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The infrared spectral properties of interplanetary dust particles are directly compared with those of astronomical dust in several astrophysical environments as measured by the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
Thermal emission measurements on dust-coated rocks and minerals show that a 300 5m thick layer is required to mask emission from the substrate and that non-linear effects are present. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
Y-86029 resembles CI chondrites. Its matrix is very fine-grained. Olivine shows evidence of shock, which has rarely been observed in carbonaceous chondrites. Y-86029 experienced aqueous and thermal alteration during or after accretion in parent body. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
Two new HED meteorites are described. GRA98108 is an olivine-bearing diogenite at the Mg-rich end of the diogenite clan. GRA98030 is a howardite with 30% eucritic and 70% diogenitic clasts, and contains an MgO-rich and CaO- and Al2O3-poor glassy spherule. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
Visible, near-IR, and Mossbauer measurements on dust coated rocks and minerals show that a 300 5m thick layer is required to obscure the substrate for VNIR measurements and that a greater than 2000-micron-thick layer is required to obscure the substrate for Mossbauer measurements. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
The Lunar Soil Characterization Consortium has begun study of the <45 m fractions of ten representative highland soils, chosen for their contrasting maturities. Difficulties are addressed in the modal and chemical analyses of these highland soils. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
The Mars Microbeam Raman Spectrometer, under development at Washington University and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, can identify oxide, sulfide, and oxyanion minerals, bound water and OH, and organic and graphitic carbon in Mars rocks and soils in situ. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
The macroscopic and microscopic properties of basaltic and andesitic rocks are under study for integration of diverse spectroscopic approaches to evaluate the composition and texture of Mars materials using both in situ and remote sensing techniques. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
HRTEM and EFTEM have been used to study Vigarano matrix. Fine-grained rim olivines commonly contain inclusions of amorphous carbon and a Ca-Al-rich phase, whereas olivines in the clastic matrix contain rare inclusions of poorly graphitized carbon. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
Methodology and calibrations are being developed to identify specific clay mineral species in the CCD spectra of dark asteroids. This will constrain the geologic processes within their parent bodies and the production or alteration of organic molecules within such asteroids. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
This report lists publications related to work done under NASA grant. Topics as indicated by title include: condensation in fractionated nebular systems, nebular processes in different constituents of the CH chondrite NWA 470, growth mechanism and additional constraints on FeNi metal condensation in the solar nebula, the ZONMET thermodynamic and kinetic model of metal condensation, the first occurrence of CaAl2O4 in a CAI (calcium aluminum inclusion) from the new CH chondrite NWA 470.
Carbonaceous chondrites provide important clues into the nature of physical and chemical processes in the early solar system. A question of key importance concerns the role of water in solar nebular and asteroidal processes. The effects of water on primary mineral assemblages have been widely recognized in chondritic meteorites, especially the CI and CM carbonaceous chondrites. These meteorites have undergone extensive aqueous alteration that occurred prior to their arrival on Earth. In the case of the CM chondrites, this alteration has resulted in the partial to complete replacement of the primary nebular phases with secondary alteration phases. Considerable controversy exists as to the exact location where the alteration of the CM chondrites occurred. Several textural lines of evidence have been cited in support of aqueous alteration prior to the accretion of the final parent asteroid. An important line of evidence to support this hypothesis is the dis-equilibrium nature of fine-grained rims and matrix materials. [2] also noted the juxtaposition of micron-sized Fe-Ni metal grains and apparently unaltered chondrule glass against hydrated rim silicates. Conversely, there is a large body of evidence in favor of parent body alteration such as the occurrence of undisturbed Fe-rich aureoles and the systematic redistribution of elemental components over millimeters, e.g., Mg(+2) into the matrix and Fe(+2) into chondrules etc.
During the grant period we have concentrated on the following main topics: 1. Enstatite meteorites and original heterogeneity of Mn-53 distribution in the solar nebula. We have completed our studies of the enstatite chondrites. 2. Processes of planetary differentiation. We have completed our study of silicate clasts from the mesosiderite Vaca Muerta and found that the global Mn/Cr fractionation event that established mantle source reservoirs on the parent body of the Vaca Muerta silicate clasts occurred approx. 2 Ma after a similar event on the howardite-eucrite-diogenite (HED) parent body. 3. Carbonaceous chondrites. Much effort has been devoted during the last three years to the investigation of this important class of meteorites. 4. Early solar system timescales. Based on the studies of the Mn-53 - Cr-53 isotope system in various meteorites and using results obtained with other isotope chronometers we constructed an absolute time-scale for events in the early solar system. 5.Unusual meteorites. We have studied the anomalous pallasite Eagle Station. 6. The chromium isotopic composition as a tracer for extraterrestrial material on Earth. Based on the observed difference in the Cr-53/Cr-52 ratios between Earth and the other solar system objects we developed a method for detecting cosmic materials on Earth using the Cr-53/Cr-52 ratio as a tracer.
We present 7.6 - 13.3 microns infrared (IR) spectrophotometry (R approx. = 180 - 350) of the 10 microns silicate emission from dust in the inner coma (i.e., within a diameter of 3in.) of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) at four temporal epochs from 1996 October through 1997 June during Hale-Bopp s approach to, arrival at, and recession from perihelion. The HIFOGS spectra at large heliocentric distances exhibit strong emission peaks from 9.9 - 10.1 microns and at 11.2 microns. The HIFOGS spectra of Hale-Bopp taken 1996 October 07 - 14 UT are identical in shape to the ISO SWS spectrum at 2.8 AU obtained on 1996 October 06 UT. Magnesium-rich olivine was unambiguously identified due to presence of the expected 11.2 microns peak along with the matching far-IR 18 microns, 23 microns, and 33 microns peaks in the ISO SWS spectrum. In contrast, to large heliocentric distances, we find that the silicate feature at small heliocentric distances (tau(sub lambda) less than or = 1.7 AU) exhibits strong peaks at 9.3 microns, 9.9 - 10.1 microns, and 11.2 microns, and weak at 10.5 microns and 11.8 microns. We will show that the dramatic increase of the 9.3 microns and 10.0 microns peaks close to perihelion leads to the hypothesis that there are two crystalline grain components with significantly different temperatures. The hotter mineral species (including olivines) radiate over a large range of heliocentric distances at detectable leve!s. The cooler mineral species (pyroxenes) radiate on the Wien side of the blackbody, too faint to detect in the mid-infrared spectra, until close to the sun when this species radiates on the Reyleigh-Jeans tail and becomes apparent. Decomposition of the observed silicate emission features into mineral components through comparison of the height and shape of the silicate feature ("Flux/cont") derived from the cometary spectra, to optical extinctions (Qext) derived from laboratory measurements of terrestrial silicate minerals and interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) is successful for a combination of warm grains (consisting of olivines, amorphous olivines, amorphous pyroxenes, and layer-lattice silicates) and cool grains (crystalline pyroxenes).
The second MER rover (Opportunity) landed on Meridiani Planum on January 24, 2004 inside a shallow crater. The science rational for the selection of the landing site centered on detection of the mineral hematite from martian orbit by the Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (MGS-TES) [1,2]. Other smaller occurrences of hematite are in Aram Chaos and several isolated spots in Valles Marineris. Proposed formation pathways for martian hematite include both aqueous (e.g., low temperature precipitation of Fe oxides/oxyhydroxides in a lacustrine environment, laterite-style weathering, and precipitation from fluids having a hydrothermal origin) and dry (e.g., oxidation of magnetite rich ash) processes [e.g., 1,2,3]. The crystallographic c-face of martian hematite must be exaggerated to account for the thermal emissions spectra and it must be gray in color so as to account for the absence of the characteristic spectral signature of red hematite at visible wavelengths
The link between the E-type asteroids and the enstatite achondrites (aubrites) was first proposed for the original E-asteroid, 44 Nysa. The association was based on the high albedos and the featureless spectra shared by the E-asteroids and the aubrites. Among the plausible geologic and meteoritic materials, only enstatite (the magnesium end-member of the pyroxene solid solution series) is sufficiently abundant to comprise asteroid-sized bodies. However, the presence of a weak 0.89 m absorption feature in the spectrum of 44 Nysa indicates that its pyroxene contains a small amount of Fe(2+) but still substantially more than any aubrite present in the meteorite collection. The original E-class was defined based on its high albedo and flat to slightly reddish spectrum. In the absence of albedo data, the E-type was degenerate with the M- and P-types, and together these were designated as X-types. Recently, a taxonomy has been proposed to identify E-types in the absence of albedo data. In this newer classification system three subdivisions of the X-type have been proposed, including Xc, Xe and Xk. Of nine albedo-defined E-types [d], this newer non-albedo based taxonomy produced the following classifications: X-1 asteroid; Xc-2 asteroids; Xe-5 asteroids; and Xk-1 asteroid. Although the Xe subtype includes the largest number of albedo-defined E-types, most of the remaining 24 Xe-types can be excluded based on their low measured IRAS albedos, ranging from 0.116 to 0.329, which are below the lower albedo limit of the E-class (0.34) and substantially below that of the lowest albedo an actual E-type asteroid (0.41). The present discussion will be limited to unambiguous E-type asteroids determined on albedo criteria.
Iron-nickel sulfides are found in most or all solar system environments, and are probably the only minerals found in all extraterrestrial materials on hand. Despite the ubiquity, they have not received the attention they deserve. The most common Fe-Ni sulfides in chondrites are troilite (FeS), pyrrhotite (Fe1- XS) and pentlandite (Fe,Ni)9S8. Troilite is believed to have resulted from sulfidation of metal (Fe-Ni) grains in an H2Scontaining environment. Pyrrhotite is produced when friable troilite grains, which are exfoliated from the metal nucleus, are submitted to continued sulfidation [1]. Some asteroids are known to have experienced aqueous alteration, forming products including new generations of sulfides (pyrrhotite and pentlandite). Pentlandite in particular is known to form during such alteration [1]. However, experimental work by Lauretta has indicated that pentlandite may also have been formed during the initial sulfidation process [2], due to the faster diffusion rate of nickel into the forming sulfide, as compared to iron. Finally, there is considerable evidence [1,3&4] for a family of phases intermediate between pyrrhotite and pentlandite, following the trend of the high temperature monosulfide solid solution [5], something not encountered in terrestrial rocks.
Mineral identification is a critical component of Mars Astrobiological missions. Chemical or elemental data alone are not definitive because a single elemental or chemical composition or even a single bonding type can represent a range of substances or mineral assemblages. Minerals are defined as unique structural and compositional phases that occur naturally. There are about 15,000 minerals that have been described on Earth, all uniquely identifiable via diffraction methods. There are likely many minerals yet undiscovered on Earth, and likewise on Mars. If an unknown phase is identified on Mars, it can be fully characterized by structural (X-ray Diffraction, XRD) and elemental analysis (X-ray Fluorescence, XRF) without recourse to other data because XRD relies on the principles of atomic arrangement for its determinations. XRD is the principal means of identification and characterization of minerals on Earth.