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Determining the Oxygen Fugacity of Lunar Pyroclastic Glasses Using Vanadium Valence - An Update

We have been developing an oxygen barometer based on the valence state of V (V(2+), V(3+), V(4+), and V(5+)) in solar system basaltic glasses. The V valence is determined by synchrotron micro x-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES), which uses x-ray absorption associated with core-electronic transitions (absorption edges) to reveal a pre-edge peak whose intensity is directly proportional to the valence state of an element. XANES has advantages over other techniques that determine elemental valence because measurements can be made non-destructively in air and in situ on conventional thin sections at a micrometer spatial resolution with elemental sensitivities of approx. 100 ppm. Recent results show that fO2 values derived from the V valence technique are consistent with fO2 estimates determined by other techniques for materials that crystallized above the IW buffer. The fO2's determined by V valence (IW-3.8 to IW-2) for the lunar pyroclastic glasses, however, are on the order of 1 to 2.8 log units below previous estimates. Furthermore, the calculated fO2's decrease with increasing TiO2 contents from the A17 VLT to the A17 Orange glasses. In order to investigate these results further, we have synthesized lunar green and orange glasses and examined them by XANES.

Karner, J. M.↗

V Xanes in Spinels as an Oxy-Barometer in Meteorites with Implications for Redox Variations in the Inner Solar System

The variation of oxygen fugacity within inner solar system materials spans a range of nearly 15 orders of magnitude. Igneous and metamorphic rocks commonly contain a mineral assemblage that allows oxygen fugacity to be calculated or con-strained such as FeTi oxides, olivine-opx-spinel, or some other oxy-barometer. Some rocks, however, contain a limited mineral assemblage and do not provide constraints on fO2 using mineral equilibria. Good examples of the latter are orthopyroxenites or dunites, such as diogenites, ALH 84001, chassignites, or brachinites. In fact it is no surprise that the fO2 of many of these achondrites is not well known, other than being "reduced" and below the metal saturation value. In order to bridge this gap in our understanding, we have initiated a study of V in chromites in achondrite. Because the V pre-edge peak intensity and energy in chromites varies with fO2, and this has been calibrated over a large fO2 range, we can apply this relation to rocks for which we otherwise have no fO2 constraints.

Righter, K.↗

The Cr Redox Record of fO2 Variation in Angrites. Evidence for Redox Conditions of Angrite Petrogenesis and Parent Body

Angrites represent some of the earliest stages of planetesimal differentiation. Not surprisingly, there is no simple petrogenetic model for their origin. Petrogenesis has been linked to both magmatic and impact processes. Studies demonstrated that melting of chondritic material (e.g. CM, CV) at redox conditions where pure iron metal is unstable (e.g., IW+1 to IW+2) produced angrite-like melts. Alternatively, angrites were produced at more reducing conditions (<IW) with their exotic melt compositions resulting from carbonates in the source or from nebular condensation. Clearly, understanding what role fO2 plays in producing angrite magmas is critical for deciphering their petrogenesis and extending our understanding of primordial melting of asteroids. Calculations for the fO2 conditions of angrite crystallization are limited, and only preliminary attempts been made to understand the changes in fO2 that occurred during petrogenesis. Many of the angrites have phase assemblages which provide conflicting signals about redox conditions during crystallization (e.g., Fe metal and a Fe-Ti oxide with potential Fe3+. There have been several estimates of fO2 for angrites. Most notably, experiments examined the variation of DEu/DGd with fO2, between plagioclase and fassaitic pyroxene in equilibrium with an angrite melt composition. They used their observations to estimate the fO2 of crystallization to be approximately IW+0.6 for angrite LEW 86010. This estimate is only a "snapshot" of fO2 conditions during co-crystallization of plagioclase and pyroxene. Preliminary XANES analyses of V redox state in pyroxenes from D'Orbigny reported changes in fO2 from IW-0.7 during early pyroxene crystallization to IW+0.5 during latter episodes of pyroxene crystallization [15]. As this was a preliminary report, it presented limited information concerning the effects of pyroxene orientation and composition on the V valence measurements, and the effect of melt composition on valence and partitioning behavior of V. A closer examination of fO2 as recorded by Cr valence state in olivine will allow us to test models for primordial melting of chondritic material to produce the angrite parent melts. Here, we report the our initial stages of examining the origin and conditions of primordial melting on the angrite parent body and test some of the above models by integrating an experimental study of Cr and V valence partitioning between olivine [OL] and an angrite melt, with micro-scale determinations of Cr and V oxidation state in OL in selected "volcanic" angrites.

Shearer, Charles K.↗