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At least 1,423 records · Page 79
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NASA NTRS1993

Measurements of the dielectric properties of simulated comet material as part of the KOSI 10 experiment

The dielectric constant epsilon of the snow-mineral used for the comet simulation in the German KOSI 10 experiment was measured in the radio frequency range from 2 to 4 GHz. The traditional microwave bridge method was used, but instead of using a waveguide that contains the sample material small lambda/4 antennas were used as sensors. A change in the dielectric properties indicates a change in density and/or composition, respectively. The method is presented as an analytical tool for measuring such density or composition changes during alteration snow-dust materials. The KOSI (determined from the German: Kometen Simulation) experiments, performed in the Space simulator of the DLR/Institut for Raumsimulation, during the last years revealed many processes that presumably take place on comets. So far, modifications of the internal structure could be identified only during the post-experiment inspection via hardness tests. It was the aim of the KOSI 10 and KOSI 10a experiments to emphasize on a synoptic detection of events like particle emission or crust formation. The composition of the KOSI 10 sample material was an ice-mineral mixture with about 10 percent mineral (olivine) content. An excellent method to investigate the change of the density of the probe material during its exposure to the artificial sun in situ is to do it via the measurement of the dielectric constant. The traditional method to determine epsilon, by using a microwave-bridge to measure the transmission and the reflection factor of the sample material for electromagnetic waves in the radio frequency range, was modified, since the commonly used practice to fill the sample material into a waveguide was not compatible with the need for in situ measurements during the simulation experiment.

Ulamec, S.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Equilibrium and fractional crystallization of a primitive Shergottite composition

The shergottites are a subset of the Shergottites Nakhlites Chassignites (SNC) meteorites, which are believed to have come from Mars. Petrologic studies of these basaltic meteorites suggest that the most primitive shergottite composition is the groundmass of EETA79001 (a lithology). This inference is based on (1) its high Mg relative to the other shergottites; (2) it normative olivine; and (3) its lack of the cumulate crystals found in most other SNC meteorites. However, the relationship between this primitive composition and the compositions of the other, more evolved shergottites cannot be discovered through petrologic investigations alone. Therefore, liquidus phase relations were experimentally determined for a synthetic EETA79001A groundmass composition at 1 bar and QFM in order to find whether the bulk compositions of other shergottites could be derived by simple equilibrium or fractional crystallization of the EETA79001A groundmass composition.

Wasylenki, L. E.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Regolith breccia consisting of H and LL chondrite mixture

Antarctic meteorite Yamato-8424 (Y-8424) is a regolith breccia that is homogenized mixture of H and LL chondrite components. The breccia consists mainly of a fine-grained material with mineral fragments of olivine, pyroxene, and Fe-Ni metal with traces of plagioclase.

Yanai, Keizo↗
NASA NTRS1993

Major element chemistry of Apollo 14 mare basalt clasts and highland plutonic clasts from lunar breccia 14321: Comparison with neutron activation results

Studies of lithic components in lunar breccias have documented a wide variety of rock types and magma suites which are not found among large, discrete lunar samples. Rock types found exclusively or dominantly as clasts in breccias include KREEP basalts, VHK mare basalts, high-alumina mare basalts, olivine vitrophyres, alkali anorthosites, and magnesian anorthosites and troctolites. These miniature samples are crucial in petrogenetic studies of ancient mare basalts and the highlands crust of the western nearside, both of which have been battered by basin-forming impacts and no longer exist as distinct rock units.

Shervais, John W.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Partial melting of the St. Severin (LL) and Lost City (H) ordinary chondrites: One step backwards and two steps forward

This study looks at partial melting in H and LL chondrites at nearly one atmosphere of total pressure as part of a continuing study of the origins of basaltic achondrites. Previously, melting experiments on anhydrous CM and CV chondrites showed that, near its solidus, the CM chondrite produced melts having major element chemistries similar to the Sioux County eucrite; but, the pyroxenes in the residuum were too iron-rich to form diogenites. Our preliminary results from melting experiments on ordinary (H, LL) chondrites suggested that, although the melts did not look like any known eucrites, pyroxenes from these charges bracketed the compositional range of pyroxenes found in diogenites. We had used the Fe/Mg exchange coefficients calculated for olivine, pyroxene, and melt in these charges to evaluate the approach to equilibrium, which appeared to be excellent. Unfortunately, mass balance calculations later indicated to us that, unlike our CM and CV charges, the LL and H experimental charges had lost significant amounts of iron to their (Pt or PtRh) supports. Apparently, pyroxene stability in chondritic systems is quite sensitive to the amount of FeO, and it was this unrecognized change in the bulk iron content which had stabilized the high temperature, highly magnesian pyroxenes. Accordingly, this work reinvestigates the phase equilibria of ordinary chondrites, eliminating iron and nickel loss, and reports significant differences. It also looks closely at how the iron and sodium in the bulk charge affect the stability of pyroxene, and it comments on how these new results apply to the problems of diogenite and eucrite petrogenesis.

Jurewicz, A. J. G.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Preliminary results of sulfide melt/silicate wetting experiments in a partially melted ordinary chondrite

Recently, mechanisms for core formation in planetary bodies have received considerable attention. Most current theories emphasize the need for large degrees of silicate partial melting to facilitate the coalescence and sinking of sulfide-metal liquid blebs through a low strength semi-crystalline silicate mush. This scenario is based upon observations that sulfide-metal liquid tends to form circular blebs in partially molten meteorites during laboratory experiments. However, recent experimental work by Herpfer and Larimer indicates that some sulfide-Fe liquids have wetting angles at and slightly below 60 deg in an olivine aggregate, implying an interconnected melt structure at any melt fraction. Such melt interconnectivity provides a means for gravitational compaction and extraction of the majority of a sulfide liquid phase in small planetary bodies without invoking large degrees of silicate partial melting. Because of the important ramifications of these results, we conducted a series of experiments using H-chondrite starting material in order to evaluate sulfide-liquid/silicate wetting behavior in a more complex natural system.

Jurewicz, Stephen R.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Ferromagnetic resonance spectra of H2-reduced minerals and glasses

In an earlier paper, we reported that H2 reduction of basaltic glass, olivine, pyroxene, and plagioclase resulted in the formation of metallic iron, in the darkening and reddening of the reflectance spectra, and the masking of individual spectral features in the visible and near-IR. In this work, we report FMR spectra for H2-reduced minerals and glasses that include the samples studied in the earlier paper. The FMR spectra were reduced at room temperature at a nominal frequency of 9.5 GHz. Sample saturation magnetization reported as F3(0) was measured with a vibrating sample magnetometer.

Morris, Richard V.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Hematite formed from pyroxene on Mars by meteoritic impact

In earlier work, we showed using Mossbauer data that the mineralogy of iron-bearing phases in impact melt rocks from Manicouagan Crater (Quebec, Canada) is to a first approximation hematite and pyroxene. The visible and near-IR reflectivity data for these impact melt rocks show a continuous trend in band position from approximately 850 to approximately 1000 nm, which corresponds to the positions for the hematite and pyroxene endmembers, respectively. The oxidation is thought to occur shortly after the impact when oxidizing vapors and/or solutions reacted with the impact melt which was below its solidus temperature but still relatively hot. The reflectance data have important implications for Mars because band positions which occur between approximately 850 and 1000 nm bands observed for Mars can be attributed to hematite-pyroxene assemblages and not necessarily to different ferric mineralogy. Because oxidation of impact melt rocks at Manicouagan is thought to occur subsolidus, precursors for the hematite include oxides such as magnetite and ilmenite and silicates such as pyroxene and olivine. To determine if the Manicouagan impact-melt rocks are related to each other by simple thermal subsolidus oxidation, we calcined in air a relatively unoxidized Manicouagan impact-melt rock (MAN-74-608A). Previous work has shown that np-Hm (nanophase hematite) particles can be derived by calcination of iron-bearing silicates.

Morris, Richard V.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Microscopic iron metal on glass and minerals - A tool for studying regolith maturity

A novel method of producing mixtures of glass or minerals with iron metal is presented. A portion of the Fe(2+) in basaltic glass and minerals can be reduced to metal in a few hours at 1100 C and an oxygen fugacity well below the iron-wustite buffer. Part of the iron metals forms rounded submicrometer blebs on the surfaces and in some cases within the grains. A concentration of such blebs equivalent to 20-30 percent of a grain's surface area can totally dominate the reflectance spectra of basaltic glass, pyroxene, and olivine. The production of optically opaque iron metal blebs, combined with the decline in Fe(2+), affects the glass and mineral reflectance spectra in three ways: by lowering the overall reflectivity, reducing the spectral contrast of absorption features, and producing a continuum with a general rise in reflectivity toward longer wavelengths.

Allen, C. C.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Genesis of the IIICD iron meteorites - Evidence from silicate-bearing inclusions

Our studies of the silicate-bearing inclusions in the IIICD iron meteorites Maltahohe, Carlton, and Dayton suggest that their mineralogy and mineral compositions are related to the composition of the metal in the host meteorites. An inclusion in the low-Ni Maltahohe is similar in mineralogy to those in IAB irons, which contain olivine, pyroxene, plagioclase, graphite, and troilite. With increasing Ni concentration of the metal, silicate inclusions become poorer in graphite, richer in phosphates, and the phosphate and silicate assemblages become more complex. Dayton contains pyroxene, plagioclase, SiO2, brianite, panethite, and whitlockite, without graphite. In addition, mafic silicates become more FeO-rich with increasing Ni concentration of the hosts. In contrast, silicates in IAB irons show no such correlation with host Ni concentration, nor do they have the complex mineral assemblages of Dayton. These trends in inclusion composition and mineralogy in IIICD iron meteorites have been established by reactions between the S-rich metallic magma and the silicates, but the physical setting is uncertain. Of the two processes invoked by other authors to account for groups IAB and IIICD, fractional crystallization of S-rich cores and impact generation of melt pools, we prefer core crystallization. We suggest that the solidification of the IIICD core may have been very complex, involving fractional crystallization, nucleation effects and, possibly, liquid immiscibility.

Mccoy, Timothy J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

A proposition for the classification of carbonaceous chondritic micrometeorites

Classification of interplanetary dust particles (IDP's) should be unambiguous and, if possible, provide an opportunity to interrelate these ultrafine IDP's with the matrices of undifferentiated meteorites. I prefer a scheme of chemical groupings and petrologic classes that is based on primary IDP properties that can be determined without prejudice by individual investigators. For IDP's of 2-50 microns these properties are bulk elemental chemistry, morphology, shape, and optical properties. The two major chemical groups are readily determined by energy dispersive spectroscopic analysis using the scanning or analytical electron microscope. Refinement of chondritic IDP classification is possible using the dominant mineral species, e.g. olivine, pyroxene, and layer silicates, and is readily inferred from FTIR, and automated chemical analysis. Petrographic analysis of phyllosilicate-rich IDP's will identify smectite-rich and serpentine-rich particles. Chondritic IDP's are also classified according to morphology, viz., CP and CF IDP's are aggregate particles that differ significantly in porosity, while the dense CS IDP's have a smooth surface. The CP IDP's are characterized by an anhydrous silicate mineralogy, but small amounts of layer silicates may be present. Distinction between the CP and CF IDP's is somewhat ambiguous, but the unique CP IDP's are fluffy, or porous, ultrafine-grained aggregates. The CP IDP's, which may contain silicate whiskers, are the most carbon-rich extraterrestrial material presently known. The CF IDP's are much less porous that CP IDP's. Using particle type definitions, CP IDP's in the NASA JSC Cosmic Dust Catalogs are approx. 15 percent of all IDP's that include nonchondritic spheres. Most aggregate particles are of the CF type.

Rietmeijer, Frans J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Penetration of multiple thin films in micrometeorite capture cells

As part of a continuing effort to develop cosmic dust detectors/collectors for use in space, we performed a series of hypervelocity impact experiments on combined sensor/capture-cell assemblies using 10-200-micron-diameter glass projectiles and olivine crystals at velocities of 0.9-14.4 km/s. The design objective of the space-flight instrument is to measure the trajectories of individual particles with sufficient accuracy to permit identification of their parent bodies and to capture enough impactor material to allow chemical and isotopic analyses of samples returned to Earth. Three different multiple-film small-particle capture cell designs (0.1-100-micron-thick Al foils with approx. 10, 100, and 1800 micron spacing) were evaluated for their ability to capture impactor fragments and residue. Their performances were compared to two other types of capture cells, foil covered Ge crystals, and 0.50 and 0.120 g/cu cm aerogels. All capture cells were tested behind multifilm (1.4-6.0-micron-thick) polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) velocity/trajectory sensor devices. Several tests were also done without the PVDF sensors for comparison. The results of this study were reported by Simon in a comprehensive report in which the morphology of impacts and impactor residues in various types of capture cells after passage through two PVDF sensor films is discussed. Impactor fragments in selected capture cells from impacts at velocities up to 6.4 km/s were identified using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS).

Simon, Charles G.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Experimental constraints on models for origins of chondrules: Peak temperatures

Chondrule peak temperature constraints for mathematical models pertaining to chondrule origin are discussed in this article. The peak temperatures experienced by chondrules provide a parameter that may allow discrimination between alternative heating mechanisms. Successful mechanisms must provide just enough energy to reach such temperatures and not overshoot them. In principle, determination of peak temperatures from chondrule textures and experiments that duplicate them should be very easy. However, this approach is complicated by the fact that there are several different experimental paths that reproduce chondrule properties. The key texture depends not only on the peak temperature but also on the heating time and, in the case of totally molten droplets, on interactions with other particles. Addressed here are different types of peak temperature constraints; (1) near-liquidus melting; (2) flash melting; (3) dust seeding; (4) volatile element constraints; and (5) barred olivine chondrules.

Hewins, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Heating during solar nebula formation and Mg isotopic fractionation in precursor grains of CAIs and chondrules

In some Ca-Al-rich inclusion (CAI) grains, mass-dependent isotopic fractionations of Mg, Si, and O are observed and large Mg isotopic fractionation is interpreted to have been produced by cosmochemical processes such as evaporation and condensation. Mass-dependent Mg isotopic fractionation was found in olivine chondrules of Allende meteorites. Presented is an approximate formula for the temperature of the solar nebula that depends on heliocentric distance and the initial gas distribution. Shock heating during solar nebula formation can cause evaporative fractionation within interstellar grains involved in a gas at the inner zone (a less than 3 AU) of the disk. Alternatively collision of late-accreting gas blobs might cause similar heating if Sigma(sub s) and Sigma are large enough. Since the grain size is small, the solid/gas mass ratio is low and solar (low P(sub O2)), and the ambient gas pressure is low, this heating event could not produce chondrules themselves. Chondrule formation should proceed around the disk midplane after dust grains would grow and sediment to increase the solid/gas ratio there. The heating source there is uncertain, but transient rapid accretion through the disk could release a large amount of heat, which would be observed as FU Orionis events.

Sasaki, S.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Variations among chondrite groups: Constraints on nebular processes

Diverse proportions of the four major ingredients are found in the 13 chondrite groups. Ca-Al-rich inclusions (CAI) include amoeboid-olivine aggregates, which contain refractory nodules. Matrix material forms aggregates and rims on other constituents and contains micrometer-sized grains and a small, uniform concentration of presolar grains. Fe, Ni grains are mostly derived from hot chondrules. Although bulk nonvolatile chondritic elemental ratios are typically within 30% of solar values, individual CAI and some chondrules shown large deviations.

Scott, E. R. D.↗
NASA NTRS1994

D/H ratios and H2O contents of mantle-derived amphibole megacrysts from Dish Hill, California

D/H ratios are, in principle, useful in characterizing reservoirs of mantle hydrogen and as tracers of volatile transfer processes in Earth's interior. In practice, however, interpretation of isotopic measurements on mantle derived H is complicated by surface processes such as contamination and degassing which may alter the primary D/H ratio. Although there are indications that water associated with subduction zones and certain chemically enriched basalts is enriched in D relative to 'typical' upper mantle water, the extent of isotopic heterogeneity of mantle H remains uncertain. Kaersutitic amphibole megacrysts in alkaline basalts are one of the most widespread sources of mantle water and are therefore potentially useful for large-scale regional studies of D/H variation. However, D/H ratios of these amphiboles vary widely (from plus 8 to minus 113 percent), even in samples from the same locality, so that this potential has yet to be realized. In order to investigate the origin of this variability, and to explore the possibility that primary mantle D/H ratios may be deduced from these amphiboles, we analyzed the D/H ratios and chemical compositions of a suite of 17 kaersutitic amphiboles from Dish Hill, California. This work contrasts with previous studies in which sampling is widespread, but representatives from any given locality are few. Samples were collected from a restricted area on the southern flank of the volcanic center and are associated with the basal volcanic breccia. Fourteen of the samples were large single crystals or crystal fragments (megacrysts, 0.4 to 30 grams), believed to derive from pegmatitic veins crystallized from melts in the mantle. Two were coarse-grained intergrowths of amphibole with olivine and spinel, and one was a thin (2 mm) selvage on a peridotite xenolith.

Bell, David R.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Modeling the effect of water on mantle rheology

To study the thermal history of the Earth we use a parameterized model of mantle convection. This model includes a mathematical description of de- and regassing processes of water from the Earth's mantle. The rates of this processes are considered to be directly proportional to the seafloor spreading rate. The kinematic viscosity of the mantle depends on the temperature/pressure as well as on the volatile content. Dissolved volatiles such as water weaken the minerals by reducing their activation energy for solid state creep. Karato and Toriumi showed a power law dependence between creep rate and water fugacity derived from experimental results. Therefore, we use such flow parameters of diffusion creep in olivine under wet and dry conditions to calculate the mantle viscosity as a function of the water content. Because the creep rate is proportional to the concentration of water-related point deflects we assume that the water fugacity is proportional to the water weight fraction. An equation for the steady-state strain rate under wet conditions is established. To assess the unknown constant K in this equation, we use flow law parameters given by Karato and Wu as well as the results of McGovern and Schubert.

Bounama, CH.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Mantle devolatilization and rheology in the framework of planetary evolution

We investigate the thermal history of an Earth-like planet with the help of a parameterized mantle convection model including the volatile exchange between mantle and surface reservoirs. The weakening of mantle silicates by dissolved volatiles is described by a functional relationship between creep rate and water fugacity. We use flow law parameters of diffusion creep in olivine under dry and wet conditions. The mantle degassing rate is considered as directly proportional to the seafloor spreading rate, which is also dependent on the mantle heat flow. To calculate the spreading rate, we assume that the heat flow under the mid-ocean ridges is double the average mantle heat flow. The rate of regassing also depends on the seafloor spreading rate as well as on other factors like the efficiency of volatile recycling through island arc volcanism. Both mechanisms (de- and regassing) are coupled self-consistently with the help of the parameterized convection model under implementation of a temperature and volatile-content-dependent mantle viscosity.

Franck, S.↗