XAFS study of Sb and As in Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary sediments: an index of soiling of the global environment with dust and ashes from impact ejecta falls

1Hidetomo HONGU,1Akira YOSHIASA,1Tsubasa TOBASE ,2Maki OKUBE,2Kazumasa SUGIYAMA,3Tsutomu SATO
Journal of Mineralogical and Petrological Sciences 114, 224-230 Link to Article [DOI https://doi.org/10.2465/jmps.180927]
1Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kumamoto University
2Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University
3Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University

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Effects of superheating magnitude on olivine growth

1,2Emily C. First,1,3Tanis C. Leonhardi,1Julia E. Hammer
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 175, 13 Link to Article [DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00410-019-1638-7]
1Department of Geology and GeophysicsUniversity of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu,USA
2Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences Brown University, Providence,USA
3Department of Earth and Planetary Science University of California, Berkeley,Berkeley,USA

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Elemental composition, mineralogy and orbital parameters of the Porangaba meteorite

1Martin Ferus et al. (>10)
Icarus (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2020.113670]
1J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Dolejškova 3, CZ18223 Prague 8, Czech Republic
Copyright Elsevier

The main objective of this study is to provide data on the bulk elemental composition, mineralogy and the possible origin of the Porangaba meteorite, whose fall was observed at 17:35 UT on 9 January 2015 on several sites of the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The surface of the meteorite was mapped by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy. The mineralogy and the bulk elemental composition of the meteorite were studied using Energy-Dispersive and Wavelength-Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS/WDS) together with Electron BackScatter Diffraction (EBSD). The bulk elemental composition was also independently analysed by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS), Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), Laser Ablation ICP MS (LA ICP-MS) and Calibration-Free Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (CF-LIBS). Based on the available visual camera records of the Porangaba meteorite fall, its orbit was tentatively calculated, and possible candidates for the source bodies in the Solar system were proposed. We also present a laboratory simulation of a Porangaba-like (L4 Ordinary Chondrite) meteor emission spectra. These can be used as benchmark spectra for the identification of meteor rock types through their comparison with meteor spectra recorded by high-speed video-cameras equipped with simple grating spectrographs.

In situ spectral measurements of space weathering by Chang’e-4 rover

1,2Sheng Gou,1,3Zongyu Yue,1,2,3Kaichang Di,1Wenhui Wan,1Zhaoqin Liu,1,2Bin Liu,1Man Peng,1Yexin Wang,4Zhiping He,4Rui Xu
Earth and Planetary Science Letters 535, 116117 Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116117]
1State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
2State Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China
3CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, Hefei 230026, China
4dKey Laboratory of Space Active Opto-Electronics Technology, Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200083, China
Copyright Elsevier

Space weathering introduces confounding effects on visible and near infrared reflectance spectra of airless bodies, which considerably darkens the reflectance, reddens the continuum slope and suppresses absorption features. It’s mainly attributed to the gradual formation and accumulation of submicroscopic metallic iron (SMFe) on regolith grains. In situ spectral measurements from Chang’e-4 rover provide a unique opportunity to investigate the space weathering effects on the intact lunar farside regolith. SMFe abundance at the landing site, which is 0.32±0.06 wt.%, is retrieved from in situ measured reflectance spectra by using Hapke model. The derived Is/FeO maturity index (82±15) indicates the Finsen crater ejecta-sourced regolith is mature, which is consistent with the geologic background that it had experienced about 3.7 Ga space weathering.

Episodic formation of refractory inclusions in the Solar System and their presolar heritage

1K.K.Larsen,1D.Wielandt,1M.Schiller,1,2A.N.Krot,1M.Bizzarro
Earth and Planetary Science Letters 535, 116088 Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116088]
1Centre for Star and Planet Formation, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen DK-1350, Denmark
2Hawai’i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, HI 96822, USA
Copyright Elsevier

Refractory inclusions [Ca-Al-rich Inclusions (CAIs) and Amoeboid Olivine Aggregates (AOAs)] in primitive meteorites are the oldest Solar System solids. They formed in the hot inner protoplanetary disk and, as such, provide insights into the earliest disk dynamics and physicochemical processing of the dust and gas that accreted to form the Sun and its planetary system. Using the short-lived 26Al to 26Mg decay system, we show that bulk refractory inclusions in CV (Vigarano-type) and CR (Renazzo-type) carbonaceous chondrites captured at least two distinct 26Al-rich (26Al/27Al ratios of ∼5 × 10−5) populations of refractory inclusions characterized by different initial 26Mg/24Mg isotope compositions (μ26Mg*0). Another 26Al-poor CAI records an even larger μ26Mg*0 deficit. This suggests that formation of refractory inclusions was punctuated and recurrent, possibly associated with episodic outbursts from the accreting proto-Sun lasting as short as <8000 yr. Our results support a model in which refractory inclusions formed close to the hot proto-Sun and were subsequently redistributed to the outer disk, beyond the orbit of Jupiter, plausibly via stellar outflows with progressively decreasing transport efficiency. We show that the magnesium isotope signatures in refractory inclusions mirrors the presolar grain record, demonstrating a mutual exclusivity between 26Al enrichments and large nucleosynthetic Mg isotope effects. This suggests that refractory inclusions formed by incomplete thermal processing of presolar dust, thereby inheriting a diluted signature of their isotope systematics. As such, they record snapshots in the progressive sublimation of isotopically anomalous presolar carriers through selective thermal processing of young dust components from the proto-Solar molecular cloud. We infer that 26Al-rich refractory inclusions incorporated 26Al-rich dust which formed <5 Myr prior to our Sun, whereas 26Al-poor inclusions (such as FUN- and PLAC-type CAIs) incorporated >10 Myr old dust.

No FeS layer in Mercury? Evidence from Ti/Al measured by MESSENGER

1,2,3C.Cartier,4O.Namur,5 L.R.Nittler,5S.Z.Weider,6E.Crapster-Pregont,6A.Vorburger,6E.A.Franck,1B.Charlier
Earth and Planetary Science Letters 534, 116108 Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116108]
1Département de Géologie, Université de Liège, 4000, Sart Tilman, Belgium
2Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, Université Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand, 63038, France
3CRPG, CNRS, Université de Lorraine, UMR 7358, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, 54501, France
4Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, 3001, Belgium
5Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Washington, DC 20015, USA
6Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA
Copyright Elsevier

In this study we investigate the likeliness of the existence of an iron sulfide layer (FeS matte) at the core-mantle boundary (CMB) of Mercury by comparing new chemical surface data obtained by the X-ray Spectrometer onboard the MESSENGER spacecraft with geochemical models supported by high-pressure experiments under reducing conditions. We present a new data set consisting of 233 Ti/Si measurements, which combined with Al/Si data show that Mercury’s surface has a slightly subchondritic Ti/Al ratio of 0.035 ± 0.008. Multiphase equilibria experiments show that at the conditions of Mercury’s core formation, Ti is chalcophile but not siderophile, making Ti a useful tracer of sulfide melt formation. We parameterize and use our partitioning data in a model to calculate the relative depletion of Ti in the bulk silicate fraction of Mercury as a function of a putative FeS layer thickness. By comparing the model results and surface elemental data we show that Mercury most likely does not have a FeS layer, and in case it would have one, it would only be a few kilometers thick (<13km). We also show that Mercury’s metallic Fe(Si) core cannot contain more than ∼1.5 wt.% sulfur and that the formation of this core under reducing conditions is responsible for the slightly subchondritic Ti/Al ratio of Mercury’s surface.

 

FIB‐TEM analysis of cometary material in 10 Stardust foil craters

1,2Brendan A. Haas,1,2Christine Floss,3Rhonda M. Stroud,1,2Ryan C. Ogliore
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13438]
1Laboratory for Space Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, 63130 USA
2Physics Department, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, 63130 USA
3Materials Science and Technology Division, Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave. SW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20375 USA
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

Aluminum foils from the Stardust cometary dust collector contain impact craters formed during the spacecraft’s encounter with comet 81P/Wild 2 and retain residues that are among the few unambiguously cometary samples available for laboratory study. Our study investigates four micron‐scale (1.8–5.2 μm) and six submicron (220–380 nm) diameter craters to better characterize the fine (<1 μm) component of comet Wild 2. We perform initial crater identification with scanning electron microscopy, prepare the samples for further analysis with a focused ion beam, and analyze the cross sections of the impact craters with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). All of the craters are dominated by combinations of silicate and iron sulfide residues. Two micron‐scale craters had subregions that are consistent with spinel and taenite impactors, indicating that the micron‐scale craters have a refractory component. Four submicron craters contained amorphous residue layers composed of silicate and sulfide impactors. The lack of refractory materials in the submicron craters suggests that refractory material abundances may differentiate Wild 2 dust on the scale of several hundred nanometers from larger particles on the scale of a micron. The submicron craters are enriched in moderately volatile elements (S, Zn) when normalized to Si and CI chondrite abundances, suggesting that, if these craters are representative of the Wild 2 fine component, the Wild 2 fines were not formed by high‐temperature condensation. This distinguishes the comet’s fine component from the large terminal particles in Stardust aerogel tracks which mostly formed in high‐temperature events.

U‐Pb dating of zircons from an impact melt of the Nördlinger Ries crater

1Winfried H. Schwarz,1Michael Hanel,1Mario Trieloff
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13437]
1Klaus‐Tschira‐Labor für Kosmochemie, Institut für Geowissenschaften, Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234‐236, D‐69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

In situ U‐Pb measurements on zircons of the Ries impact crater are presented for three samples from the quarry at Polsingen. The U‐Pb data of most zircons plot along a discordia line, leading to an upper intercept of Carboniferous age (331 ± 32 Ma [2σ]). Four zircons define a concordia age of 313.2 ± 4.4 Ma (2σ). This age most probably represents the age of a granite from the basement target rocks. From granular textured zircon grains (including baddeleyite and anatase/Fe‐rich phases, first identified in the Ries crater), most probably recrystallized after impact (13 analyses, 4 grains), a concordia age of 14.89 ± 0.34 Ma (2σ) and an error weighted mean 206Pb*/238U age of Ma 14.63 ± 0.43 (2σ) is derived. Including the youngest concordant ages of five porous textured zircon grains (24 spot analyses), a concordia age of 14.75 ± 0.22 Ma (2σ) and a mean 206Pb*/238U age of 14.71 ± 0.26 Ma (2σ) can be calculated. These results are consistent with previously published 40Ar/39Ar ages of impact glasses and feldspar. Our results demonstrate that even for relatively young impact craters, reliable U‐Pb ages can be obtained using in situ zircon dating by SIMS. Frequently the texture of impact shocked zircon grains is explained by decomposition at high temperatures and recrystallization to a granular texture. This is most probably the case for the observed granular zircon grains having baddeleyite/anatase/Fe‐rich phases. We also observe non‐baddeleyite/anatase/Fe‐rich phase bearing zircons. For these domains, reset to crater age is more frequently for high U,Th contents. We tentatively explain the higher susceptibility to impact resetting of high U,Th domains by enhanced Pb loss and mobilization due to higher diffusivity within former metamict domains that were impact metamorphosed more easily into porous as well as granular textures during decomposition and recrystallization, possibly supported by Pb loss during postimpact cooling and/or hydrothermal activity.

The history of the Tissint meteorite, from its crystallization on Mars to its exposure in space: New geochemical, isotopic, and cosmogenic nuclide data

1,2Toni Schulz,3Pavel P. Povinec,4Ludovic Ferrière,5,6A. J. Timothy Jull,3Andrej Kováčik,3Ivan Sýkora,2Jonas Tusch,2Carsten Münker,4Dan Topa,1,4Christian Koeberl
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13435]
1Department of Lithospheric Research, University Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
2Institut für Geologie und Mineralogie, Universität zu Köln, Zülpicher Strasse 49b, 50674 Köln, Germany
3Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics, Comenius University, SK‐84248 Bratislava, Slovakia
4Natural History Museum, Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria
5Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, 85721 USA
6Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Nuclear Research, ICER, 4026 Debrecen, Hungary
7MicroStep‐MIS, 84104 Bratislava, Slovakia
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

The Tissint meteorite fell on July 18, 2011 in Morocco and was quickly recovered, allowing the investigation of a new unaltered sample from Mars. We report new high‐field strength and highly siderophile element (HSE) data, Sr‐Nd‐Hf‐W‐Os isotope analyses, and data for cosmogenic nuclides in order to examine the history of the Tissint meteorite, from its source composition and crystallization to its irradiation history. We present high‐field strength element compositions that are typical for depleted Martian basalts (0.174 ppm Nb, 17.4 ppm Zr, 0.7352 ppm Hf, and 0.0444 ppm W), and, together with an extended literature data set for shergottites, help to reevaluate Mars’ tectonic evolution in comparison to that of the early Earth. HSE contents (0.07 ppb Re, 0.92 ppb Os, 2.55 ppb Ir, and 7.87 ppb Pt) vary significantly in comparison to literature data, reflecting significant sample inhomogeneity. Isotope data for Os and W (187Os/188Os = 0.1289 ± 15 and an ε182W = +1.41 ± 0.46) are both indistinguishable from literature data. An internal Lu‐Hf isochron for Tissint defines a crystallization age of 665 ± 74 Ma. Considering only Sm‐Nd and Lu‐Hf chronometry, we obtain, using our and literature values, a best estimate for the age of Tissint of 582 ± 18 Ma (MSWD = 3.2). Cosmogenic radionuclides analyzed in the Tissint meteorite are typical for a recent fall. Tissint’s pre‐atmospheric radius was estimated to be 22 ± 2 cm, resulting in an estimated total mass of 130 ± 40 kg. Our cosmic‐ray exposure age of 0.9 ± 0.2 Ma is consistent with earlier estimations and exposure ages for other shergottites in general.