¹Savovic, J., ¹Stoiljkovic, M., ²Kuzmanovic, M., ¹Momcilovic, M., ¹Ciganovic, J., ²Rankovic, D., ¹Zivkovic, S., ¹Trtica, M.
¹University of Belgrade, Institute of Nuclear Sciences Vinca, P.O. Box 522, Belgrade, Serbia
²University of Belgrade, Faculty of Physical Chemistry, Studentski trg 12-16, 118 PAC 105305, Belgrade, Serbia

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Reference
Savovic J, Stoiljkovic M, Kuzmanovic M, Momcilovic M, Ciganovic J, Rankovic D, Zivkovic S, Trtica M (2016) The feasibility of TEA CO2 laser-induced plasma for spectrochemical analysis of geological samples in simulated Martian conditions.
Spectrochimica Acta – Part B Atomic Spectroscopy 118, 127-136
Link to Article [DOI: 10.1016/j.sab.2016.02.020]

¹Somogyi, Á., ²Thissen, R., ²Orthous-Daunay, F.-R., ²Vuitton, V.
¹Campus Chemical Instrument Center, Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics Laboratory, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
¹Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, Grenoble, France
The role of ultrahigh resolution fourier transform mass spectrometry (FT-MS) in astrobiology-related research: Analysis of meteorites and tholins

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Reference
Somogyi Á, Thissen R, Orthous-Daunay F-R, Vuitton V (2016) The role of ultrahigh resolution fourier transform mass spectrometry (FT-MS) in astrobiology-related research: Analysis of meteorites and tholins. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 17, 439
Link to Article [DOI: 10.3390/ijms17040439]

¹Gismelseed, A.M., ²Abdallah, S.B., ¹Al-Rawas, A.D., ¹Al-Mabsali, F.N., ¹Widatallah, H.M., ¹Elzain, M.E., ¹Yousif, A.A., ³Ericsson, T., ⁴Annersten, H.
¹College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University, Box 36, Al-Khoud, Oman
²Department of Geology, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan
³Department of Physics and Material Sciences, Uppsala University, Box 530, Uppsala, Sweden
⁴Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, Uppsala, Sweden

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Reference
Gismelseed AM, Abdallah SB, Al-Rawa, AD, Al-Mabsali FN, Widatallah HM, Elzain ME,
Yousif AA, Ericsson T, Annersten H (2016) Investigations of Al-Dalang and Al-Hawashat meteorites. Hyperfine Interactions 237, 1-7
Link to Article [DOI: 10.1007/s10751-016-1246-0]

¹D. Breitschwerdt, ¹J. Feige, ¹M. M. Schulreich, ^1,2M. A. de. Avillez, ³C. Dettbarn ³B. Fuchs
¹Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Berlin Institute of Technology, Hardenbergstraße 36, 10623 Berlin, Germany
²Department of Mathematics, University of Évora, Rua Romão Ramalho 59, 7000 Évora, Portugal
³Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Mönchhofstraße 12–14, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany

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Reference
Breitschwerdt D, Feige J, Schulreich MM, de Avillez MA, Dettbarn C, Fuchs B (2016)
The locations of recent supernovae near the Sun from modelling 60Fe transport
Nature 532, 73–76
Link to Article [doi:10.1038/nature17424]

¹Wallner A. et al. (>10)*
¹Department of Nuclear Physics, Research School of Physics and Engineering, The Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
*Find the extensive, full author and affiliation list on the publishers website

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Reference
Wallner A et al. (2016) Recent near-Earth supernovae probed by global deposition of interstellar radioactive 60Fe. Nature 532, 69–72
Link to Article [doi:10.1038/nature17196]

¹W.H. Farrand, ²S.P. Wright, ³A.D. Rogers,³T.D. Glotch
¹Space Science Institute, 4750 Walnut Street, Suite 205, Boulder, Colorado, 80301
²Planetary Science Institute, 1700 E. Ft. Lowell Rd., #106, Tucson, AZ, 85719
³Department of Geosciences, Stony Brook University, 255 Earth and Space Sciences Building, Stony Brook, NY, 11794

The CheMin X-ray diffraction instrument on-board the Curiosity rover in Gale crater has measured a consistent x-ray amorphous component in drill core samples examined to-date, clearly demonstrating that x-ray amorphous materials are a significant fraction of the martian surface layer. Glasses are potential components of this amorphous material and in this study, basaltic tephras from several hydro- and glaciovolcanic centers, as well as impact melts from India’s Lonar Crater, were examined using thin section petrography, visible and near-infrared reflectance and mid-wave infrared emission spectroscopy as well as measuring major and minor element chemistry of representative samples using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy. The objectives of this study have been to look for distinguishing characteristics between volcanic and impact glasses and to determine features that indicate whether the glasses are fresh or altered using methods available on current and planned Mars rovers. Spectral features in the visible and near-infrared (VNIR) that can be used as indicators of alteration include the development of hydration features at 1.9 and ∼3 μm and a feature attributed to ferric oxide development at 0.48 μm. In the mid-wave infrared, it was observed that glass-rich tephra field samples did not display a broad, disordered glass feature near 9 to 10 μm (as is observed in pristine basaltic glasses) but rather a doublet with centers near 9.5 and 11 μm attributed in earlier work to incipient devitrification into SiO4 chain and sheet structures respectively. A tentative observation was made that the Si-O bending feature, observed in all the sample spectra near 22 μm was broader in the hydro- and glaciovolcanic glass samples than in the impact glass samples. Hydro- and glaciovolcanic glass-rich tephra samples were used as library spectra in linear deconvolution analyses of Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (MGS TES) surface spectral types. These incipiently devitrified glass spectra were selected for all of the surface types and formed close to 40% of the N. Acidalia Planitia spectral type.

Reference
Farrand WH, Wright SP, Rogers AD, Glotch TD (2016) Basaltic Glass formed from Hydrovolcanism and Impact Processes: Characterization and Clues for Detection of Mode of Origin from VNIR through MWIR Reflectance and Emission Spectroscopy. Icarus (in Press)
Link to Article [doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2016.03.027]
Copyright Elsevier

¹Edel M. O’Sullivan, ¹Robbie Goodhue, ²Doreen E. Ames, ¹Balz S. Kamber
¹Department of Geology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland
²Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Canada

The 1.85 Ga Sudbury structure provides a unique opportunity to study the sequence of events that occurred within a hydrothermally active subaqueous impact crater during the late stages of an impact and in its aftermath. Here we provide the first comprehensive chemostratigraphic study for the lower crater fill, represented by the ca. 1.4 km thick Onaping Formation. Carefully hand-picked ash-sized matrix of 81 samples was analysed for major elements, full trace elements and C isotopes.

In most general terms, the composition of the clast-free matrix resembles that of the underlying melt sheet. However, many elements show interesting chemostratigraphies. The high field strength element evolution clearly indicates that the crater rim remained intact during the deposition of the entire Onaping Formation, collapsing only at the transition to the overlying Onwatin Formation. An interesting feature is that several volatile metals (e.g., Pb, Sb) are depleted by > 90% in the lower Onaping Formation, suggesting that the impact resulted in a net loss of at least some volatile species, supporting the idea of “impact erosion,” whereby volatile elements were vaporized and lost to space during impact. Reduced C contents in the lower Onaping Formation are low (< 0.1 wt%) but increase to 0.5-1 wt% up stratigraphy, where δ13C becomes constant at -31‰, indicating a biogenic origin. Elevated Y/Ho and U/Th require that the ash interacted with saline water, most likely seawater. Redox-sensitive trace metal chemostratigraphies (e.g., V and Mo) suggest that the basin was anoxic and possibly euxinic and became inhabited by plankton, whose rain-down led to a reservoir effect in certain elements (e.g., Mo). This lasted until the crater rim was breached, the influx of fresh seawater promoting renewed productivity.

If the Sudbury basin is used as an analogue for the Hadean and Eoarchaean Earth, our findings suggest that hydrothermal systems, capable of producing volcanogenic massive sulfides, could develop within the rims of large to giant impact structures. These hydrothermal systems did not require mid-ocean ridges and implicitly, the operation of plate tectonics. Regardless of hydrothermal input, enclosed submarine impact basins also provided diverse isolated environments (potential future oases) for the establishment of life.

Reference
O’Sullivan EM, Goodhue R, Ames DE, Kamber BS (2016) Chemostratigraphy of the Sudbury impact basin fill: volatile metal loss and post-impact evolution of a submarine impact basin. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press)
Link to Article [doi:10.1016/j.gca.2016.04.007]
Copyright Elsevier

¹Edward Cloutis, ¹Paul Szymanski, ¹Daniel Applin, ²Douglas Goltz
¹Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3B 2E9
²Department of Chemistry, University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3B 2E9

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widely present throughout the solar system and beyond. They have been implicated as a contributor to unidentified infrared emission bands in the interstellar medium, comprise a substantial portion of the insoluble organic matter in carbonaceous chondrites, are expected stable components of organic matter on Mars, and are present in a wide range of terrestrial hydrocarbons and as components of biomolecules. However, PAH structures can be very complicated, making their identification challenging. Raman spectroscopy is known to be especially sensitive to the highly polarizable C-C and C=C bonds found in PAHs, and therefore, can be a powerful tool for PAH structural and compositional elucidation. This study examined Raman spectra of 48 different PAHs to determine the degree to which Raman spectroscopy could be used to uniquely identify different species, factors that control the positions of major Raman peaks, the degree to which induced fluorescence affects the intensity of Raman peaks, its usefulness for PAH discrimination, and the effects of varying excitation wavelength on some PAH Raman spectra. It was found that the arrangement and composition of phenyl (benzene) rings, and the type and position of functional groups can greatly affect fluorescence, positions and intensities of Raman peaks associated with the PAH backbone, and the introduction of new Raman peaks. Among the functional groups found on many of the PAHs that were analyzed, only a few Raman peaks corresponding to the molecular vibrations of these groups could be clearly distinguished. Comparison of the PAH Raman spectra that were acquired with both 532 and 785 nm excitation found that the longer wavelength resulted in reduced fluorescence, consistent with previous studies.

Reference
Cloutis E, Szymanski P, Applin D, Goltz D (2016) Identification and Discrimination of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Using Raman Spectroscopy. Icarus (in Press)
Link to Article [doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2016.03.023]
Copyright Elsevier

^1,2Noemi Pinilla-Alonso et al. (>10)*
¹Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
²Florida Space Institute, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA
*Find the extensive, full author and affiliation list on the publishers website

The inner asteroid belt is an important source of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs). Dynamical studies of the inner asteroid belt have identified several families overlapping in proper orbital elements, including the Polana and Eulalia families that contain a large fraction of the low-albedo asteroids in this region.

We present results from two coordinated observational campaigns to characterize this region through near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. These campaigns ran from August 2012 to May 2014 and used the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility and the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo. The observations focused on objects within these families or in the background, with low albedo (pv~ ≤ 0.1) and low inclination (iP ≤ 7o). We observed 63 asteroids (57 never before observed in the NIR): 61 low-albedo objects and two interlopers, both compatible with S- or E- taxonomical types.

We found our sample to be spectrally homogeneous in the NIR. The sample shows a continuum of neutral to moderately-red concave-up spectra, very similar within the uncertainties. Only one object in the sample, asteroid (3429) Chuvaev, has a blue spectrum, with a slope (View the MathML sourceS′=−1.33± 0.21 %/1000 Å) significantly different from the average spectrum (View the MathML sourceS′=0.68± 0.68 %/1000 Å). This spectral homogeneity is independent of membership in families or the background population. Furthermore, we show that the Eulalia and Polana families cannot be distinguished using NIR data. We also searched for rotational variability on the surface of (495) Eulalia which we do not detect. (495) Eulalia shows a red concave-up spectrum with an average slope View the MathML sourceS′=0.91± 0.60 %/1000 Å, very similar to the average slope of our sample.

The spectra of two targets of sample-return missions, (101955) Bennu, target of NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex and (162173) 1999 JU3 target of the Japanese Space Agency’s Hayabusa-2, are very similar to our average spectrum, which would be compatible with an origin in this region of the inner belt.

Reference
Pinilla-Alonso N et al. (2016) Portrait of the Polana-Eulalia Family Complex: Surface homogeneity revealed from Near-Infrared Spectroscopy. Icarus (in Press)
Link to Article [doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2016.03.022]
Copyright Elsevier

¹Ankan Das, ¹Dipen Sahu, ^2,3,1Liton Majumdar, ^4,1Sandip K. Chakrabarti,
¹Indian Centre for Space Physics, Chalantika 43, Garia Station Rd., Kolkata 700084, India
²University of Bordeaux, LAB, UMR 5804, F-33270 Floirac, France
³CNRS, LAB, UMR 5804, F-33270 Floirac, France
⁴S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700098, India

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Reference
Das A, Sahu D, Majumdar L, Chakrabarti SK (2016) Deuterium enrichment of the interstellar grain mantle. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 455, 540-551.
Link to Article [doi: 10.1093/mnras/stv2264]