Trajectory, recovery, and orbital history of the Madura Cave meteorite

1Hadrien A.R. Devillepoix et al. (>10)
Meteoritics & Plaentary Science (in Press) Open Access Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13820]
1School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, 6845 Australia
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

On June 19, 2020 at 20:05:07 UTC, a fireball lasting 5.5s was observed above Western Australia by three Desert Fireball Network observatories. The meteoroid entered the atmosphere with a speed of 14.00±0.17  km  s−1 and followed a 58 ° slope trajectory from a height of 75 km down to 18.6 km. Despite the poor angle of triangulated planes between observatories (29°) and the large distance from the observatories, a well-constrained kilo-size main mass was predicted to have fallen just south of Madura in Western Australia. However, the search area was predicted to be large due to the trajectory uncertainties. Fortunately, the rock was rapidly recovered along the access track during a reconnaissance trip. The 1.072 kg meteorite called Madura Cave was classified as an L5 ordinary chondrite. The calculated orbit is of Aten type (mostly contained within the Earth’s orbit), only the second time a meteorite was observed on such an orbit, after Bunburra Rockhole. Dynamical modeling shows that Madura Cave has been in near-Earth space for a very long time. The dynamical lifetime in near-Earth space for the progenitor meteoroid is predicted to be ~87 Myr. This peculiar orbit also points to a delivery from the main asteroid belt via the ν6 resonance, and therefore an origin in the inner belt. This result contributes to drawing a picture for the existence of a present-day L chondrite parent body in the inner belt.

Obsidian and mafic volcanic glasses from the Philippines and Vietnam found in the Paris Museum Australasian tektite collectio

1P. Rochette,2N. S. Bezaeva,3P. Beck,4V. Debaille,5L. Folco,1J. Gattacceca,6M. Gounelle,7M. Masotta
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13825]
1Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, INRAE, CEREGE, 13545 Aix-en-Provence, France
2Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 19, Kosygin Str., 119991 Moscow, Russia
3Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, 38400 Grenoble, France
4Laboratoire G-Time, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
5Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
6IMPMC, CNRS – UMR 7590, Sorbonne Université, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 75005 Paris, France
7Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

During the systematic magnetic susceptibility survey of the Paris Museum Australasian tektite collection, we identified three previously overlooked occurrences of volcanic glass that resembles tektites, based on anomalous magnetic properties, high water content, the presence of microcrystals, and anomalous chemical composition. These occurrences are from the Phu Yen province in south-central Vietnam (two rhyolitic glass fragments) and from the Philippines: one from northern Luzon Island (a basaltic rounded etched glass), one from Santa Mesa near Manilla (a dozen small rounded rhyolitic gravels). The two occurrences in the Philippines are quite similar to previously described volcanic glasses from the nearby Pagudpod and Nagcarlan localities, respectively. The rhyolitic glass specimens from the Phu Yen province are the first documentation of a geological occurrence of obsidian in Vietnam. This work is a warning note that glass samples with anomalous properties found among tektite collections may correspond to volcanic pseudotektites instead of real tektites with anomalous composition. The basaltic glass sample from the Philippines locally shows microcrystalline quench textures previously unknown in natural samples. These findings may also be of interest for archeologists involved in glass artifacts sourcing.

Occurrence of tuite and ahrensite in Zagami and their significance for shock-historiesrecorded in martian meteorites

1,2,3Lixin Gu,1,3Sen Hu,4,5Mahesh Anand,1,2,3Xu Tang,1,3,6Jianglong Ji,7Bin Zhang,1,3,6Nian Wang,1,3,6Yangting Lin
American Mineralogist 107, 1018-1029 Link to Article [http://www.minsocam.org/MSA/AmMin/TOC/2022/Abstracts/AM107P1018.pdf]
1Key Laboratory of Earth and Planetary Physics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
2Electron Microscopy Laboratory, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
3Innovation Academy for Earth Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 10029, China
4School of Physics Sciences, The Open University, Kents Hill, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, U.K.
5Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, U.K.
6University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
7Analytical and Testing Center of Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
Copyright: The Mineralogical Society of America

We report on the discovery of two high-pressure minerals, tuite and ahrensite, located in two
small shock-induced melt pockets (SIMP 1 and 2) in the Zagami martian meteorite, coexisting with
granular and acicular stishovite and seifertite. Tuite identified in this study has two formation pathways: decomposition of apatite and transformation of merrillite under high-P-T conditions. Chlorinebearing products, presumably derived from the decomposition of apatite, are concentrated along the
grain boundaries of tuite grains. Nanocrystalline ahrensite in the pyroxene clast in SIMP 2 is likely
to be a decomposition product of pigeonite under high-P-T conditions by a solid-state transformation
mechanism. The pressure and temperature conditions estimated from the high-pressure minerals in
the shock-induced melt pockets are ~12–22 GPa and ~1100–1500 °C, respectively, although previous
estimates of peak shock pressure are higher. This discrepancy probably represents the shift of kinetic
relative to thermodynamic phase boundaries, in particular the comparatively small region that we
examine here, rather than a principal disagreement between the peak shock conditions.

Identifying the polymorphs of serpentine with micro-Raman spectroscopy: Clear separation in biaxial plots

1Kashima, Aruto,2Urashima, Shu-hei,1,2Yui, Hiroharu
Journal of Raman Spectroscopy (in Press) Open Access Link to Article [DOI 10.1002/jrs.6355]
1Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo, Japan
2Water Frontier Research Center, Research Institute for Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo, Japan

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

The Influence of Equation of State on the Giant Impact Simulations

1,2,3Natsuki Hosono,4Shun-ichiro Karato
Journal of Geophysical Research (Planets) (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JE006971]
1Department of Planetology, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan
2RIKEN Center for Computational Science, Kobe, Japan
3Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokohama, Japan
4Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

We explore the role of various equations of state (EoS) in controlling the composition of the Moon formed by a giant impact (GI) using a density-independent SPH code. A limitation in our previous model Hosono et al. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0354-2 is improved by replacing the EoS of the solid from Tillotson EoS to M-ANEOS, and we also explored two recently proposed EoSs by Stewart et al. (2020), https://doi.org/10.1063/12.0000946 and Wissing and Hobbs (2020a), https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201935814; Wissing and Hobbs (2020b), https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201936227. The goal is to investigate to what extent we can explain the observed composition of the Moon including the similarity in the isotopic composition and the dissimilarity in the FeO/(FeO + MgO) ratio as compared to that of Earth by the different types of EoS assuming the conventional collision conditions. We found that changing the EoS for solids from Tillotson to M-ANEOS EoS resolves the issues of latent heat, but its effect on the composition of the disk is small compared to the influence of the hard-sphere EoS of magma ocean in controlling the composition of the disk. Similarly, two recently proposed EoSs have small effects on the composition of the disk in comparison to the model where the hard-sphere EoS is used for preexisting magma ocean. We attribute this difference to a fundamental difference in thermodynamic behavior of silicate melts captured by the hard-sphere EoS and by newly proposed EoSs; in the hard-sphere model of silicate melts, configurational entropy dominates in free energy, whereas in the newly proposed model, entropy is dominated by vibrational entropy similar to entropy of solids.

Structure of differentiated planetesimals: A chondritic fridge on top of a magma ocean

1Cyril Sturtz,1Angela Limare,1Marc Chaussidon,1Édouard Kaminski
Icarus (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2022.115100]
1Université Paris Cité, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, CNRS, Paris, F-75005, France
Copyright Elsevier

Meteorites are interpreted as relics of early formed planetary bodies, and they provide information about the processes that occurred in the first few of our solar system. The ages measured for some differentiated meteorites (achondrites), indicate that planetesimals formed a differentiated silicate crust as early as after the beginning of the solar system. The composition of the recently discovered achondrite Erg Chech 002 (EC002), the oldest andesitic rock known so far, betokens partial melting of a chondritic source taking place as early as before all other known achondrites. However, thermal models of early accreted planetesimals predict massive melting of the planetesimal during core/mantle differentiation and cannot account for the preservation of a substantial amount of chondritic material. In this paper, we propose a way to interpret petrological and geochemical constraints provided by differentiated meteorites by introducing a refined thermal model of planetesimals formation and evolution. We demonstrate that continuous, protracted accretion of cold undifferentiated material upon a magma ocean over a timescale 2 times larger than the lifetime of the 26Al heat source leads to the preservation of a few km thick chondritic crust. During accretion, the heat released by radioactive decay further induces episodes of partial melting at the base of the crust, which can led to the formation of andesitic rocks such as EC002. Using the available constraints on the age of EC002 and its cooling rate, the application of our model constraints the terminal radius of its parent body between 70 and .

Raman spectroscopic documentation of Mars analog basalt alteration by brines

1Andrew Rodriguez,1Lindsey Hunt,2Charity Phillips-Lander,3Daniel Mason,1Megan Elwood Madden
Icarus (in Print) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2022.115111]
1OU School of Geosciences, United States of America
2Southwest Research Institute, United States of America
3UNM School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, United States of America
Copyright Elsevier

Salts and basalt are widespread on the surface of Mars. Therefore, basalt-brine interactions may have significant effects on both the aqueous history of the planet, and near-surface alteration assemblages. Raman spectra were collected from McKinney Basalt samples that were immersed in eight near-saturated brines composed of Na-Cl-H2O, Na-SO4-H2O, Na-ClO4-H2O, Mg-Cl-H2O, Mg-SO4-H2O, and two salt mixtures (Mg-Cl-SO4-H2O and Na-ClO4-SO4-H2O), as well as ultra-pure water for up to one year. Secondary minerals were observed in the Raman specta, including iron oxides, hydrated sulfates, amorphous silica, phosphates, and carbonates. Detection of these secondary minerals demonstrates the utility of Raman spectroscopy to identify basalt-brine alteration assemblages on Mars. This work also demonstrates that major classes of alteration phases can be distinguished using Raman spectra with resolution similar to those expected from the Raman instruments aboard the Perseverance and Rosalind Franklin Mars rovers. In addition, observations of carbonate minerals within alteration assemblages suggest CO2 from the atmosphere readily reacted with ions released from the basalt during alteration in near-saturated brines.

Clay sediments derived from fluvial activity in and around Ladon basin, Mars

1Catherine M.Weitz,2Janice L.Bishop,3John A.Grant,3Sharon A.Wilson,3Rossman P.IrwinIII,4Arun M.Saranathan,4Yuki Itoh,4Mario Parente
Icarus (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2022.115090]
1Planetary Science Institute, 1700 E Fort Lowell, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
2SETI Institute, Carl Sagan Center, 339 Bernardo Ave., Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
3Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, 6th at Independence SW, Washington, DC 20560, United States of America
4University of Massachusetts Amherst, Dept. Electrical & Computer Engineering, 151 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA 01003, United States of America
Coypright Elsevier

The morphology and mineralogy of light-toned layered sedimentary deposits were investigated using multiple orbital datasets across the Ladon basin region, including within northern Ladon Valles, southern Ladon basin, and the southwestern highlands of Ladon basin. Light-toned layered deposits are particularly widespread in Ladon Valles and Ladon basin, ranging laterally for distances over 200 km, with the thickest exposure (54 m) located at the mouth of Ladon Valles. The restriction of layered sediments below a common elevation (−1850 m) in Ladon Valles and Ladon basin and their broad conformable distribution with bedding dips between 1 and 4° favor a lacustrine environment within this region during the Late Noachian to Early Hesperian. The Ladon layered deposits have spectral signatures consistent with Mg-smectites, even when the morphology of the layering varies considerably in color and brightness. These phyllosilicates were most likely eroded from the highlands upstream to the south, but the lacustrine environment may have also been favorable for in situ alteration and formation of clays. The southwestern highlands also display light-toned layered deposits within valleys and small basins. These sediments predominantly have signatures of Mg-smectites, although we also identified Fe/Mg-smectites and additional hydrated phases in some deposits. One of these altered deposits was found within a younger Holden crater secondary chain, possessing a Late Hesperian to Early Amazonian age for valleys and sediments that postdate the deposits within Ladon Valles and Ladon basin. Phyllosilicate signatures were also detected in the ejecta from two fresh craters that exposed highland materials upstream of Arda Valles, revealing that the highlands are clay-bearing and may be the most plausible source of the clay-bearing fluvial-derived sediments found within the valleys and basins downstream. Some of the highland deposits are likely coeval to similar clay-bearing sediments found to the south within Holden and Eberswalde craters, indicating late, widespread fluvial activity and deposition of allochthonous clays within the broader Margaritifer Terra region when Mars was thought to be colder and drier.

Formation and decomposition of vacancy-rich clinopyroxene in a shocked eucrite: New insights for multiple impact events

1,2Ai-Cheng Zhang,1Jie-Ya Li,1Jia-Ni Chen,3Yuan-Yun Wen,4Yan-Jun Guo,2,3Yang Li,5Naoya Sakamoto,5,6Hisayoshi Yurimoto
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2022.05.017]
1State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
2CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetary, Hefei 230026, China
3Center for Lunar and Planetary Sciences, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China
4CAS Key Laboratory of Standardization and Measurement for Nanotechnology, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, China
5Isotope Imaging Laboratory, Creative Research Institution, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 010-0021, Japan
6Department of Natural History Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
Copyright Elsevier

Impact is a fundamental process shaping the formation and evolution of planets and asteroids. It is inevitable that some materials on the surface of planets and asteroids have been impacted for many times. However, unambiguous petrological records for multiple post-formation impact events are rarely described. Here, we report that the thin shock melt veins of the shocked eucrite Northwest Africa 8647 are dominated by a fine-grained intergranular or vermicular pigeonite and anorthite assemblage, rather than compact vacancy-rich clinopyroxene. Vacancy-rich clinopyroxene in the veins instead is ubiquitous as irregularly-shaped, relict grains surrounded by intergranular or vermicular pigeonite and anorthite assemblage. The silica fragments entrained in shock melt veins contain a coesite core and a quartz rim. The occurrences of vacancy-rich clinopyroxene and coesite can be best explained by two impact events. The first impact event produced the shock melt veins and lead to the formation of vacancy-rich clinopyroxene and coesite. The second impact event heated the fine-grained melt veins and lead to the widespread partial decomposition of vacancy-rich clinopyroxene and the partial back-transformation of coesite. This paper is the first report of the decomposition reaction of shock-induced vacancy-rich clinopyroxene in extraterrestrial materials. We propose that widespread decomposition and/or back-transformation of high-pressure minerals in shocked meteorites can be considered as important records of multiple impact events.

Shock recovery with decaying compressive pulses: Shock effects in calcite (CaCO3) around the Hugoniot elastic limit

1Kosuke Kurosawa et al. (>10)
Journal of Geophysical Research (Planets)(in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JE007133]
1Planetary Exploration Research Center, Chiba Institute of Technology, 2-17-1, Tsudanuma, Narashino, Chiba, 275-0016 Japan
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

Shock metamorphism of minerals in meteorites provides insights into the ancient Solar System. Calcite is an abundant aqueous alteration mineral in carbonaceous chondrites. Return samples from the asteroids Ryugu and Bennu are expected to contain calcite-group minerals. Although shock metamorphism in silicates has been well studied, such data for aqueous alteration minerals are limited. Here, we investigated the shock effects in calcite with marble using impact experiments at the Planetary Exploration Research Center of Chiba Institute of Technology. We produced decaying compressive pulses with a smaller projectile than the target. A metal container facilitates recovery of a sample that retains its pre-impact stratigraphy. We estimated the peak pressure distributions in the samples with the iSALE shock physics code. The capability of this method to produce shocked grains that have experienced different degrees of metamorphism from a single experiment is an advantage over conventional uniaxial shock recovery experiments. The shocked samples were investigated by polarizing microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. We found that more than half of calcite grains exhibit undulatory extinction when peak pressure exceeds 3 GPa. This shock pressure is one order of magnitude higher than the Hugoniot elastic limit (HEL) of marble, but it is close to the HEL of a calcite crystal, suggesting that the undulatory extinction records dislocation-induced plastic deformation in the crystal. Finally, we propose a strategy to re-construct the maximum depth of calcite grains in a meteorite parent body, if shocked calcite grains are identified in chondrites and/or return samples from Ryugu and Bennu.