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Near-infrared spectra were obtained for 196 asteroids as part of SMASSIR. SMASSIR focused on observing asteroids assumed to be one of the following: (1) olivine-rich, (2) objects with "Vesta-like spectra" (the "Vestoids"), and (3) postulated meteorite parent bodies.
We have examined effects of grain size and grain orientation on the Raman spectra of quartz and olivine to evaluate the effect of these parameters on in situ and remote analysis of planetary surface rocks.
We found coarse-grained gabbroic material rich in plagioclase and diopside in the Caddo County IAB iron meteorite. The polished thin sections studied were made from areas rich in Al and Ca detected by a micro-focus X-ray fluorescence (XRF) mapping technique. The gabbro is not a clast within a breccia, but rather this area is located mainly at silicate-metal boundaries only a few cm away from an area with fine-grained, ultramafic silicate similar to winonaites. Medium-grained orthopyroxene and olivine are found in transitional areas showing no disturbance of their crystalline textures. A vein-like region, starting at the area rich in fine-grained mafic silicate, extends towards the gabbroic area with a gradual increase in abundance of plagioclase and diopside. This texture and our accumulated knowledge of the formation mechanism of IAB/winonaltes meteorites, suggest that the gabbroic materials were formed by inhomogeneous segregation of partial melts of chondritic source materials. Compositional data on two mineralogically distinct samples of the gabbro-rich portion of the inclusion were obtained by INAA. Compared to an average of LAB silicate inclusions or winonaites, the Caddo County gabbro is enriched in the incompatible lithophile elements Na, Ca, Sc, REE and Hf, which is consistent with a melt origin for the gabbro. The cosmogenic space exposure age of Caddo County (511 Ma) is significantly younger than exposure ages of some other IAB meteorites, An 39Ar-40Ar age determination of the gabbroic material indicates a series of upward steps in age from 4.516 Ga to 4.523 Ga, with a few high temperature ages up to 4.54 Ga. The older age could approximate the primary recrystallization age of silicates. The stepped Ar age spectrum may indicate differences in Ar closure temperatures during slow cooling of -2-20'C/Myr in the parent body. Alternatively, the younger Ar-Ar ages may date a shock event which occurred while Caddo County was hot and which also created textures such as a linear metal vein with rounded zigzag walls in a diopside crystal and slightly miss-oriented rounded plagioclase domain.
We measured the oxygen isotopic composition of individual minerals in Tagish Lake. The relationship with carbonaceous chondrites is confirmed. We found very O-16 enriched olivines. The carbonates will require a dedicated study of their C and O isotopes. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
Raman spectra of micrometer-sized grains of calcite, epsomite, quartz, and olivine show no peak shift relative to larger crystals and no peak broadening at least down to 2 micrometers, which bodes well for the Raman analysis of martian soils. 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.
Partitioning of trivalent elements into olivine are used to explore basic issues relevant to igneous geochemistry, such as Henry's law. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
We have experimentally investigated liquid metal segregation from a solid silicate matrix under conditions of applied stress. Liquid moves in fractures and formation of fayalitic olivine from orthopyroxene by migrating Fe-Ni-S-O liquids is observed. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
The presence of primary troilite in chondrules requires that nebular temperatures were <650 K (the 50% condensation temperature of S) at the time of chondrule formation and that chondrules were molten for periods short enough (less than or equal to 10 s) to avoid significant volatilization of S. We examined 226 intact chondrules of all textural types from eight unshocked to weakly shocked ordinary chondrite falls of low petrologic type to determine the origin of troilite in chondrules; 68 chondrules are from LL3.0 Semarkona. There is a high probability that troilite is primary (i.e , was present among the chondrule precursors) if it is completely embedded in a mafic silicate phenocryst, located within one-half radius of the apparent chondrule center and is part of an opaque assemblage with an igneous texture Based on these criteria, 13% of the chondrules in Semarkona and in the set as a whole contain primary troilite. Most of the remaining chondrules contain troilite that is probably primary, but does not meet all three criteria. Troilite occurs next to tetratacnite in some opaque spherules within low-FeO chondrules in Semarkona, implying that the Ni required to form the tetrataenite came from the troilite Troilite can accommodate 5 mg/g Ni at high temperatures (> 1170 K) but much less Ni at lower temperatures; because this is far higher than the metamorphic temperature inferred for Semarkona (approx. 670 K), the troilite must be primary Primary troilite fitting the three criteria occurs in a smaller fraction of low-FeO [FeO/(FeO + MgO) in olivine and/or low-Ca pyroxene not greater than 0.0751 than high-FeO porphyritic chondrules in Semarkona (9% vs 33%) Coarse-grained low-FeO porphyritic chondrules appear to contain somewhat more troilite on average than those of medium grain size We found a few troilite-free, metallic-Fe-Ni-bearing, low-FeO chondrules that contain Na2O-bearing augite and Na2O- and K2O-rich mesostasis; these chondrules were probably formed after ambient nebular temperatures cooled below 910 K (the 50% condensation temperature of Na) and before they reached 650 K Literature reports of rare fayalitic microchondrules in the rims around a few normal-size chondrules suggest that chondrule formation persisted until nebular temperatures cooled below 500 K Secondary troilite occurs in a few percent of Semarkona chondrules as thin veins mobilized by shock; troilite or pyrrhotite in the outer portions of some chondrules occur within opaque assemblages containing magnetite, carbide, Ni-rich sulfide, awaruite, and Co-rich kamacite produced by parent-body hydrothermal alteration.
Centaurs are objects in unstable orbits that cross the orbits of the giant planets. They are presumed to be recent additions to the planetary zone of the Solar System, having been dynamically perturbed from the Kulper Disk by the gravitational action of Neptune. Telescopic observations of Centaurs are important because they give us a view of the composition (and in some cases cometary activity) of large bodies that are normally to far from the Sun to be studied in detail. This paper reports on physical observations, primarily through spectroscopy, of the compositions of a small number of Centaurs that have been studied to date. In particular, the composition of 5145 Pholus is reviewed, following the published work of Crulkshank et al., in which compositional models that fit the spectrum well included H2O ice, the organic solid Titan tholin, a light hydrocarbon ice (e.g., CH3OH), the silicate mineral olivine, and amorphous carbon. The Centaur 1997 CU(26) shows evidence for H2O ice, but nothing else is yet identified.
The work under the Cooperative Agreement will be centered on questions of the evolution of Life on the early Earth and possibly on Mars. It is still hotly debated whether the essential organic molecules were delivered to the early Earth from space (by comets, meteorites or interplanetary dust particles) or were generated in situ on Earth. Prior work that has shown that the matrix of igneous minerals is a medium in which progenitors of organic molecules assemble from H2O, C02 and N2 incorporated as minority "impurities" in minerals of igneous rocks during crystallization from H2O/CO2/N2-laden magmas. The underlying processes involve a redox. conversion whereby C, H, and N become chemically reduced, while 0 becomes oxidized to the peroxy state. During Year 02 the work will be divided into three tasks. Task 1: After carboxylic (fatty) acids and N-bearing compounds have been identified, other extractable organic molecules including lipids, oily substances and amino acids will be studied. Dedicated lipid analysis will be combined with gas chromatographic-mass spectroscopic (GCMS) analysis of organic compounds extracted from minerals and rocks. Task 2: Using infrared (IR) spectroscopy, C-H entities that are indicators for the organic progenitors in mineral matrices will be studied. A preliminary heating experiment with MgO single crystals has shown that the C-H entities can be pyrolyzed, causing the IR bands to disappear, but at room temperature the IR bands reappear in a matter of days to weeks. This work will be expanded, both by studying synthetic MgO crystals and olivine crystals from the Earth's upper mantle. The C-H bands will be compared to the published "organic" IR feature of dust in the interstellar medium (ISM) and interplanetary dust particles (IDP). Task 3: A paradox marks the evolution of early Life: Oxygen is highly toxic to primitive life, yet early organisms "learned" to detoxify reactive oxygen species, to utilize oxygen, and even produce it. Why would organisms on the early anaerobic Earth be under evolutionary pressure to evolve defenses against reactive oxygen species? Minerals in igneous rocks are now known to contain peroxy. When such minerals weather, the peroxy hydrolyzes to H2O2. The hypothesis will be tested whether organisms living in intimate contact with rock surfaces are subjected to a constant trickle of H202 and thus under stress to develop strategies to either detoxify the reactive oxygen species or repair the molecular damage that they cause. Understanding these processes is central to the Astrobiology mission. It opens new avenues toward understanding the evolution of early life on Earth, and the potential for aerobic life elsewhere. This Cooperative Agreement also has a strong educational and public outreach component involving high school, undergraduate students, and high school teachers.
We present the computational analysis of the 7.6 - 13.2 micrometer infrared (IR) spectrophotometry (R approximately equal to 120) of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) in conjunction with concurrent observations which extend the spectral energy distribution from the near-infrared to far-infrared wavelengths. The observations include temporal epochs pre-perihelion, (1996 October UT and 1997 February UT), near perihelion (1997 April UT), and postperihelion (1997 June UT). Through the computational modeling of small amorphous carbon, and crystalline and amorphous silicate grains in Hale-Bopp's coma, we find that as the comet approached perihelion, the grain size distribution (the Hanner modified power law) steepened (N = 3.4 pre-perihelion, to N = 3.7 near and post-perihelion) along with an increase in the fractal porosity of larger (greater than 1 micrometer) grains. The peak of the grain size distribution remained constant (ap = 0.2 micrometer) at each epoch. We attribute the emergence of the 9.3 micrometer peak near perihelion to crystalline orthopyroxeno grains released from inside the nucleus. Crystalline silicates (olivine and orthopyroxene) make up about 30% (by mass) of the submicron sized (less than 1 micrometer) dust grains in Hale-Bopp's coma during each epoch.
The formation mechanism of terrestrial planetary is still poorly understood, and has been the subject of numerous experimental studies. Several mechanisms have been proposed by which metal-mainly iron with some nickel-could have been extracted from a silicate mantle to form the core. Most recent models involve gravitational sinking of molten metal or metal sulphide through a partially or fully molten mantle that is often referred to as a'magma ocean. Alternative models invoke percolation of molten metal along an interconnected network (that is, porous flow) through a solid silicate matrix. But experimental studies performed at high pressures have shown that, under hydrostatic conditions, these melts do not form an interconnected network, leading to the widespread assumption that formation of metallic cores requires a magma ocean. In contrast, here we present experiments which demonstrate that shear deformation to large strains can interconnect a significant fraction of initially isolated pockets of metal and metal sulphide melts in a solid matrix of polycrystalline olivine. Therefore, in a dynamic (nonhydrostatic) environment, percolation remains a viable mechanism for the segregation and migration of core-forming melts in a solid silicate mantle.
Spectroscopy remains a powerful tool for inferring the modal mineralogy and mafic mineral composition of asteroid surfaces. Since similar measurements can be made on meteorite samples, spectroscopy can help link the two populations and add spatial and geologic context to detailed geo knowledge derived from meteorite samples. For example, analysis of the recent NEAR-Shoemaker mission to Eros include detailed study of NIS spectra to assess the affinity of Eros to ordinary chondrites. As discussed in these studies, pyrox (PYX) and olivine (OLV) absorption are readily detectable in the spectra. Furthermore, subtleties in band parameters (position vs. area) suggest the presence of both low- and high-calcium pyroxene (LCP and HCP), as expected from the petrology of ordinary chondrites. However unambiguous identification and detailed compositional inferences for both LCP and HCP (and OLV) are difficult from band parameters analysis. In this study, we examine spectra of S-asteroids and meteorites with the Modified Gaussian Model (MGM), an absorption band model, to explore the role of HCP in these silicate-rich spectra.
Spectroscopy remains a powerful tool for inferring the modal mineralogy and mafic mineral composition of asteroid surfaces. Since similar measurements can be made on meteorite samples, spectroscopy can help link the two populations and add spatial and geologic context to detailed geochemical knowledge derived from meteorite samples. For example, analysis of the recent NEAR-Shoemaker mission to Eros include detailed study of NIS spectra to assess the affinity of Eros to ordinary chondrites. As discussed in these studies, pyroxene (PYX) and olivine (OLV) absorption are readily detectable in the spectra. Furthermore, subtleties in band parameters (position vs. area) suggest the presence of both low- and high-calcium pyroxene (LCP and HCP), as expected from the petrology of ordinary chondrites. However unambiguous identification and detailed compositional inferences for both LCP and HCP (and OLV) are difficult from band parameters analysis. In this study, we examine spectra of S-asteroids and meteorites with the Modified Gaussian Model (MGM), an absorption band model, to explore the role of HCP in these silicate-rich spectra.
To investigate the role of deformation on the distribution of core-forming melt in a partially molten peridotite, samples of olivine-basalt-iron sulfide were sheared to large strains. Dramatic redistribution of sulfide and silicate melts occur during deformation. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.
Coordinated zoning studies of major, minor, trace elements and oxidation states in Martian minerals elucidate the magmatic evolution of QUE94201 and suggest an important role for olivine and volatile fluxing in a complex magmatic history. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.