L. Le

Mineralogy and Petrology of Comet 81P/Wild 2 Nucleus Samples

The bulk of the comet 81P/Wild 2 (hereafter Wild 2) samples returned to Earth by the Stardust spacecraft appear to be weakly constructed mixtures of nanometer-scale grains, with occasional much larger (over 1 micrometer) ferromagnesian silicates, Fe-Ni sulfides, Fe-Ni metal, and accessory phases. The very wide range of olivine and low-Ca pyroxene compositions in comet Wild 2 requires a wide range of formation conditions, probably reflecting very different formation locations in the protoplanetary disk. The restricted compositional ranges of Fe-Ni sulfides, the wide range for silicates, and the absence of hydrous phases indicate that comet Wild 2 experienced little or no aqueous alteration. Less abundant Wild 2 materials include a refractory particle, whose presence appears to require radial transport in the early protoplanetary disk.

Chelyabinsk airburst, damage assessment, meteorite recovery, and characterization

Deep Impact? On 15 February 2013, the Russian district of Chelyabinsk, with a population of more than 1 million, suffered the impact and atmospheric explosion of a 20-meter-wide asteroid—the largest impact on Earth by an asteroid since 1908. Popova et al. (p. 1069, published online 7 November; see the Perspective by Chapman) provide a comprehensive description of this event and of the body that caused it, including detailed information on the asteroid orbit and atmospheric trajectory, damage assessment, and meteorite recovery and characterization. A detailed study of a recent asteroid impact provides an opportunity to calibrate the damage caused by these rare events. [Also see Perspective by Chapman] The asteroid impact near the Russian city of Chelyabinsk on 15 February 2013 was the largest airburst on Earth since the 1908 Tunguska event, causing a natural disaster in an area with a population exceeding one million. Because it occurred in an era with modern consumer electronics, field sensors, and laboratory techniques, unprecedented measurements were made of the impact event and the meteoroid that caused it. Here, we document the account of what happened, as understood now, using comprehensive data obtained from astronomy, planetary science, geophysics, meteorology, meteoritics, and cosmochemistry and from social science surveys. A good understanding of the Chelyabinsk incident provides an opportunity to calibrate the event, with implications for the study of near-Earth objects and developing hazard mitigation strategies for planetary protection.

An experimental study of the oxidation state of vanadium in spinel and basaltic melt with implications for the origin of planetary basalt

Abstract The distribution of V in magmatic rocks is controlled primarily by spinel stability. Extensive previous experimental work at oxidized conditions on doped (V-rich) compositions has led to the recognition of the importance of temperature, oxygen fugacity, and spinel composition, but also left ambiguity with respect to the relative importance of these variables in controlling DVspinel/melt. One major uncertainty has been the valence of V in the spinel and glass. Spinel-melt pairs were equilibrated at low and variable oxygen fugacities, with a range of V and Ti contents. XANES spectra were measured on the spinel and glass products, and pre-edge peaks measured and calibrated against valence with the use of glass and oxide standards. The valence of V is always greater in the glass than in the spinels. In spinel, V is dominantly 3+ at oxygen fugacities near the FMQ (fayalite magnetite quartz) buffer, but we find evidence for mixed 3+, 4+, and 5+ at oxidized conditions (FMQ to air), and 2+ and 3+ at very reduced conditions [FMQ to IW-1 (1 log fO₂ unit below the iron wüstite buffer)]. Increased V contents in spinels are correlated with increased DVspinel-melt, at constant temperature and oxygen fugacity. However, increased Ti content causes only a slight decrease in DVspinel-melt and a shift to more reduced V (smaller pre-edge peak), which may be related to Fe-V exchange equilibria. Using the new partition coefficients, together with published results and valence information, expressions have been derived to predict DVspinel/melt for basaltic systems. Application of these expressions to natural suites illustrate their utility and also the great range of DVspinel/melt values relevant to natural systems. Calculation of V depletions in planetary mantles from basalt suites must take silicate, oxide, and metal fractionation into account, as is demonstrated using terrestrial, lunar, martian, and eucritic samples.

Dmitryivanovite: A new high-pressure calcium aluminum oxide from the Northwest Africa 470 CH3 chondrite characterized using electron backscatter diffraction analysis

Abstract Dmitryivanovite (CaAl2O4) is a newly described, calcium aluminum oxide from the Northwest Africa 470 (NWA470) CH3 chondrite (Ivanova et al. 2002). NWA470 contains abundant small Ca,Alrich inclusions (CAIs), and dmitryivanovite, whose composition is close to stoichiometric CaAl2O4 [Ca1.000(Al1.993Si0.003Ti0.002)1.998O4], was found in one of these CAIs. It occurs as ~10 μm subhedral grains intergrown with grossite (CaAl4O7), perovskite, and melilite. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis revealed that dmitryivanovite is a high-pressure polymorph of CaAl2O4 (a = 7.95, b = 8.62, c = 10.25 Å, β = 93.1°, space group P21/c, and Z = 12). Dmitryivanovite is the third phase to be described from nature in the binary system of CaO-Al2O3, the other two being hibonite (CaAl12O19) and grossite (CaAl4O7)-all are found in CAIs. The presence of CaAl2O4 in NWA470 suggests a local elevated dust/gas ratio in the solar nebula. The phase diagram of CaAl2O4 shows that ~2 GPa is required to stabilize the high-pressure CaAl2O4 polymorph at 1327 °C, above which CaAl2O4 condenses from the solar nebula. Because it is unlikely that the solar nebula ever had such a high total gas pressure, it appears more probable that condensation of the low-pressure polymorph occurred in the solar nebula with an enhanced dust-to-gas ratio and that subsequently the high-pressure polymorph was produced by shock metamorphism, most likely after the CaAl2O4-bearing CAI was incorporated into the NWA470 parent asteroid.

Andreyivanovite: A second new phosphide from the Kaidun meteorite

Abstract Andreyivanovite (ideally FeCrP) is another new phosphide species from the Kaidun meteorite, which fell in South Yemen in 1980. Kaidun is a unique breccia containing an unprecedented variety of fragments of different chondritic as well as achondritic lithologies. Andreyivanovite was found as individual grains and linear arrays of grains with a maximum dimension of 8 μm within two masses of Fe-rich serpentine. In one sample, it is associated with Fe-Ni-Cr sulfides and florenskyite (FeTiP). Andreyivanovite is creamy white in reflected light, and its luster is metallic. The average of nine electron microprobe analyses yielded the formula Fe(Cr0.587Fe0.150V0.109Ti0.081Ni0.060Co0.002)P. Examination of single grains of andreyivanovite using Laue patterns collected by in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD), and by electron-backscatter diffraction revealed it to be isostructural with florenskyite; we were unable to find single crystals of sufficient quality to perform a complete structure analysis. Andreyivanovite crystallizes in the space group Pnma, and has the anti-PbCl2 structure. Previously determined cell constants of synthetic material [a = 5.833(1), b = 3.569(1), and c = 6.658(1) Å] were consistent with our XRD work. We used the XPOW program to calculate a powder-XRD pattern; the 5 most intense reflections are d = 2.247 (I = 100), 2.074 (81), 2.258 (46), 1.785 (43), and 1.885 Å (34). Andreyivanovite is the second new phosphide to be described from the Kaidun meteorite. Andreyivanovite could have formed as a result of cooling and crystallization of a melted precursor consisting mainly of Fe-Ni metal enriched in P, Ti, and Cr. Serpentine associated with andreyivanovite would then have formed during aqueous alteration on the parent asteroid. It is also possible that the andreyivanovite could have formed during aqueous alteration; however, artificial FeTiP has been synthesized only during melting experiments, at low oxygen fugacity, and there is no evidence that a hydrothermal genesis is reasonable.