Mineral Evolution
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Shergotty Basalt, 5 Kg Seen to Fall Introduction the Shergotty Achondrite Fell on August 25, 1865 at 9:00 A.M
V. Shergotty basalt, 5 kg seen to fall Introduction The Shergotty achondrite fell on August 25, 1865 at 9:00 a.m. near a town called Shergahti in Bihar State, India after detonations were heard (Graham et al. 1985). Duke (1968) refers to several stones with fusion crusts, but this has not been confirmed. The main mass is at the Museum of the Geological Survey in Calcutta, India (figure V-1). In 1984, an international consortium was organized by J. C. Laul to study ~30 grams of Shergotty in detail (Laul 1986a, b). Shergottites (Shergotty, Zagami, EETA79001B, QUE94201, Los Angeles) are texturally and mineralogically similar to terrestrial diabases (although all of the plagioclase has been shocked to maskelynite), but quite distinct petrologically and chemically from the rest of the basaltic achondrites (Stolper et al. 1979). Stolper and McSween (1979) and others have noted that Shergotty crystallized under relatively oxidizing conditions. Figure V-1. Photograph of Shergotty meteorite The Shergotty meteorite has been severely shocked and showing fusion crust and borken surfaces. Two saw is considered the “type locality” for maskelynite (dense cuts are visible. Sample is about 25 cm across. Photo plagioclase glass). In fact, it has proven to be very kindly provided by Prof. N. Bhandari, Director, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India. difficult to date the original crystallization event of Figure V-2. Photograph of slab of Shergotty meteorite showing basaltic texture and alignment of pyroxene crystals. Note the inclusion of black glass in the center of this slab. This is figure 1 in Duke (1968). Photo courtesy of U. -
LEW 88516.Pmd
LEW88516 – 13.2 grams Lherzolitic Shergottite Figure 1. Photograph of LEW88516 after first break for processing. Cube is 1 cm for scale. NASA # S91-37060 Introduction meteorite has three distinct textural regions: 1) poikilitic Lewis Cliff sample LEW88516 is petrologically similar crystalline, 2) interstitial crystalline (or non-poikilitic) to ALH77005 (Satterwhite and Mason 1991; Treiman and, 3) glassy to partially crystalline veinlets. Delaney et al. 1994) and Y793605 (Kojima et al. 1997). (1992), Lindstrom et al. (1992) and Harvey and However, it is not paired, because it has a distinctly McSween (1992) have also reported petrological different terrestrial exposure age. Figure 1 shows descriptions of LEW88516. Papike et al. (2009) LEW88516 as a small (2 cm), dark, rounded, meteorite compared LEW88516 with the rest of the shergottites. with coarsely crystalline interior. In the poikilitic regions, mm-sized olivine crystals and LEW88516 was a small nondescript meteorite that was 50 micron-sized chromite crystals are contained within, not recognized as an achondrite until it was broken open and completely surrounded by, pigeonite crystals with Hence, it waited 2 years to be processed in numerical exsolution lamellae of augite. Maskelynite, whitlockite order. According to Satterwhite and Mason (1991), and sulfides are rare in the poikilitic regions. LEW88516 had a “pitted and mostly shiny fusion crust over 80 % of the surface.” Preliminary The interstitial areas have a more typically basaltic examination of the thin section showed about 50 % texture with intergrown euhedral and subhedral olivine, olivine, 35 % pyroxene, 8 % interstitial maskelynite with pigeonite and chromite, with interstitial maskelynite, about 5% brown glass. Grain size is about 2 - 3 mm. -
New Major and Trace Element Data from Acapulcoite-Lodranite Clan
52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2021 (LPI Contrib. No. 2548) 1307.pdf New Major and Trace Element Data from Acapulcoite-Lodranite Clan Meteorites: Evidence for Melt-Rock Reaction Events and Early Collisional Fragmentation of the Parent Body Michael P. Lucas1, Nick Dygert1, Nathaniel R. Miller2, and Harry Y. McSween1, 1Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, [email protected], 2Department of Geological Sciences, Univer- sity of Texas at Austin. Introduction: New major and trace element data illumi- patterns exhibit negative Eu anomalies. REE patterns are nate the magmatic and thermal evolution of the acapul- generally consistent among the three groups, however coite-lodranite parent body (ALPB). We observe major comparison of calculated equilibrium melts for acapulco- and trace element disequilibrium in the acapulcoite and ite and transitional cpx and opx demonstrates disequilib- transitional groups that provide evidence for melt infil- rium partitioning in those samples, especially for light- tration and melt-rock reaction processes. In lodranites, REEs in cpx. In contrast, lodranites are in apparent trace which represent sources of the infiltrating melts, we ob- element equilibrium (Fig 1b). They are depleted in serve rapid cooling from high temperatures (hereafter REE+Y relative to acapulcoite-transitional samples in temps), consistent with collisional fragmentation of the cpx (Fig. 1a), and display consistent REE abundances parent body during differentiation. except NWA 5488, which -
The Forsterite-Anorthite-Albite System at 5 Kb Pressure Kristen Rahilly
The Forsterite-Anorthite-Albite System at 5 kb Pressure Kristen Rahilly Submitted to the Department of Geosciences of Smith College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts John B. Brady, Honors Project Advisor Acknowledgements First I would like to thank my advisor John Brady, who patiently taught me all of the experimental techniques for this project. His dedication to advising me through this thesis and throughout my years at Smith has made me strive to be a better geologist. I would like to thank Tony Morse at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst for providing all of the feldspar samples and for his advice on this project. Thank you also to Michael Jercinovic over at UMass for his help with last-minute carbon coating. This project had a number of facets and I got assistance from many different departments at Smith. A big thank you to Greg Young and Dale Renfrow in the Center for Design and Fabrication for patiently helping me prepare and repair the materials needed for experiments. I’m also grateful to Dick Briggs and Judith Wopereis in the Biology Department for all of their help with the SEM and carbon coater. Also, the Engineering Department kindly lent their copy of LabView software for this project. I appreciated the advice from Mike Vollinger within the Geosciences Department as well as his dedication to driving my last three samples over to UMass to be carbon coated. The Smith Tomlinson Fund provided financial support. Finally, I need to thank my family for their support and encouragement as well as my friends here at Smith for keeping this year fun and for keeping me balanced. -
Hf–W Thermochronometry: II. Accretion and Thermal History of the Acapulcoite–Lodranite Parent Body
Earth and Planetary Science Letters 284 (2009) 168–178 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Earth and Planetary Science Letters journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/epsl Hf–W thermochronometry: II. Accretion and thermal history of the acapulcoite–lodranite parent body Mathieu Touboul a,⁎, Thorsten Kleine a, Bernard Bourdon a, James A. Van Orman b, Colin Maden a, Jutta Zipfel c a Institute of Isotope Geochemistry and Mineral Resources, ETH Zurich, Clausiusstrasse 25, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland b Department of Geological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA c Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Frankfurt am Main, Germany article info abstract Article history: Acapulcoites and lodranites are highly metamorphosed to partially molten meteorites with mineral and bulk Received 11 November 2008 compositions similar to those of ordinary chondrites. These properties place the acapulcoites and lodranites Received in revised form 8 April 2009 between the unmelted chondrites and the differentiated meteorites and as such acapulcoites–lodranites are Accepted 9 April 2009 of special interest for understanding the initial stages of asteroid differentiation as well as the role of 26Al Available online 3 June 2009 heating in the thermal history of asteroids. To constrain the accretion timescale and thermal history of the Editor: R.W. Carlson acapulcoite–lodranite parent body, and to compare these results to the thermal histories of other meteorite parent bodies, the Hf–W system was applied to several acapulcoites and lodranites. Acapulcoites Dhofar 125 Keywords: – Δ chronology and NWA 2775 and lodranite NWA 2627 have indistinguishable Hf W ages of tCAI =5.2±0.9 Ma and Δ isochron tCAI =5.7±1.0 Ma, corresponding to absolute ages of 4563.1±0.8 Ma and 4562.6±0.9 Ma. -
ATTACHMENT, SELECTION, and TRANSFORMATION of PREBIOTIC MOLECULES on BRUCITE [Mg(OH)2]
ATTACHMENT, SELECTION, AND TRANSFORMATION OF PREBIOTIC MOLECULES ON BRUCITE [Mg(OH)2] AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR CHEMICAL EVOLUTION AT HYDROTHERMAL SYSTEMS by Charlene F. Estrada A dissertation submitted to The Johns Hopkins University in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Baltimore, Maryland September, 2014 Charlene F. Estrada All rights reserved Abstract Serpentinite-hosted hydrothermal vents may have been plausible environments for the origins of life. Mineral assemblages within hydrothermal fields may have selected and concentrated biomolecules, although little is known about molecular interactions at these mineral surfaces. I investigated the adsorption of aspartate and ribose at the surface of brucite [Mg(OH)2], a major mineral phase at serpentinite-hosted hydrothermal vents. I characterized the attachment of these molecules onto a synthetic brucite powder with Mg2+ and Ca2+ using batch adsorption experiments. I observed that Mg2+ inhibits both aspartate and ribose adsorption, whereas Ca2+ enhances adsorption onto the brucite surface. I used surface complexation modeling to predict that both aspartate and ribose attach as cooperative calcium-ligand complexes onto brucite. To further investigate the cooperative effect of Ca2+ on biomolecule adsorption, I introduced an equimolar mixture of aspartate, glycine, lysine, leucine, and phenylalanine to the brucite surface, both with and without Ca2+. Without Ca2+, up to 8.9 % aspartate and ~5 % each of the remaining four amino acids adsorbed onto brucite. When Ca2+ was added, I observed that between 5.7 to 20 times more aspartate (37.3 %) adsorbed onto brucite compared with the remaining four amino acids (~3 % each). These results, when combined with the previous study, suggest that aspartate selectively adsorbs onto brucite as a cooperative calcium-aspartate complex. -
SPECTRAL CHARACTERIZATION of the ANCIENT SHERGOTTITES NORTHWEST AFRICA 7034 and 8159. KJ Orr1, LV Forman1, GK Benedix1
Ninth International Conference on Mars 2019 (LPI Contrib. No. 2089) 6177.pdf SPECTRAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE ANCIENT SHERGOTTITES NORTHWEST AFRICA 7034 AND 8159. K. J. Orr1, L. V. Forman1, G. K. Benedix1, M. J. Hackett2, V. E. Hamilton3, and A. R. Santos. 1Space Science and Technology Centre (SSTC), School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia ([email protected]), 2School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia, 3Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut St. #300, Boulder, CO 80302 USA. 4USRA, 7178 Columbia Gateway Dr., Columbia, MD 21046. Introduction: Thermal infrared (TIR) spectros- Ga), the oldest confirmed shergottites recovered so far copy is a powerful remote sensing tool used to unravel [5]. As the only shergottites of Early Amazonian to No- the surface compositions of a target body. This tech- achian in age, they provide an invaluable opportunity to nique has been widely used in space missions, because understanding Mars’ early history. of its ability to detect and determine modal mineralogy Methods: Both samples (~0.5g chips) were ac- of the surface geology. It has been instrumental in de- quired from UNM and were made into epoxy mounts. veloping our understanding of Mars, as the majority of NWA 8159 was analyzed with a Tescan Integrated Min- missions sent to Mars have included an infrared spec- eral Analyzer (TIMA) to determine modal mineral trometer. These spectrometers can operate either in the abundancies and produce high-resolution mineral maps. visible (VIS) to near-infrared (NIR) or in the mid-infra- NWA 8159 was also analyzed using EBSD to charac- red (MIR). -
Role of Mineral Surfaces in Prebiotic Chemical Evolution. in Silico Quantum Mechanical Studies
life Review Role of Mineral Surfaces in Prebiotic Chemical Evolution. In Silico Quantum Mechanical Studies Albert Rimola 1,*, Mariona Sodupe 1 and Piero Ugliengo 2,* 1 Departament de Química, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain; [email protected] 2 Dipartimento di Chimica and Nanostructured Interfaces and Surfaces (NIS), Università degli Studi di Torino, Via P. Giuria 7, 10125 Torino, Italy * Correspondence: [email protected] (A.R.); [email protected] (P.U.); Tel.: +39-011-670-4596 (P.U.) Received: 1 December 2018; Accepted: 12 January 2019; Published: 17 January 2019 Abstract: There is a consensus that the interaction of organic molecules with the surfaces of naturally-occurring minerals might have played a crucial role in chemical evolution and complexification in a prebiotic era. The hurdle of an overly diluted primordial soup occurring in the free ocean may have been overcome by the adsorption and concentration of relevant molecules on the surface of abundant minerals at the sea shore. Specific organic–mineral interactions could, at the same time, organize adsorbed molecules in well-defined orientations and activate them toward chemical reactions, bringing to an increase in chemical complexity. As experimental approaches cannot easily provide details at atomic resolution, the role of in silico computer simulations may fill that gap by providing structures and reactive energy profiles at the organic–mineral interface regions. Accordingly, numerous computational studies devoted to prebiotic chemical evolution induced by organic–mineral interactions have been proposed. The present article aims at reviewing recent in silico works, mainly focusing on prebiotic processes occurring on the mineral surfaces of clays, iron sulfides, titanium dioxide, and silica and silicates simulated through quantum mechanical methods based on the density functional theory (DFT). -
Chondrule Sizes, We Have Compiled and Provide Commentary on Available Chondrule Dimension Literature Data
Invited review Chondrule size and related physical properties: a compilation and evaluation of current data across all meteorite groups. Jon M. Friedricha,b,*, Michael K. Weisbergb,c,d, Denton S. Ebelb,d,e, Alison E. Biltzf, Bernadette M. Corbettf, Ivan V. Iotzovf, Wajiha S. Khanf, Matthew D. Wolmanf a Department of Chemistry, Fordham University, Bronx, NY 10458 USA b Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024 USA c Department of Physical Sciences, Kingsborough College of the City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY 11235, USA d Graduate Center of the City University of New York, 365 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016 USA e Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York 10964 USA f Fordham College at Rose Hill, Fordham University, Bronx, NY 10458 USA In press in Chemie der Erde – Geochemistry 21 August 2014 *Corresponding Author. Tel: +718 817 4446; fax: +718 817 4432. E-mail address: [email protected] 2 ABSTRACT The examination of the physical properties of chondrules has generally received less emphasis than other properties of meteorites such as their mineralogy, petrology, and chemical and isotopic compositions. Among the various physical properties of chondrules, chondrule size is especially important for the classification of chondrites into chemical groups, since each chemical group possesses a distinct size-frequency distribution of chondrules. Knowledge of the physical properties of chondrules is also vital for the development of astrophysical models for chondrule formation, and for understanding how to utilize asteroidal resources in space exploration. To examine our current knowledge of chondrule sizes, we have compiled and provide commentary on available chondrule dimension literature data. -
Discovery of Bridgmanite, the Most Abundant Mineral in Earth
RESEARCH | REPORTS 23. A. Cassie, S. Baxter, . Trans. Faraday Soc. 40,546–551 (1944). 28. Materials and methods are available as supplementary materials. C.-J.K. and T.L. have filed a patent on this work 24. T. Liu, C.-J. Kim, in Proceedings of the International Conference materials on Science Online. (“Liquid-repellent surface made of any materials,” International on Solid State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems 29. These liquids are commonly used for applications such as Application no. PCT/US2014/57797). (Transducers’13), Barcelona, Spain, 16 to 20 June 2013 electrochemistry, fuel cells, integrated circuits fabrication, (IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 2013). microfluidic systems, heat transfer, etc. SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS 25. Y. Ma, X. Cao, X. Feng, Y. Ma, H. Zou, Polymer (Guildf.) 48, www.sciencemag.org/content/346/6213/1096/suppl/DC1 7455–7460 (2007). ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Materials and Methods 26. R. Hensel et al., Langmuir 29, 1100–1112 (2013). C.-J.K. was encouraged by D. Attinger to start this research. Supplementary Text 27. This general definitions of f and f follow Cassie and Baxter’s T.L. acknowledges W. Choi and K. Ding for discussion of the s g Figs. S1 to S9 original paper (23), which included all of the nonflat (e.g., fabrication, L.-X. Huang for assistance with high-speed imaging, Tables S1 and S2 rough, curved) effects on the liquid-solid and liquid-vapor and K. Shih for help with roll-off angle measurements. C.-J.K. References (30–36) interface. In addition to the most simplified version of flat and T.L. thank an anonymous referee for advice on the biofouling Movies S1 to S7 liquid-solid and flat liquid-vapor interfaces, which results in test; D. -
Getting Beyond the Toy Domain. Meditations on David Deamer's
Getting beyond the toy domain: meditations on David Deamer’s “Assembling Life” The MIT Faculty has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters. Citation Bains, William, "Getting beyond the toy domain: meditations on David Deamer’s 'Assembling Life.'" Life 10, 12 (Feb. 2020): no. 18 doi 10.3390/life10020018 ©2020 Author(s) As Published 10.3390/life10020018 Publisher MDPI Version Final published version Citable link https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/125661 Terms of Use Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license Detailed Terms https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ life Book Review Getting Beyond the Toy Domain. Meditations on David Deamer’s “Assembling Life” William Bains 1,2 1 Five Alarm Bio Ltd., O2h Scitech Park, Mill Lane, Hauxton, Cambridge CB22 5HX, UK; [email protected] 2 Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA Received: 25 October 2019; Accepted: 15 February 2020; Published: 18 February 2020 Abstract: David Deamer has written another book, Assembling Life, on the origin of life. It is unapologetically polemic, presenting Deamer’s view that life originated in fresh water hydrothermal fields on volcanic islands on early Earth, arguing that this provided a unique environment not just for organic chemistry but for the self-assembling structure that drive that chemistry and form the basis of structure in life. It is worth reading, it is an advance in the field, but is it convincing? I argue that the Origin of Life field as a whole is unconvincing, generating results in Toy Domains that cannot be scaled to any real world scenario. -
Akimotoite to Perovskite Phase Transition in Mgsio3 R
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 31, L10611, doi:10.1029/2004GL019704, 2004 Akimotoite to perovskite phase transition in MgSiO3 R. M. Wentzcovitch,1 L. Stixrude,2 B. B. Karki,1,3 and B. Kiefer2,4 Received 11 February 2004; revised 6 April 2004; accepted 22 April 2004; published 25 May 2004. [1] The akimotoite to perovskite phase transition of [3] The slope of a phase boundary is determined by the MgSiO3 is shown by first principles calculations to have Clausius-Clapeyron equation a negative Clapeyron slope, consistent with experimental observations. The origin of the negative slope, i.e., the dP DS ¼ : ð1Þ increase of entropy across the transformation, can be dT DV attributed to the larger density of states of low frequency vibrations in the perovskite phase. Such vibrations consist It is the sign of the entropy change DS that determines this of 1) magnesium displacements and 2) octahedral rotations, slope since DV and dP invariably have opposite signs. with the larger magnesium coordination and larger Mg-O Systematic investigations of phase transformations have bond lengths, as well as a lower degree of polyhedral lead to the rationalization of such entropy changes in connectivity accounting for the existence of low frequency different classes of materials [Navrotsky, 1980]. The entropy modes. The larger density of states in perovskite in this may increase across a transformation when there is an regime accounts also for the increase in other thermodynamic increase in configurational disorder, the development of properties across the phase transition. This ab initio solid-electrolyte behavior, an increase in electronic density calculation of a solid-solid phase boundary provides new of states at the Fermi level, a decrease in directional insights into our ability to predict high pressure-temperature bonding, or an increase in coordination.