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At least 19 records

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.↗

Clinopyroxene REE distribution coefficients for shergottites The REE content of the Shergotty melt

Rare-earth element (REE) distribution coefficients were measured between synthetic pyroxenes and melts similar in composition to the Shergotty intercumulus fluid. REE-doped synthetic glass samples were analyzed by means of an automated microbeam electron microprobe. The coefficients were found to exhibit a strong positive correlation with pyroxene wollastonite content. Using distribution coefficients measured for the natural phase compositions, REE abundances for the Shergotty intercumulus melt were computed.

Mckay, G.↗

REE in the Great Whale River estuary, northwest Quebec

A report on REE concentrations within the estuary of the Great Whale River in northwest Quebec and in Hudson Bay is given, showing concentrations which are less than those predicted by conservative mixing of seawater and river water, indicating removal of REE from solution. REE removal is rapid, occurring primarily at salinities less than 2 percent and ranges from about 70 percent for light REE to no more than 40 percent for heavy REE. At low salinity, Fe removal is essentially complete. The shape of Fe and REE vs. salinity profiles is not consistent with a simple model of destabilization and coagulation of Fe and REE-bearing colloidal material. A linear relationship between the activity of free ion REE(3+) and pH is consistent with a simple ion-exchange model for REE removal. Surface and subsurface samples of Hudson Bay seawater show high REE and La/Yb concentrations relative to average seawater, with the subsurface sample having a Nd concentration of 100 pmol/kg and an epsilon(Nd) of -29.3; characteristics consistent with river inputs of Hudson Bay. This indicates that rivers draining the Canadian Shield are a major source of nonradiogenic Nd and REE to the Atlantic Ocean.

Goldstein, Steven J.↗

Partitioning in REE-saturating minerals - Theory, experiment, and modelling of whitlockite, apatite, and evolution of lunar residual magmas

Compositions, including REEs determined by ion microprobe, of apatite and whitlockite in lunar rock assemblages rich in incompatible trace elements, are presented. Concentrations of REEs in lunar whitlockites are high, ranging from about 1.2 to 2.1 REEs (lanthanides + Y) per 56 oxygens. This slightly exceeds the level of two REE atoms per 56 oxygens at which the dominant substitution theoretically becomes saturated. This saturation effect leads to whitlockite REE(3+) D values at typical lunar whitlockite REE concentrations which are 30-40 percent lower than the D values at low concentrations. The halogen-to-phosphorous ratio in lunar melts is a key factor determining the REE distribution with crystalline assemblages. As long as P and REE concentrations of melts are in KREEP-like proportions, one or both of the phosphates will saturate in melts at similar REE concentrations.

Jolliff, Bradley L.↗

Crystal-chemistry and partitioning of REE in whitlockite

Partitioning of Rare Earth Elements (REE) in whitlockite is complicated by the fact that two or more charge-balancing substitutions are involved and by the fact that concentrations of REE in natural whitlockites are sufficiently high such that simple partition coefficients are not expected to be constant even if mixing in the system is completely ideal. The present study combines preexisting REE partitioning data in whitlockites with new experiments in the same compositional system and at the same temperature (approximately 1030 C) to place additional constraints on the complex variations of REE partition coefficients and to test theoretical models for how REE partitioning should vary with REE concentration and other compositional variables. With this data set, and by combining crystallographic and thermochemical constraints with a SAS simultaneous-equation best-fitting routine, it is possible to infer answers to the following questions: what is the speciation on the individual sites Ca(B), Mg, and Ca(IIA) (where the ideal structural formula is Ca(B)18 Mg2Ca(IIA)2P14O56); how are REE's charge-balanced in the crystal; and is mixing of REE in whitlockite ideal or non-ideal. This understanding is necessary in order to extrapolate derived partition coefficients to other compositional systems and provides a broadened understanding of the crystal chemistry of whitlockite.

Colson, R. O.↗

Anomalous REE patterns in unequilibrated enstatite chondrites: Evidence and implications

We present here a study of Rare Earth Element (REE) microdistributions in unequilibrated enstatite chondrites (EOC's). Although the whole rock REE contents are similar in both unequilibrated and equilibrated chondrites, the host minerals of these refractory elements are different. In the least equilibrated ordinary chondrites (UOC's), the REE reside mainly in glass whereas, in their more equilibrated counterparts, the bulk of the REE is in calcium phosphate, a metamorphic mineral that formed by oxidation of phosphorous originally contained in metal. In the smaller group of enstatite (E) chondrites, calcium phosphate is absent and the phase that contains the highest REE concentrations is a minor mineral, CaS (oldhamite), which contains approximately 50 percent of the total Ca present. In E chondrites, elements typically considered to be lithophiles (such as Ca and Mn) occur in sulfides rather than silicates. This indicates formation under extremely reducing conditions, thus in a region of the solar nebula distinct from those that supplied the more abundant ordinary and carbonaceous chondrites. Previously, we observed a variety of REE patterns in the oldhamite of UEC's; they range from almost flat to some with pronounced positive Eu and Yb anomalies. Here, we searched for complementary REE patterns in other minerals from E chondrites and found them in the major mineral, enstatite. Whenever Eu and Yb anomalies are present in this mineral, they are always negative.

Crozaz, Ghislaine↗

Insights Into Reconstructing REE Compositions of Melt From Zircon-Melt Partition Coefficients Using Zircon-Hosted Melt Inclusions From the Yellowstone Volcanic Province

Establishing the major and trace element composition of the Earth’s melts (Hadean to recent) is essential for understanding crustal evolution. Due to its physical-chemical resilience, zircon spans the complete age spectra of Earth’s history, and thus provides the only physical record from the early Earth. However, the petrological context i.e., the melt from which zircon crystallised, is often lost, except for inclusions of melt preserved within zircon. Melt inclusions in zircon (MI) provide a valuable tool to constrain zircon-melt REE partition coefficients (D REE ), which are used with the zircon REE chemistry to reconstruct melt compositions. Such reconstruction requires accurate partition coefficients, which are particularly sensitive to temperature, but also to pressure and melt composition. We determined the major and trace element compositions of 60 co-existing zircon-MI pairs from two ~ 2 Ma age rhyolites (the caldera-forming Huckleberry Ridge Tuff; HRT-C and the post-caldera Blue Creek Flow; BC-1) of the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field by EPMA and SIMS, and calculated a set of 60 zircon-MI partition coefficients. The MI from both units are glassy with average silica contents of 78.30 ± 0.74 and 77.19 ± 1.11 wt %, and Ti-in-zircon crystallisation temperatures are 839 ± 36 and 835 ± 35 oC. Measured D REE patterns for each population (n = 30) are tightly constrained and exhibit a smooth pattern spanning ~ six orders of magnitude from La to Lu, (with exceptions at Ce and Eu), and for the HRT exhibit greater curvature (i.e., flatter) between the MREE to HREE compared to the BC-1. D REE patterns for the HRT have small to moderate Ce anomalies (Ce/Ce* Di 50 ± 40), whereas those in the BC-1 are larger (98 ± 45), and both units exhibit negligible to positive Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* Di 1.07 ± 0.89 and 1.80 ± 2.01, respectively). We compare the trace element compositions of the MI to bulk-glass compositions from Yellowstone to assess any differences, which are small, then compare the measured MI compositions to those reconstructed using published partition coefficients (natural, empirical and experimental). The choice of D REE for reconstruction of the melt REE pattern results in differing petrogenetic interpretations.

Laura J. Crisp↗

REE chemistry and Sm-Nd systematics of late Archean weathering profiles in the Fortescue Group, Western Australia

Two weathering profiles, each consisting of an upper, sericite-rich zone and a lower, chlorite-rich zone, are preserved between flows of the Mt. Roe Basalt in the Fortescue Group, Hamersley Basin, Western Australia. REE concentrations in samples from these two profiles, which originally developed ca 2,760 Ma, show large variations depending on stratigraphic position. LREE abundances and (La/Yb)N are greatest at depths of 3-6 m below the paleosurface of the Mt. Roe #1 profile and are somewhat lower in samples above this level. The LREEs reach concentrations 6-9 times greater than in the underlying basalt, and thus appear to have been mobilized downward in the paleosol and concentrated in its middle part. LREE concentrations in the #2 profile show a similar distribution but with a sharp increase in all REE concentrations within 50 cm of the paleosurface. The distinction between the REE profiles in the two paleosols may be related to the difference in the overlying material. The #1 paleosol is overlain by a few meters of sediments and then by basalt, whereas the #2 paleosol is directly overlain by basalt. The LREEs appear to have been mobilized both during chemical weathering of the parental basalt and during later lower-greenschist-facies metamorphism and metasomatism of the paleosols. Remobilization of the REEs during the regional metamorphism of the Fortescue Group is confirmed by a whole-rock Sm-Nd reference isochron of Mt. Roe #1 samples with an age of 2,151 +/- 360 Ma. Variable initial 143Nd/144Nd values of unweathered basalt samples which may represent the paleosol protolith prevents a confident determination of the magnitude of LREE mobility. Both the initial mobilization of the REEs during weathering and the metasomatic remobilization appear to have taken place under redox conditions where Ce was present dominantly as Ce3+, because Ce anomalies are not developed within the sericite zone samples regardless of concentration. Europium anomalies in the paleoweathering profile are somewhat variable and were probably modified by mobilization of Eu2+ at metamorphic conditions. In all samples, the HREEs appear to have been relatively immobile and correlate with Al, Ti, Cr, V, Zr, and Nb. Sm-Nd systematics and REE patterns of four unweathered basalt samples indicate derivation of the Mt. Roe Basalts from a heterogeneous and enriched source having epsilon Nd between -4.0 and -7.4. Initial 143Nd/144Nd values of these basalts are even lower than those reported by NELSON et al. (1992) for Fortescue Group basalts and indicate a substantial crustal component in the generation of Mt. Roe Basalts.

NASA Discipline Exobiology↗

Origin and history of the adcumulate eucrite, Moama as inferred from REE abundances, Sm-Nd and U-Pb systematics

The abundances of Sm-Nd and U-Pb isotopes and of rare earth elements (REE) in Moama cumulate eucrite were investigated. The Sm-Nd data plotted on a Nd-143/Nd-144 vs Sm-147/Nd-144 evolution diagram define a line with a slope corresponding to an age of 4.58 plus or minus 0.05 billion years and an initial Nd-143/Nd-144 ratio of about 0.50684. Moama was found to contain the lowest overall trivalent REE abundances, the most light REE-depleted abundance pattern, and largest positive Eu anomaly of any eucrite yet studied. The REE data indicate that Moama could have been derived by about 1 to 5% fractional crystallization from a liquid with REE contents similar to Juvinas, or about 20 to 30% fractional crystallization from a Sioux County-like liquid. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that the Moama, Serra de Mage, and Moore county cumulate meteorites could have been derived from the same parent liquid. Results of the U-Th-Pb study indicate that the majority of the Pb in Moama is of terrestrial origin, and suggest that the meteorite has undergone a minor thermal event causing re-equilibration of the U-Pb system.

Hamet, J.↗

Partition coefficients for REE between garnets and liquids - Implications of non-Henry's Law behaviour for models of basalt origin and evolution

An experimental investigation of Ce, Sm and Tm rare earth element (REE) partition coefficients between coexisting garnets (both natural and synthetic) and hydrous liquids shows that Henry's Law may not be obeyed over a range of REE concentrations of geological relevance. Systematic differences between the three REE and the two garnet compositions may be explained in terms of the differences between REE ionic radii and those of the dodecahedral site into which they substitute, substantiating the Harrison and Wood (1980) model of altervalent substitution. Model calculations demonstrate that significant variation can occur in the rare earth contents of melts produced from a garnet lherzolite, if Henry's Law partition coefficients do not apply for the garnet phase.

Harrison, W. J.↗

REE radiation fault model: a tool for organizing and communication radiation test data and construction COTS based spacebourne computing systems

The growth in data rates of instruments on future NASA spacecraft continues to outstrip the improvement in communications bandwidth and processing capabilities of radiation-hardened computers. Sophisticated autonomous operations strategies will further increase the processing workload. Given the reductions in spacecraft size and available power, standard radiation hardened computing systems alone will not be able to address the requirements of future missions. The REE project was intended to overcome this obstacle by developing a COTS- based supercomputer suitable for use as a science and autonomy data processor in most space environments. This development required a detailed knowledge of system behavior in the presence of Single Event Effect (SEE) induced faults so that mitigation strategies could be designed to recover system level reliability while maintaining the COTS throughput advantage. The REE project has developed a suite of tools and a methodology for predicting SEU induced transient fault rates in a range of natural space environments from ground-based radiation testing of component parts. In this paper we provide an overview of this methodology and tool set with a concentration on the radiation fault model and its use in the REE system development methodology. Using test data reported elsewhere in this and other conferences, we predict upset rates for a particular COTS single board computer configuration in several space environments.

Radiation Effects Modeling COTS computers REE SEU ↗

Origin and evolution of the Nakhla meteorite inferred from the Sm-Nd and U-Pb systematics and REE, Ba, Sr, Rb and K abundances

Analyses of whole rock and mineral separates from the Nakhla meteorite are carried out by means of Sm-Nd and U-Tn-Pb systematics and by determining their REE, Ba, Sr, Rb, and K concentrations. Results show that the Sm-Nd age of the meteorite is 1.26 + or - 0.7 b.y., while the high initial epsilon(Nd) value of +16 suggests that Nakhla was derived from a light REE-depleted, old planetary mantle source. A three-stage Sm-Nd evolution model is developed and used in combination with LIL element data and estimated partition coefficients in order to test partial melting and fractional crystallization models and to estimate LIL abundances in a possible Nakhla source. The calculations indicate that partial melting of the source followed by extensive fractional crystallization of the partial melt could account for the REE abundances in the Nakhla constituent minerals. It is concluded that the significantly younger age of Nakhla than the youngest lunar rock, the young differentiation age inferred from U-Th-Pb data, and the estimated LIL abundances suggest that this meteorite may have been derived from a relatively large, well-differentiated planetary body such as Mars.

Nakamura, N.↗

Al-26, Pu-244, Ti-50, REE, and trace element abundances in hibonite grains from CM and CV meteorites

Hibonites from the CM meteorites Murchison, Murray, and Cold Bokkeveld, and hibonites and Ti-rich pyroxene from the CV chondrite Allende are studied. Electron microprobe measurements of major element concentrations and track and ion probe measurements of Mg and Ti isotopic ratios, rare earth elements (REEs), and trace element abundances are analyzed. Correlations between isotopic anomalies in Ti, Al-26, Pu-244, and Mg-26(asterisk) are examined. Ti isotopic anomalies are compared with REE and trace element abundance patterns. Reasons for the lack of Al-26 in the hibonites are investigated and discussed. It is observed that there is no correlation between the Ti isotopic compositions, and the presence of Mg-26(asterisk), Pu-244, and REE and trace element patterns in individual hibonite samples. The data reveal that hibonites are not interstellar dust grains but formed on a short time scale and in localized regions of the early solar system.

Fahey, A. J.↗

Expanding the REE Partitioning Database for Lunar Materials

Positive europium anomalies are ubiquitous in the plagioclase-rich rocks of the lunar highlands, and complementary negative Eu anomalies are found in most lunar basalts. This is taken as evidence of a large-scale differentation event, with crystallization of a global-scale lunar magma ocean (LMO) resulting in a plagioclase flotation crust and a mafic lunar interior from which mare basalts were later derived. However, the extent of the Eu anomaly in lunar rocks is variable. Some plagioclase grains in a lunar impact rock (60635) have been reported to display a negative Eu anomaly, or in some cases single grains display both positive and neagtive anomalies. Cathodoluminescence images reveal that some crystals have a negative anomaly in the core and positive at the rim, or vice versa, and the negative anomalies are not associated with crystal overgrowths. Oxygen fugacity is known to affect Eu partitioning into plagioclase, as under low fO2 conditions Eu can be divalent, and has an ionic radius similar to Ca2+ - significant in lunar samples where plagioclase compositions are predominantly anorthitic. However, there are very few experimental studies of rare earth element (REE) partitioning in plagioclase relevant to lunar magmatism, with only two plagioclase DEu measurements from experiments using lunar materials, and little data in low fO2 conditions relevant to the Moon. We report on REE partitioning experiments on lunar compositions. We investigate two lunar basaltic compositions, high-alumina basalt 14072 and impact melt breccia 60635. These samples span a large range of lunar surface bulk compositions. The experiments are carried out at variable fO2 in 1 bar gas mixing furnaces, and REE are analysed by and LA-ICP-MS. Our results not only greatly expand the existing plagioclase DREE database for lunar compositions, but also investigate the significance of fO2 in Eu partitioning, and in the interpretation of Eu anomalies in lunar materials.

Rapp, Jennifer F.↗

U, Th, Pb and REE abundances and Pb 207/Pb 206 ages of individual minerals in returned lunar material by ion microprobe mass analysis.

Results of ion microprobe analyses of Apollo 11, 12 and 14 material, showing that U, Th, Pb and REE are concentrated in accessory minerals such as apatite, whitlockite, zircon, baddeleyite, zirkelite, and tranquillityite. Th/U ratios are found to vary by over a factor of 40 in these minerals. K, Ba, Rb and Sr have been localized in a K rich, U and Th poor glass phase that is commonly associated with the U and Th bearing accessory minerals. Li is observed to be fairly evenly distributed between the various accessory phases. The phosphates have been found to have REE abundance patterns (normalized to the chondrite abundances) that are fairly flat, while the Zr bearing minerals have patterns that rise steeply, by factors of ten or more, from La to Gd. All the accessory minerals have large negative Eu anomalies. Radiometric age dates (Pb 207/Pb 206) of the individual U and Th bearing minerals compare favorably with the Pb 207/Pb 206 age of the bulk rocks.

Andersen, C. A.↗

Partitioning REE between minerals and coexisting melts during partial melting of a garnet lherzolite

Partition coefficients for Ce, Sm, and Tm between garnet, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, olivine, and melt are determined at 35 kbar for 2.3, 8, 20, and 37.7% melting of a garnet lherzolite nodule with chondritic REE abundances. Partition coefficients are found to increase as the degree of partial melting increases. From 2.3 to 8% melting, this increase is for the most part a consequence of non-Henry's law behavior of REE in minerals.

Harrison, W. J.↗

Isotopic and REE studies of lunar basalt 12038 - Implications for petrogenesis of aluminous mare basalts

Sr, Nd, and Sm isotopic studies of lunar basalt 12038, one of the so-called aluminous mare basalts, are reported. The evolution of the Sr and Nd isotopic compositions and the rare earth element (REE) abundances is successfully modeled within the framework of the model developed by Nyquist et al. (1977, 1979) for Apollo 12 olivine-pigeonite and ilmenite basalts. It is pointed out that the isotopic and trace element features of 12038 can by modeled as produced by partial melting of a cumulate mantle source which crystallized from a lunar magma ocean with a chondrite-normalized REE pattern of constant negative slope. Chondrite-normalized La/Yb is equal to 2.2 for this hypothetical magma ocean pattern.

Nyquist, L. E.↗

Hf, Zr, and REE partition coefficients between ilmenite and liquid - Implications for lunar petrogenesis

Partition coefficients (D) between ilmenite and coexisting liquid were determined under near-lunar conditions for Hf, Zr, and REE. Through isotope dilution analysis, ilmenite D values of 0.41 and 0.33 were obtained for Hf and Zr respectively, values significantly lower than those of ilmenite from a kimberlite megacryst. Partition coefficients of REE for the synthesized ilmenite are slightly smaller than those of ilmenite from the kimberlite megacryst, and the lunar (Lu) partition coefficient is 0.056. These results suggest that ilmenite was significant in the lunar-Hf evolution of lunar mare basalts. Using lunar and Hf D values for ilmenite, the Lu-Hf evolution of lunar cumulates and the coexisting magma was examined for various crystallization sequences. The Lu-Hf variation trend of most high-Ti mare basalts is explained by a small degree of partial cumulate melting, though a higher degree is required to explain the variation of very low-Ti basalts, green glass, and Apollo 12 low-Ti basalts. Apollo 15 low-Ti basalts may require chromite crystallization as well.

Nakamura, Y.↗