¹I. P. Wright, ¹S. Sheridan, ¹S. J. Barber, ¹G. H. Morgan, ¹D. J. Andrews, ¹A. D. Morse
¹Department of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK.

The surface and subsurface of comets preserve material from the formation of the solar system. The properties of cometary material thus provide insight into the physical and chemical conditions during their formation. We present mass spectra taken by the Ptolemy instrument 20 minutes after the initial touchdown of the Philae lander on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Regular mass distributions indicate the presence of a sequence of compounds with additional -CH2- and -O- groups (mass/charge ratios 14 and 16, respectively). Similarities with the detected coma species of comet Halley suggest the presence of a radiation-induced polymer at the surface. Ptolemy measurements also indicate an apparent absence of aromatic compounds such as benzene, a lack of sulfur-bearing species, and very low concentrations of nitrogenous material.

Reference
Wright IP, Sheridan S, Barber SJ, Morgan GH, Andrews DJ, Morse AD (2015) CHO-bearing organic compounds at the surface of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko revealed by Ptolemy. Science 349, 6247
Link to Article [DOI: 10.1126/science.aab0673]
Reprinted with permission from AAAS

¹Tatsuaki Okada, ²Michael E Zolensky, ³Trevor Ireland, ¹Toru Yada
¹Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Sagamihara 252-5210, Japan
²Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston 77058, TX, USA
³Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia

We currently do not have a copyright agreement with this publisher and cannot display the abstract here

Reference
Okada T, Zolensky ME, Ireland T, Yada T (2015) Science of solar system materials examined from Hayabusa and future missions. Earth, Planets and Space 67:116
Link to Article [doi:10.1186/s40623-015-0235-x]

¹Jennifer Hanley, ²Vincent F. Chevrier, ³R. Scott Barrows, ⁴Chase Swaffer, ²Travis S. Altheide
¹Department of Space Studies, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado, USA
²Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA
³Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA

The presence and distribution of oxychlorine salts (e.g. chlorates and perchlorates) on Mars has implications for the stability of water, most notably that they lower the freezing temperature. To date, elemental chlorine has been measured by all lander missions, with the perchlorate ion identified at both the Phoenix and Curiosity landing sites, but detection by near-infrared (NIR) and mid-infrared (MIR) remote sensing has been limited to deposits of anhydrous chlorides. Given that oxychlorine salts can form numerous hydrated phases, we have measured their NIR and MIR reflectance spectra from 1–25 µm for comparison to data collected from orbiting spectrometers. Anhydrous oxychlorine salts show almost no features in the NIR, except for small bands of residual adsorbed water. However, hydrated oxychlorine salts show numerous features due to water in the NIR, specifically at ~1.4 and ~1.9 µm. Increasing the hydration state increases the depth and width of the water bands. All oxychlorine salts exhibit an additional feature at ~2.2 µm due to a Cl-O combination or overtone feature, though it is less prominent in the hydrated perchlorate salts, likely overwhelmed by the ClO4-H2O feature at 2.14 µm. All oxychlorine salts show features in the MIR, due to the fundamental vibrations of Cl-O longward of ~8 µm. The NIR spectral features of hydrated oxychlorine salts are similar to other hydrated salts, especially hydrated sulfates, thus identification from orbit may be ambiguous; however, by utilizing the NIR and MIR laboratory data presented here for comparison, oxychlorine salts may be detectable by orbiting spectrometers.

Reference
Hanley J, Chevrier VF, Barrows RS, Swaffer C, Altheide TS (2015) Near- and mid-infrared reflectance spectra of hydrated oxychlorine salts with implications for Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research (Planets) (in Press)
Link to Article [DOI: 10.1002/2013JE004575]
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

¹Mario Fischer-Gödde, ^1,2Christoph Burkhardt, ¹Thomas S. Kruijer, ¹Thorsten Kleine
¹Institut für Planetologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Wilhelm-Klemm-Str. 10, 48149 Münster, Germany
²Origins Laboratory, Department of Geophysical Sciences, The University of Chicago, IL 60637, USA

Nucleosynthetic isotope anomalies in bulk chondrites and differentiated meteorites reflect variable proportions of isotopically diverse presolar components in bulk planetary bodies, but the origin of these heterogeneities is not well understood. Here, the Ru isotope composition of a comprehensive suite of iron meteorites and bulk samples of ordinary, enstatite and carbonaceous chondrites, as well as acid leachates and an insoluble residue of the Allende chondrite are examined using newly developed multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry techniques. Except for IAB iron meteorites and enstatite chondrites, all investigated meteorites show well-resolved Ru isotope anomalies. Of these, within-group Ru isotopic variations observed for samples from a given chemical group of iron meteorites reflect secondary neutron capture induced during prolonged cosmic ray-exposure. After correction of these cosmogenic effects using Pt isotopes as a neutron-dose monitor, the remaining Ru isotope anomalies are nucleosynthetic in nature and are consistent with a deficit in s-process Ru in iron meteorite parent bodies. Similarly, Ru isotope anomalies in bulk ordinary and carbonaceous chondrites also reflect a deficiency in s-process Ru. The sequential dissolution of Allende reveals the presence of an HF-soluble s-process carrier, which is either an unidentified presolar phase or a component that incorporated s-process Ru liberated from SiC grains during nebular or parent body processes. We show that varying proportions of the s-process carrier identified in Allende resulted in the correlated Ru isotope anomalies observed for bulk meteorites, and that all meteorites (except possibly IAB irons and enstatite chondrites) are depleted in this s-process component relative to Ru from the Earth’s mantle. Bulk meteorites exhibit correlated Ru and Mo isotope anomalies, reflecting variable deficits of a common s-process component, but some iron meteorites and carbonaceous chondrites appear to deviate from this correlation. This may reflect unaccounted cosmic effects on Mo isotopes in iron meteorites, sample heterogeneities in carbonaceous chondrites or nebular and parent body processes acting differently on presolar Mo and Ru components.
The identification of s-deficits in Ru isotopes in almost all iron meteorites and chondrites investigated so far implies that meteorites do not seem to represent the material delivered to the Earth’s mantle as a late veneer after cessation of core formation. However, additional analyses of a more comprehensive set of chondrites are necessary to firmly arrive at this conclusion.

Reference
Fischer-Gödde M, Burkhardt C, Kruijer TS, Kleine T (2015) Ru isotope heterogeneity in the solar protoplanetary disk. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Act (in Press)
Link to Article [doi:10.1016/j.gca.2015.07.032]
Copyright Elsevier

¹Andrew W. Beck et al. (>10)*
¹The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA
*Find the extensive, full author and affiliation list on the publishers website

Here, we construct a comprehensive howardite, eucrite, and diogenite (HED) bulk chemistry data set to compare with Dawn data. Using the bulk chemistry data set, we determine four gamma-ray/neutron parameters in the HEDs (1) relative fast neutron counts (fast counts), (2) macroscopic thermal neutron absorption cross section (absorption), (3) a high-energy gamma-ray compositional parameter (Cp), and (4) Fe abundance. These correspond to the four measurements of Vesta made by Dawn’s Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector (GRaND) that can be used to discern HED lithologic variability on the Vestan surface. We investigate covariance between fast counts and average atomic mass in the meteorite data set, where a strong correlation (r2 = 0.99) is observed, and we demonstrate that systematic offsets from the fast counttrend are linked to changes in Fe and Ni concentrations. To compare the meteorite and GRaND data, we investigate and report covariance among fast counts, absorption, Cp, and Fe abundance in the HED meteorite data set. We identify several GRaND measurement spaces where the Yamato type B diogenites are distinct from all other HED lithologies, including polymict mixtures. The type B’s are diogenites that are enriched in Fe + pigeonite + diopside ± plagioclase, relative to typical, orthopyroxenitic diogenites. We then compare these results to GRaND data and demonstrate that regions north of ~70°N latitude on Vesta (including the north pole) are consistent with type B diogenites. We propose two models to explain type B diogenite compositions in the north (1) deposition as Rheasilvia ejecta, or (2) type B plutons that were emplaced at shallow depths in the north polar region and sampled by local impacts. Lastly, using principal component (PC) analysis, we identify unique PC spaces for all HED lithologies, indicating that the corresponding GRaND measurables may be used to produce comprehensive lithologic maps for Vesta.

Reference
Andrew W. Beck et al. (2015) Using HED meteorites to interpret neutron and gamma-ray data from asteroid 4 Vesta. Meteoritics&Planetary Science (in Press)
Link to Article [DOI: 10.1111/maps.12467]

Published by arrangement with John Wiley&Sons

¹T. K. Croat, ¹C. Floss, ¹B. A. Haas, ²M. J. Burchell, ^2,3A. T. Kearsley
¹Laboratory for Space Sciences and Department of Physics, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
²Centre for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, School of Physical Sciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NH, UK
³Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK

We present results of FIB–TEM studies of 12 Stardust analog Al foil craters which were created by firing refractory Si and Ti carbide and nitride grains into Al foils at 6.05 km s−1 with a light-gas gun to simulate capture of cometary grains by the Stardust mission. These foils were prepared primarily to understand the low presolar grain abundances (both SiC and silicates) measured by SIMS in Stardust Al foil samples. Our results demonstrate the intact survival of submicron SiC, TiC, TiN, and less-refractory Si3N4 grains. In small (5 μm) are typically fragmented and are somewhat flattened in the direction of impact due to partial melting and/or plastic deformation. The low presolar grain abundance estimates derived from SIMS measurements of large craters (mostly >50 μm) likely result from greater modification of these impactors (i.e., melting and isotopic dilution), due to higher peak temperatures/pressures in these crater impacts. The better survivability of grains in smaller craters suggests that more accurate presolar grain estimates may be achievable through measurement of such craters. It also suggests small craters can provide a complementary method of study of the Wild 2 fine fraction, especially for refractory CAI-like minerals.

Reference
Croat TK, Floss C, Haas BA, Burchell MJ, Kearsley AT (2015) Survival of refractory presolar grain analogs during Stardust-like impact into Al foils: Implications for Wild 2 presolar grain abundances and study of the cometary fine fraction. Meteoritics&Planetary Science (in Press)
Link to Article [DOI: 10.1111/maps.12474]

Published by arrangement with John Wiley&Sons

¹Miki Nakajima, ¹David J. Stevenson
¹Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E California Blvd., MC 150-21, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

The Earth’s Moon is thought to have formed by an impact between the Earth and an impactor around 4.5 billion years ago. This impact could have been so energetic that it could have mixed and homogenized the Earth’s mantle. However, this view appears to be inconsistent with geochemical studies that suggest that the Earth’s mantle was not mixed by the impact. Another outcome of the impact is that this energetic impact melted the whole mantle, but the extent of mantle melting is not well understood even though it must have had a significant effect on the subsequent evolution of the Earth’s interior and atmosphere. To understand the initial state of the Earth’s mantle, we perform giant impact simulations using smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) for three different models: (a) standard: a Mars-sized impactor hits the proto-Earth, (b) fast-spinning Earth: a small impactor hits a rapidly rotating proto-Earth, and (c) sub-Earths: two half Earth-sized planets collide. We use two types of equations of state (MgSiO3 liquid and forsterite) to describe the Earth’s mantle. We find that the mantle remains unmixed in (a), but it may be mixed in (b) and (c). The extent of mixing is most extensive in (c). Therefore, (a) is most consistent and (c) may be least consistent with the preservation of the mantle heterogeneity, while (b) may fall between. We determine that the Earth’s mantle becomes mostly molten by the impact in all of the models. The choice of the equation of state does not affect these outcomes. Additionally, our results indicate that entropy gains of the mantle materials by a giant impact cannot be predicted well by the Rankine–Hugoniot equations. Moreover, we show that the mantle can remain unmixed on a Moon-forming timescale if it does not become mixed by the impact.

Reference
Nakajima M, Stevenson DJ (2015) Melting and mixing states of the Earth’s mantle after the Moon-forming impact. Earth and Planetary Science Letters (in Press)
Link to Article [doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2015.06.023]
Copyright Elsevier

^1,2Yang Chen, ²Youxue Zhang, ²Yang Liu, ³Yunbin Guan, ³John Eiler, ³Edward M. Stolper
¹Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1005, USA
²Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
³Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

The concentrations of volatile elements in the moon have important implications for the formation of the earth–moon system. There is currently a debate regarding the water content of the lunar mantle: Authors studying H2O in lunar pyroclastic glass beads and in olivine-hosted melt inclusions in such pyroclastic samples and in plagioclase crystals in lunar highland anorthosites infer hundreds of ppm H2O in the lunar mantle. In contrast, authors studying Zn/Fe ratios infer that the H2O concentration in the lunar mantle is ≤1 ppm≤1 ppm, and they argue that the glassy lunar basalts are a local anomaly. We contribute to a resolution of the debate by a broader examination of the concentrations of H2O and other volatile components in olivine-hosted melt inclusions in a wider range of lunar mare basalts, including crystalline melt inclusions that are homogenized by melting in the laboratory. We find that F, Cl, and S concentrations in various lunar melt inclusions (including those in glassy lunar basalts) are similar to one another, and previously studied glassy lunar basalts are not a local anomaly in terms of these volatile concentrations. Furthermore, we estimate the pre-degassing H2O/Ce, F/Nd, and S/Dy ratios of mare basaltic magmas to be at least 64, 4.0 and 100 respectively. These ratios are lower than those of primitive earth mantle by a factor of 3, 5, and 4 respectively. The depletion factors of these volatile elements relative to the earth’s primitive mantle do not correlate strongly with volatility or bonding energy, and indeed they are roughly constant and similar to those of other volatile elements such as Li, Cs, Rb and K. This approximate constancy of volatile depletion in the moon relative to the earth can be explained by assuming that both the earth and the moon acquired volatiles from a similar source or by a similar mechanism but the earth was more efficient in acquiring the volatiles. We estimate the H2O, F and S concentrations in the primitive lunar mantle source to be at least 110, 5.3, and 70 ppm, respectively – similar to or slightly lower than those in terrestrial MORB mantle.

Reference
Chena Y, Zhang Y, Liu Y, Guan Y, Eiler J, Stolper EM (2015) Water, fluorine, and sulfur concentrations in the lunar mantle. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 427, 37–46
Link to Article [doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2015.06.046]
Copyright Elsevier

¹P. Beck et al. (>10)
¹Univ. Grenoble Alpes, IPAG, F-38000 Grenoble, France
*Find the extensive, full author and affiliation list on the publishers website

The Martian surface is covered by a fine-layer of oxidized dust responsible for its red color in the visible spectral range (Bibring et al., 2006 and Morris et al., 2006). In the near infrared, the strongest spectral feature is located between 2.6 and 3.6 μm and is ubiquitously observed on the planet (Jouglet et al., 2007 and Milliken et al., 2007). Although this absorption has been studied for many decades, its exact attribution and its geological and climatic implications remain debated. We present new lines of evidence from laboratory experiments, orbital and landed missions data, and characterization of the unique Martian meteorite NWA 7533, all converging toward the prominent role of hydroxylated ferric minerals. Martian breccias (so-called “Black Beauty” meteorite NWA7034 and its paired stones NWA7533 and NWA 7455) are unique pieces of the Martian surface that display abundant evidence of aqueous alteration that occurred on their parent planet (Agee et al., 2013). These dark stones are also unique in the fact that they arose from a near surface level in the Noachian southern hemisphere (Humayun et al., 2013). We used IR spectroscopy, Fe-XANES and petrography to identify the mineral hosts of hydrogen in NWA 7533 and compare them with observations of the Martian surface and results of laboratory experiments. The spectrum of NWA 7533 does not show mafic mineral absorptions, making its definite identification difficult through NIR remote sensing mapping. However, its spectra are virtually consistent with a large fraction of the Martian highlands. Abundant NWA 7034/7533 (and paired samples) lithologies might abound on Mars and might play a role in the dust production mechanism.

Reference
Beck P et al. (2015) A Noachian source region for the “Black Beauty” meteorite, and a source lithology for Mars surface hydrated dust? Earth and Planetary Science Letters 427, 104–111
Link to Article [doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2015.06.033]

Copyright Elsevier

^1,2Joseph R. Michalski, ¹Javier Cuadros, ³Janice L. Bishop, ⁴M. Darby Dyar, ⁵Vesselin Dekov, ⁶Saverio Fiore
¹Dept. of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, UK
²Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, USA
³SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, USA
⁴Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA, USA
⁵Département Géosciences Marines, IFREMER, Plouzané, France
⁶University of Bari, Bari, Italy

Near-infrared remote sensing data of Mars have revealed thousands of ancient deposits of Fe/Mg-rich smectitic clay minerals within the crust with relevance to past habitability. Diagnostic metal–OH infrared spectroscopic absorptions used to interpret the mineralogy of these phyllosilicates occur at wavelengths of 2.27–2.32 μm, indicating variable Fe/Mg ratios in the clay structures. The objective of this work is to use these near infrared absorptions to constrain the mineralogy of smectites on Mars. Using Fe/Mg-rich seafloor clay minerals as mineralogical and spectroscopic analogs for Martian clay minerals, we show how crystal–chemical substitution and mixed layering affect the position of the diagnostic metal–OH spectral feature in smectitic clay minerals. Crystal-chemistry of smectites detected on Mars were quantitatively constrained with infrared data and categorized into four mineralogical groups. Possible alteration processes are constrained by comparisons of clay chemistry detected by remote sensing techniques to the chemistry of candidate protoliths. Of the four groups identified, three of them indicate significant segregation of Fe from Mg, suggestive of alteration under water-rich and/or oxidizing conditions on Mars. The fourth group (with low Fe/Mg ratios) may result from alteration in reducing or water-limited conditions, potentially in subsurface environments. Some samples are interstratified di–trioctahedral clay minerals that have characteristics of dioctahedral clay minerals but clear chemical evidence for trioctahedral sheets. Approximately 70% of smectite deposits previously detected on Mars are classified as Fe-rich (FeO/MgO > 10). Only 22% of detections are trioctahedral and relatively Mg-rich. An additional ∼8% are difficult to characterize, but might be very Fe-rich. The segregation of Fe from Mg in Martian clay minerals suggests that Mg should be enriched in other contemporaneous deposits such as chlorides and carbonates.

Reference
Michalski JR, Cuadros J, Bishop JL, Dyar MD, Dekov V, Fiore S (2015) Constraints on the crystal-chemistry of Fe/Mg-rich smectitic clays on Mars and links to global alteration trends. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 427, 215–225.
Link to Article [doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2015.06.020]

Copyright Elsevier