¹Haijun Cao,¹Jian Chen,¹Zongcheng Ling
Icarus (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2019.05.039]
¹Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy & Solar-Terrestrial Environment, Institute of Space Sciences, Shandong University, Weihai 264209, China
Copyright Elsevier 

Orbital remote sensing has recently identified alunite as one of the types of Al-sulfate on Mars. As other types of hydrated Al-sulfates may also exist abundantly in the soil and rocks on Mars, it is important to perform systematic experimental investigations of the spectral characterization of hydrous Al-sulfates to identify and determine their potential distribution on Mars. We successfully used the humidity buffer technique to synthesize five alunogen series of Al-sulfates, Al₂(SO₄)₃·xH₂O (x = 0, 4, 8, 12, 14) and AlH(SO₄)₂·H₂O, with different degrees of hydration. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to identify them from the PDF 2004 database, except for the species with 12 structural water molecules; the quantity of structural water in the latter was confirmed by thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry measurements after heating to >500 °C. Raman, mid-infrared (MIR), and visible and near-infrared (VNIR) spectra were acquired to evaluate vibrational spectroscopic properties related to crystal structure. The prominent ν₁ modes of SO₄ tetrahedra of six Al-sulfates from Raman and MIR spectra have obvious shifts to higher wavenumbers (from 993.4 to 1133.6 cm⁻¹) with decrease in hydration state. With no absorption bands from 250 to 1000 nm, all absorption features of the VNIR spectra of alunogen series of Al-sulfates are derived from overtones and combinations of fundamental vibrational modes from OH/H₂O and SO₄ groups, generally showing a red shift toward longer wavelengths with increasing hydration state. The XRD, Raman, MIR, and VNIR spectroscopic data of these Al-sulfates can provide crucial data supporting their identification for future remote sensing and in situ detection on Mars.

¹Driss Takir,²Karen R.Stockstill-Cahill,²Charles A.Hibbitts,³Yusuke Nakauchi
Icarus (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2019.05.012]
¹Jacobs/ARES, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058-3696, USA
²Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20273, USA
³JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Sagamihara, Japan
Copyright Elsevier

We measured 3-μm reflectance spectra of 21 meteorites that represent all carbonaceous chondrite types available in terrestrial meteorite collections. The measurements were conducted at the Laboratory for Spectroscopy under Planetary Environmental Conditions (LabSPEC) at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU APL) under vacuum and thermally-desiccated conditions (asteroid-like conditions). This is the most comprehensive 3-μm dataset of carbonaceous chondrites ever acquired in environments similar to the ones experienced by asteroids. The 3-μm reflectance spectra are extremely important for direct comparisons with and appropriate interpretations of reflectance data from ground-based telescopic and spacecraft observations of asteroids. We found good agreement between 3-μm spectral characteristics of carbonaceous chondrites and carbonaceous chondrite classifications. The 3-μm band is diverse, indicative of varying composition, thus suggesting that these carbonaceous chondrites experienced distinct parent body aqueous alteration and metamorphism environments. The spectra of CI chondrites, from which significant amount of water adsorbed under ambient conditions was removed, are consistent with Mg-serpentine and clay minerals. The high abundances of organics in CI chondrites is also associated with the mineralogy of these chondrites, oxyhydroxides- and complex clay minerals-rich. CM chondrites, which are cronstedtite-rich, have shallower 3-μm band than CI chondrites, suggesting they experienced less aqueous alteration. CR chondrites showed moderate aqueous alteration relative to CI and CM chondrites. CV chondrites, except for Efremovka, have a very shallow 3-μm band, consistent with their lower phyllosilicate proportions. CO chondrites, like most CVs, have a very shallow 3-μm band that suggest they experienced minor aqueous alteration. The 3-μm band in CH/CBb is deep and broad centered ~3.11 μm, possibly due to the high abundance of FeNi metal and presence of heavily hydrated clasts in these chondrites. The 3-μm spectra of Essebi (C2-ung) and EET 83226 are more consistent with CM chondrites’ spectra. The 3-μm spectra of Tagish lake (C2-ung), on the other hand, are consistent with CI chondrites. None of these spectral details could have been resolved without removing the adsorbed water before acquiring spectra.

¹Youyue Zhang,¹Takashi Yoshino,¹Akira Yoneda,²Masahiro Osako
Earth and Planetary Science Letters 519, 109-119 Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2019.04.048]
¹Institute for Planetary Materials, Okayama University, Misasa, Tottori 682-0193, Japan
²National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0005, Japan
Copyright Elsevier

The influence of Fe concentration on heat transport properties of olivine was investigated to understand the cooling history of rocky planets such as Mercury, Mars and asteroids. Thermal conductivity (λ) and thermal diffusivity (κ) were measured simultaneously for olivine polycrystal with different Fe contents (Fo, Fo₉₀, Fo₇₀, Fo₅₀, Fo₃₁ and Fo₀) up to 10 GPa and 1100 K by a pulse heating method. With increasing Fe in olivine, thermal conductivity of olivine first decreases and then slightly increases. The minimum λ was found to be at composition near Fo₃₁; the absolute λ value of Fo₃₁ is about 65% lower than that of Fo. Small amounts of Fe in olivine can strongly reduce the thermal conductivity at low temperature; λ value of Fo₉₀ is about 50% of Fo at room temperature. Thermal conductivities of polycrystalline olivine have smaller absolute values and weaker pressure and temperature dependences, compared with those of natural single crystal olivine determined by previous studies. Heat capacity of Fo₇₀ and Fo₅₀ calculated from λ and κ is independent of pressure and is controlled by nearly constant thermal expansion coefficient with increasing temperature. Smaller λ of olivine aggregate with high Fe content would produce a warmer mantle and, in turn, possibly a thicker crust in the Fe-rich Mars, while heat in the Fe-poor Mercury can escape faster than the other terrestrial planets. Olivine-dominant asteroids with high Fe concentration could have longer cooling history and lower thermal inertia on the surface.

¹Keith D. Putirka,¹John C. Rarick
American Mineralogist 104, 817-829 Link to Article [http://www.minsocam.org/MSA/AmMin/TOC/2019/Abstracts/AM104P0817.pdf]
¹Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Fresno State, 2345 E. San Ramon Avenue, MS/MH24, Fresno, California 93720, U.S.A.
Copyright: The Mineralogical Society of America

Combining occurrence rates of rocky exoplanets about sun-like stars, with the number of such stars that occupy possibly hospitable regions of the Milky Way, we estimate that at least 1.4 × 108 near-Earthsized planets occupy habitable orbits about habitable stars. This number is highly imprecise to be sure, and it is likely much higher, but it illustrates that such planets are common, not rare. To test whether such rocky exoplanets might be geologically similar to Earth, we survey >4000 star compositions from the Hypatia Catalog—the most compositionally broad of such collections. We find that rocky exoplanets will have silicate mantles dominated by olivine and/or orthopyroxene, depending upon Fe partitioning during core formation. Some exoplanets may be magnesiowüstite- or quartz-saturated, and we present a new classification scheme based on the weight percent ratio (FeO+MgO)/SiO2, to differentiate rock types. But wholly exotic mantle mineralogies should be rare to absent; many exoplanets will have a peridotite mantle like Earth, but pyroxenite planets should also be quite common. In addition, we find that half or more of the range of exoplanet mantle mineralogy is possibly controlled by core formation, which we model using αFe = FeBSP/FeBP, where FeBSP is Fe in a Bulk Silicate Planet (bulk planet, minus core), on a cation weight percent basis (elemental weight proportions, absent anions) and FeBP is the cation weight percent of Fe for a Bulk Planet. This ratio expresses, in this case for Fe, the fraction of an element that is partitioned into the silicate mantle relative to the total amount available upon accretion. In our solar system, αFe varies from close to 0 (Mercury) to about 0.54 (Mars). Remaining variations in theoretical exoplanet mantle mineralogy result from non-trivial variations in star compositions. But we also find that Earth is decidedly non-solar (non-chondritic); this is not a new result, but appears worth re-emphasizing, given that current discussions often still use carbonaceous or enstatite chondrites as models of Bulk Earth. While some studies emphasize the close overlap of some isotope ratios between certain meteoritic and terrestrial (Earth-derived) samples, we find that major oxides of chondritic meteorites do not precisely explain bulk Earth. To allow Earth to be chondritic (or solar), there is the possibility that Earth contains a hidden component that, added to known reservoirs, would yield a solar/chondritic bulk Earth. We test that idea using a mass balance of major oxides using known reservoirs, so that the sum of upper mantle, metallic core, and crust, plus a hidden component, yields a solar bulk composition. In this approach, the fractions of crust and core are fixed and the hidden mantle component, Fh, is some unknown fraction of the entire mantle (so if FDM is the fraction of depleted mantle, then Fh + FDM = 1). Such mass balance shows that if a hidden mantle component were to exist, it must comprise >28% of Earth’s mantle, otherwise it would have negative abundances of TiO2 and Al2O3. There is no clear upper limit for such a component, so it could comprise the entire mantle. But all estimates from Fh = 0.28 to Fh = 1.0 yield a hidden fraction that does not match the inferred sources of ocean island or mid-ocean ridge basalts, and would be geologically unusual, having higher Na2O, Cr2O3, and FeO and lower CaO, MgO, and Al2O3 compared to familiar mantle components. We conclude that such a hidden component does not exist.