Winfried H. Schwarz

Thermal evolution and sintering of chondritic planetesimals

Aims. Radiometric ages for chondritic meteorites and their components provide information on the accretion timescale of chondrite parent bodies, and on cooling paths within certain areas of these bodies. However, to use this age information for constraining the internal structure, and the accretion and cooling history of the chondrite parent bodies, the empirical cooling paths obtained by dating chondrites must be combined with theoretical models of the thermal evolution of planetesimals. Important parameters in such thermal models include the initial abundances of heat-producing short-lived radionuclides ( 26 Al and 60 Fe), which are determined by the accretion timescale and the terminal size, chemical composition and physical properties of the chondritic planetesimals. The major aim of this study is to assess the effects of sintering of initially porous material on the thermal evolution of planetesimals, and to constrain the values of basic parameters that determined the structure and evolution of the H chondrite parent body. Methods. We present a new code for modelling the thermal evolution of ordinary chondrite parent bodies that initially are highly porous and undergo sintering by hot pressing as they are heated by decay of radioactive nuclei. The pressure and temperature stratification in the interior of the bodies was calculated by solving the equations of hydrostatic equilibrium and energy transport. The decrease of porosity of the granular material by hot pressing due to self-gravity was followed by solving a set of equations for the sintering of powder materials. For the heat-conductivity of granular material we combined recently measured data for highly porous powder materials, relevant for the surface layers of planetesimals, with data for heat-conductivity of chondrite material, relevant for the strongly sintered material in deeper layers. Results. Our new model demonstrates that in initially porous planetesimals heating to central temperatures sufficient for melting can occur for bodies a few km in size, that is, a factor of ≈10 smaller than for compact bodies. Furthermore, for high initial 60 Fe abundances small bodies may differentiate even when they had formed as late as 3−4 Ma after CAI formation. To demonstrate the capability of our new model, the thermal evolution of the H chondrite parent body was reconstructed. The model starts with a porous body that is later compacted first by “cold pressing” at low temperatures and then by “hot pressing” for temperatures above ≈700 K, i.e., the threshold temperature for sintering of silicates. The thermal model was fitted to the well-constrained cooling histories of the two H chondrites Kernouve (H6) and Richardton (H5). The best fit was obtained for a parent body with a radius of 100 km that accreted at t = 2.3 Ma after CAI formation, and had an initial 60 Fe/ 56 Fe = 4.1 × 10 −7 . Burial depths of 8.3 km and 36 km for Richardton and Kernouve were able to reproduce their empirically determined cooling history. These burial depths are shallower than those derived in previous models. This reflects the strong insulating effect of the residual powder surface layer, which is characterised by a low thermal conductivity.

Petrology, geochemistry and tectono-magmatic affinity of gabbroic olistoliths from the ophiolite mélange in the NW Dinaric-Vardar ophiolite zone (Mts. Kalnik and Ivanščica, North Croatia)

Mafic intrusive rocks are subordinately represented fragments of the oceanic crust in the ophiolite melange exposedat Mts. Kalnik and Ivanscica located in the NW Dinaric-Vardar ophiolite zone. This ophiolite melange occurs in thenorthern area of the Kalnik Unit and represents the SW surface boundary of the Zagorje-Mid-Transdanubian ShearZone. The melange, except for mafic intrusive rocks, consists of a chaotic mixture of various extrusive rocks formedin different tectonic settings of the Repno Oceanic Domain (ROD). The ROD was the segment of Neo-Tethys thatconnects the Meliata-Maliak and Dinaric-Vardar oceanic systems. Previous study of mafic extrusive sequences suggestedan 80 Ma period of tectono-magmatic evolution of the ROD from intra-continental rifting during the Anisian,to the formation of proto-arc crust during the Callovian-Oxfordian. The domain exposes ophiolitic rocks in four melangeareas. Isotropic gabbroic rocks that are abundant in two northern areas (Mts. Kalnik and Ivanscica), can be discriminatedinto three distinct geochemical groups: (A) N-MORB-type gabbro [(Th/Nb)n = 0.99–1.10; (Nb/La)n =0.95–0.99], (B) IAT-type amphibole gabbro with clear supra-subduction characteristics [(Th/Nb)n = 6.04–8.16; (Nb/La)n = 0.32–0.42] and (C) BABB-type amphibole-bearing gabbro [(Th/Nb)n = 2.88–4.02; (Nb/La)n = 0.58–0.69].Representative gabbro samples of each geochemical group were dated by the Ar-Ar and/or the K-Ar dating method.The Early Jurassic N-MORB-type gabbros (geochemical group A), ~185 Ma old, signifies a peculiar stage of Palaeo-Tethyan slab break-off. The Late Jurassic IAT-type gabbros (geochemical group B), ~147 Ma old, is the vestige of anascent intra-oceanic arc, whilst the Early Cretaceous BABB-type gabbros (geochemical group C), ~100 Ma old,provides evidence of magmatism in the back-arc marginal basin. The analyzed gabbroic rocks enable refinement andcompletion of the geodynamic evolution of the ROD, from the opening of an ensialic back-arc basin during the Ladinianand a continuous spreading event until the Bajocian. Intra-oceanic convergence was initiated in the Bathonian,with the formation of a nascent island-arc during the Tithonian, leading to formation of a Cretaceous ensimatic backarcmarginal basin. There are many lines of evidence that correlate the geodynamic evolution of the ROD with theAlbanide-Hellenide Neo-Tethyan oceanic segment.

Evaluation of neutron sources for ISAGE—in-situ-NAA for a future lunar mission

For a future Moon landing, a concept for an in-situ NAA involving age determination using the (40)Ar-(39)Ar method is developed. A neutron source (252)Cf is chosen for sample irradiation on the Moon. A special sample-in-source irradiation geometry is designed to provide a homogeneous distribution of neutron flux at the irradiation position. Using reflector, the neutron flux is likely to increase by almost 200%. Sample age of 1Ga could be determined. Elemental analysis using INAA is discussed.

What happened to the moon? A lunar history mission using neutrons

The ages of lunar rocks can be determined using the 40Ar−39Ar technique that can be used in-situ on the moon if a neutron source, a noble gas mass spectrometer and a gas extraction and purification system are brought to the lunar surface. A possible instrument for such a task is ISAGE, which combines a strong 252Cf neutron source and a compact spectrometer for in-situ dating of e.g. the South Pole Aitken impact basin or the potentially very young basalts south of the Aristachus Plateau. In this paper, the design of the neutron source will be discussed. The source is assumed to be a hollow sphere surrounded by a reflector, a geometry that provides a very homogeneous flux at the irradiation position inside the sphere. The optimal source geometry depending on the experimental conditions, the costs of transportation for the reflector and the costs of the source itself are calculated. A minimum 252Cf mass of 1.5mg is determined.

Nature, Age, and Emplacement of the Spongtang Ophiolite, Ladakh, NW India

The Spongtang ophiolite (Ladakh, NW India) constrains the nature of oceanic lithosphere before Indo-Asia collision and key stages in the development of the Himalayas. We report whole-rock 40Ar/39Ar and in situ zircon 238U–206Pb ages from its crustal and upper and lower mantle sequences. Major and trace elements from harzburgite minerals suggest that the ophiolite formed at a mid-ocean ridge-type spreading centre, whereas published spinel compositions from Spongtang dunites are consistent with a suprasubduction-zone setting. Rare earth element-in-two-pyroxene thermometry for the harzburgite yields 1058 ± 13°C whereas temperature from solvus-based two-pyroxene and olivine–spinel thermometry is lower (to 656°C). The distribution suggests that the mantle section of the ophiolite cooled at rates of 100° Ma−1 or slower. Based on ages, major and trace element geochemistry, and geospeedometric estimates, we model the origin of the Spongtang ophiolite as forming within a mid-ocean ridge-type spreading centre with a spreading rate >2 cm a−1 in the Neotethyan Ocean, possibly from the Late Triassic to Jurassic. By the Early Cretaceous, the ridge experienced increasing influence of subduction beneath the Spongtang oceanic lithosphere owing to a subduction polarity reversal. Based on 238U–206Pb ages of the youngest Cenozoic zircon grain, latest obduction occurred between 64.3 ± 0.8 and 42.4 ± 0.5 Ma, in accordance with 56.7 ± 5.2 Ma whole-rock 40Ar/39Ar ages. Supplementary material: Excel files with details of electron microprobe and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analyses, argon isotopic whole-rock and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) analyses, and the TREE calculations, including an inversion diagram showing regression through measured REE distributions in cpx and opx (from Liang et al. 2013), are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4261856