature of about 25 degrees C in common amide solvents such as N-methylpyrrolidone, N,N-dimethylacetamide, and N,N-dimethylformamide. Polyimides form tough, flexible films, coatings, and moldings. Glass-transition temperatures ranged from 300 to 365 degrees C, and crystalline melting temperatures observed between 543 and 603 degrees C. Display excellent physical, chemical, and electrical properties. Useful as adhesives, laminating resins, fibers, coatings for electrical and decorative purposes, films, wire enamels, and molding compounds.

Dezem, James F.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Vapor Deposition and Solar Wind Implantation on Lunar Soil-Grain Surfaces as Comparable Processes

Vapor deposited patinas (VDP) on lunar soil grains consist of a thin (less than 1 micron) layer of amorphous silicate (glass) embedded with nanoscale Fe(sup 0) globules as seen in many TEM images. VDPs are also present on larger space-weathered lunar rocks; these larger samples will not be discussed here although the process of vapor deposition is common to exposed grains of all sizes. Whether or not the majority of the Fe(sup 0) globules present in lunar soils reside in vapor deposited patina is a matter of some concern. Some Fe(sup 0) globules are clearly seen to reside within the glass of agglutinates and might represent remobilized Fe(sup 0) in agglutinitic melts. remobilized Fe(sup 0) in agglutinitic melts. We argue that because VDP coatings are present only on the surfaces of lunar soil grains, their distribution as a surface correlated component (SCC) of lunar soils should parallel those of Solar Wind Elements (SWE) implanted in the outermost rinds of lunar soil grains. SWE residing in the interior of soils grains make up the volume correlated component (VCC). Relative to Fe(sup 0) in VDP, the distribution of various SWE have been studied well. The reason is understandable because instrumentation for nanoscale imaging is not ubiquitous. In this study we use the distribution of SWE in lunar soils as a guide to understanding the fate of Fe(sup 0) in VDP.

Basu, A.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Ar-Ar Dating of Martian Meteorite, Dhofar 378: An Early Shock Event?

Martian meteorite, Dhofar 378 (Dho378) is a basaltic shergottite from Oman, weighing 15 g, and possessing a black fusion crust. Chemical similarities between Dho378 and the Los Angeles 001 shergottite suggests that they might have derived from the same Mars locale. The plagioclase in other shergottites has been converted to maskelenite by shock, but Dho378 apparently experienced even more intense shock heating, estimated at 55-75 GPa. Dho378 feldspar (approximately 43 modal %) melted, partially flowed and vesiculated, and then partially recrystallized. Areas of feldspathic glass are appreciably enriched in K, whereas individual plagioclases show a range in the Or/An ratio of approximately 0.18-0.017. Radiometric dating of martian shergottites indicate variable formation times of ~160-475 Myr, whereas cosmic ray exposure (CRE) ages of shergottites indicate most were ejected from Mars within the past few Myr. Most determined Ar-39-Ar-40 ages of shergottites appear older than other radiometric ages because of the presence of large amounts of martian atmosphere or interior Ar-40. Among all types of meteorites and returned lunar rocks, the impact event that initiated the CRE age very rarely reset the Ar-Ar age. This is because a minimum time and temperature is required to facilitate Ar diffusion loss. It is generally assumed that the shock-texture characteristics in martian meteorites were produced by the impact events that ejected the rocks from Mars, although the time of these shock events (as opposed to CRE ages) are not directly dated. Here we report Ar-39-Ar-40 dating of Dho378 plagioclase. We suggest that the determined age dates the intense shock heating event this meteorite experienced, but that it was not the impact that initiated the CRE age.

Park, J.↗
NASA NTRS2024

Measurements of Silicosis Factors in Lunar and Martian Simulants

Simulants are geologically complex materials that are developed to represent the physical and/or compositional characteristics of a planetary surface (e.g., a naturally occurring soil or regolith). There are dozens of commercially available simulants that have been developed over the years; each simulant exhibits unique physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics. Simulants are derived from either natural or synthetic sources (i.e., “feedstocks”) of glass, minerals, and rocks. These feedstock components are processed by crushing, pulverizing, melting, etc., and then combined in the appropriate proportions to represent a particular site, surface, or region (e.g., Lunar Highlands Regolith). The process of creating simulants therefore requires the mechanical breakdown and reincorporation of feedstock components which may contain crystalline silica minerals such as quartz, cristobalite, and tridymite. Certain crystalline silica particles of the respirable fraction (<10 μm in diameter) are of great concern; chronic and acute exposure to these respirable crystalline silica (RCS) can lead to permanent damage and scarring of lung tissue, incurable lung diseases (i.e., silicosis), lung cancer, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), and kidney disease. Planetary simulants are used extensively as test materials in the in scientific and engineering communities (e.g., testing of dust mitigation technologies, in-situ resource utilization, rover mobility, hardware, soft goods etc.). As such, this assessment was developed to serve as a guide for simulant users, local Safety and Occupational Health professionals, and Industrial Hygienists to evaluate the risk of silicosis across a wide variety of Lunar and Martian simulants. The goal of these works is to ensure that those working with simulant can do so safely and with an informed understanding of potential health risks.

Lunar↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Measurements of Silicosis Factors in Lunar and Martian Simulants

Simulants are geologically complex materials that are developed to represent the physical and/or compositional characteristics of a planetary surface (e.g., a naturally occurring soil or regolith). There are dozens of commercially available simulants that have been developed over the years; each simulant exhibits unique physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics. Simulants are derived from either natural or synthetic sources (i.e., “feedstocks”) of glass, minerals, and rocks. These feedstock components are processed by crushing, pulverizing, melting, etc., and then combined in the appropriate proportions to represent a particular site, surface, or region (e.g., Lunar Highlands Regolith). The process of creating simulants therefore requires the mechanical breakdown and reincorporation of feedstock components which may contain crystalline silica minerals such as quartz, cristobalite, and tridymite. Certain crystalline silica particles of the respirable fraction (<10 μm in diameter) are of great concern; chronic and acute exposure to these respirable crystalline silica (RCS) can lead to permanent damage and scarring of lung tissue, incurable lung diseases (i.e., silicosis), lung cancer, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), and kidney disease. Planetary simulants are used extensively as test materials in the in scientific and engineering communities (e.g., testing of dust mitigation technologies, in-situ resource utilization, rover mobility, hardware, soft goods etc.). As such, this assessment was developed to serve as a guide for simulant users, local Safety and Occupational Health professionals, and Industrial Hygienists to evaluate the risk of silicosis across a wide variety of Lunar and Martian simulants. The goal of these works is to ensure that those working with simulant can do so safely and with an informed understanding of potential health risks.

Lunar↗
NASA NTRS2006

Chromite-Plagioclase Assemblages as a New Shock Indicator; Implications for the Shock and Thermal Histories of Ordinary Chondrites

Chromite in ordinary chondrites (OC) can be used as a shock indicator. A survey of 76 equilibrated H, L and LL chondrites shows that unshocked chromite grains occur in equant, subhedral and rounded morphologies surrounded by silicate or intergrown with metallic Fe-Ni and/or troilite. Some unmelted chromite grains are fractured or crushed during whole-rock brecciation. Others are transected by opaque veins; the veins form when impacts cause localized heating of metal-troilite intergrowths above the Fe-FeS eutectic (988 C), mobilization of metal-troilite melts, and penetration of the melt into fractures in chromite grains. Chromite-plagioclase assemblages occur in nearly every shock-stage S3-S6 OC; the assemblages range in size from 20-300 microns and consist of 0.2-20-micron-size euhedral, subhedral, anhedral and rounded chromite grains surrounded by plagioclase or glass of plagioclase composition. Plagioclase has a low impedance to shock compression. Heat from shock-melted plagioclase caused adjacent chromite grains to melt; chromite grains crystallized from this melt. Those chromite grains in the assemblages that are completely surrounded by plagioclase are generally richer in Al2O3, than unmelted, matrix chromite grains in the same meteorite. Chromite veinlets (typically 0.5-2 microns thick and 10-300 microns long) occur typically in the vicinity of chromite-plagioclase assemblages. The veinlets formed from chromite-plagioclase melts that were injected into fractures in neighboring silicate grains; chromite crystallized in the fractures and the residual plagioclase-rich melt continued to flow, eventually pooling to form plagioclase-rich melt pockets. Chromite-rich chondrules (consisting mainly of olivine, plagioclase-normative mesostasis, and 5-15 vol.% chromite) occur in many shocked OC and OC regolith breccias but they are absent from primitive type-3 OC. They may have formed by impact melting chromite, plagioclase and adjacent mafic silicates during higher-energy shock events. The melt was jetted from the impact site and formed droplets due to surface tension. Crystallization of these droplets may have commenced in flight, prior to landing on the parent-body surface. Chromite-plagioclase assemblages and chromite veinlets occur in 25 out of 25 shock-stage S1 OC of petrologic type 5 and 6 that I examined. Although these rocks contain unstrained olivine with sharp optical extinction, most possess other shock indicators such as extensive silicate darkening, numerous occurrences of metallic Cu, polycrystalline troilite, and opaque veins. It seems likely that these rocks were shocked to levels at least as high as shock-stage S3 and then annealed by heat generated during the shock event. During annealing, the olivine crystal lattices healed but other shock indicators survived. Published Ar-Ar age data for some SI OC indicate that many shock and annealing events occurred very early in the history of the parent asteroids. The common occurrence of shocked and annealed OC is consistent with collisions being a major mechanism responsible for metamorphosing OC.

Rubin, Alan E.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Mechanical properties and morphology of poly(etheretherKetone)

Mechanical properties and morphology of poly(etheretherketone) (PEEK) were studied for samples having different thermal histories. Isothermal and rate-dependent crystallization were studied to ascertain the relationship between crystallinity/morphology and processing condition. Degree of crystallinity and microstructure were controlled by cooling the melt at different rates, ranging from quenching to slowly cooling, and by annealing amorphous material above the glass transition temperature Tg. It is found that degree of crystallinity was not as important as processing history in determining the room temperature mechanical properties. Samples with the same degree of crystallinity had very different tensile properties, depending on rate of cooling from the melt. All samples yielded by shear band formation and necked down. Quenched films had the largest breaking strains, drawing to 270 percent. Slowly cooled films exhibited ductile failure at relatively low strains. Best combined mechanical properties were obtained from semicrystalline films cooled at intermediate rates from the melt.

Cebe, Peggy↗
NASA NTRS1986

Crystal/liquid partitioning of REE in basaltic systems Extreme fractionation of REE in olivine

The calculation of partial coefficients for Nd, Sm, Gd, and Yb between olivine and synthetic basaltic melts using the percent level doping technique and microprobe analytical techniques is examined. The experimental and analytical procedures are described. The relationship between rare earth elements (REEs) concentrations and crystal margins caused by Rees X-rays from surrounding glass is discussed. Average olivine/liquid distribution coefficients for Nd, Sm, Gd, and Yb for mare and highlands basaltic melts are presented. The data reveal that the distribution coefficients for light REEs are lower than those obtained in previous studies, and the slope of the olivine/liquid distribution coefficient pattern is steeper; potential sources of error in the previous and present studies which could explain the differences in distribution coefficients and slope are investigated.

Mckay, G. A.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Compositional and Geochronological Constraints on the Lunar Cataclysm from Planetary Samples

Radiometric dating and compositional clustering of lunar impact-melt rocks form the backbone of the lunar cataclysm hypothesis. Precise age determinations of Apollo and Luna impact-melt rocks define the classic formulation of the cataclysm: a large number of samples 3.9 Ga old, a steep decline after 3.9 Ga, and few impact rocks older than ~4.0 Ga. Lunar meteorites more randomly sample the lunar surface, but impact-melt clasts in these rocks show the same apparent age cutoff at 4.0 Ga (though their ages extend approx.500 Myr later). Neither do impact-formed glass spherules and fragments, formed by impacts of all sizes throughout lunar history, predate 4.0 Ga. Geological associations between compositional groups of impact-melt rocks and specific impact basins imply that five large basins formed on the Moon within 200 Myr but a counter-argument postulates they are all products of the Imbrium basin-forming impact; it is not yet proven whether groups of impact melt that are resolvable from each other in age and in trace-element composition represent multiple impacts. The 3.9 Ga age peak and subsequent steep decline are not well mirrored in meteorite data. Radiometric ages in ordinary chondrites and HED meteorites peak around 3.9 Ga but ages older and younger than 3.9 Ga are common. Among Martian meteorites, there is a single impact-related age: ALH 84001 was shocked at 3.92 Ga. Differences in relative impact velocity, impact-melt production, and sampling rate could explain differences between the meteorite and lunar records. One way to anchor the early end of the lunar flux is to directly sample the impact-melt sheet of a large lunar basin distant from Imbrium, such as the South Pole-Aitken basin, where melt rocks probably still resides on the basin floor and could be directly sampled by a human or robotic mission.

Cohen, Barbara A.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Indications of fluid immiscibility in glass from West Clearwater Lake impact crater, Quebec, Canada

Glass from the West Clearwater Lake hypervelocity impact crater contains numerous spheroids, 10 to 500 microns across, which appear to have formed at high temperatures as fluids immiscible in the enclosing melt. The spheroids are distinguished from small, normal, largely void gas vesicles, which are also present, by being completely filled in all cases; by having fillings which vary in composition from spheroid to spheroid, even between spheroids in close association; and by indications that the present fillings are representative of the contents present before the matrix melt chilled. Most of the spheroids are classified petrographically into three types. The preservation of spheroids in the West Clearwater Lake glass is attributed mainly to the position of the glass masses within the breccias lining the crater floor. It is considered that the glass in this location did not achieve free flight but, as part of a large mass, cooled relatively slowly through the high temperature regime in which the spheroids were generated, and then, when detached, chilled rapidly to preserve a record of this transient stage in their history.

Dence, M. R.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Bubble behavior in molten glass in a temperature gradient

Gas bubble motion in a temperature gradient was observed in a sodium borate melt in a reduced gravity rocket experiment under the NASA SPAR program. Large bubbles tended to move faster than smaller ones, as predicted by theory. When the bubbles contacted a heated platinum strip, motion virtually ceased because the melt only imperfectly wets platinum. In some cases bubble diameter increased noticeably with time.

Meyyappan, M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Experimental methods for quenching structures in lunar-analog silicate melts: Variations as a function of quench media and composition

Compositions analogous to lunar green, organge, and brown glasses were synthesized under consistent conditions, then quenched into a variety of different media when the samples were removed from the furnace. Iron valence and coordination are a direct function of quench media used, spanning the range from brine/ice (most effective quench), water, butyl phthalate, silicone oil, liquid nitrogen, highly reducing CO-CO2 gas, to air (least efficient quench). In the green and brown glasses, Fe(3+) in four-fold and six-fold coordination is observed in the slowest-quenched samples; Fe(2+) coordination varies directly with quench efficiency. Less pronounced changes were observed in the Ti-rich orange glass. Therefore the remote-sensed spectrum of a glass-bearing regolith on the Moon may be influenced by the process by which the glass cooled, and extreme caution must be used when comparing spectra of synthetic glass analogs with real lunar glasses.

Dyar, M. D.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Experimental methods for quenching structures in lunar-analog silicate melts - Variations as a function of quench media and composition

Compositions analogous to lunar green, orange, and brown glasses were synthesized under consistent conditions, then quenched into a variety of different media when the samples were removed from the furnace. Iron valence and coordination are a direct function of quench media used, spanning the range from brine/ice (most effective quench), water, butyl phthalate, silicone oil, liquid nitrogen, highly reducing CO-CO2 gas, to air (least efficient quench). In the green and brown glasses, Fe(3+) in four-fold and six-fold coordination is observed in the slowest-quenched samples; Fe(2+) coordination varies directly with quench efficiency. Less pronounced changes were observed in the Ti-rich orange glass. Therefore the remote-sensed spectrum of a glass-bearing regolith on the moon may be influenced by the process by which the glass cooled, and extreme caution must be used when comparing spectra of synthetic glass analogs with real lunar glasses.

Dyar, M. D.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Composition of Impact Melt Debris from the Eltanin Impact Strewn Field, Bellingshausen Sea

The impact of the km-sized Eltanin asteroid into the Bellingshausen Sea produced mm- to cm-sized vesicular impact melt-rock particles found in sediment cores across a large area of the ocean floor. These particles are composed mainly of olivine and glass with minor chromite and traces of NiFe-sulfides. Some particles have inclusions of unmelted mineral and rock fragments from the precursor asteroid. Although all samples of melt rock examined have experienced significant alteration since their deposition in the late Pliocene, a significant portion of these particles have interiors that remain pristine and can be used to estimate the bulk composition of the impact melt. The bulk composition of the melt-rock particles is similar to the composition of basaltic meteorites such as howardites or mesosiderite silicates, with a contribution from seawater salts and a siderophile-rich component. There is no evidence that the Eltanin impact melt contains a significant terrestrial silicate component that might have been incorporated by mixing of the projectile with oceanic crust. If terrestrial silicates were incorporated into the melt, then their contribution must be much less than 10 wt%. Since excess K, Na, and CI are not present in seawater proportions, uptake of these elements into the melt must have been greatest for K and least for CI, producing a K/CI ratio about 4 times that in seawater. After correcting for the seawater component, the bulk composition of the Eltanin impact melt provides the best estimate of the bulk composition of the Eltanin asteroid. Excess Fe in the impact melt, relative to that in howardites, must be from a significant metal phase in the parent asteroid. Although the estimated Fe:Ni:Ir ratios (8:1:4 x 10(exp -5)) are similar to those in mesosiderite metal nodules (10:1:6 x 10(exp -5), excess Co and Au by factors of about 2 and 10 times, respectively, imply a metal component distinct from that in typical mesosiderites. An alternative interpretation, that siderophiles have been highly fractionated from a mesosiderite source, would require loss of about 90% of the original metal from the impact melt and the sediments, and is unsupported by any observational data. More likely, the excess Fe in the melt rocks is 'representative of the amount of metal in the impacting asteroid, which is estimated to be 4+/- 1 wt%.

Kyte, Frank T.↗