Hydrogen isotope ratios in lunar rocks and the delivery of cometary water to the MoonWater plays a critical role in the evolution of planetary bodies 1 , and determination of the amount and sources of lunar water has profound implications for our understanding of the history of the Earth-Moon system. During the Apollo program, the lunar samples were found to be devoid of indigeneous water 2,3 . The severe depletion of lunar volatiles 4 , including water, has long been seen as strong support for the giant-impact origin of the Moon 5 . Recent studies have found water in lunar volcanic glasses 6 and in lunar apatite 7-9 , but the sources of lunar water have not been determined. Here we report ion microprobe measurements of water and hydrogen isotopes in the hydrous mineral apatite, found in crystalline lunar mare basalts and highlands rocks collected during the Apollo missions. We find significant water in apatite from both mare and highlands rocks, indicating a role for water during all phases of the Moon's magmatic history. Variations of hydrogen isotope ratios in apatite suggest the lunar mantle, solar wind protons, and comets as possible sources for water in lunar rocks and imply a significant delivery of cometary water to the Earth-Moon system shortly after the Moon-forming impact.
Abstract. Mars Pathfinder obtained multispectral, elemental, magnetic, and physical measurements of soil and dust at the Sagan Memorial Station during the course of its 83 sol mission. We describe initial results from these measurements, concentrating on multispectral and elemental data, and use these data, along with previous Viking, SNC meteorite, and telescopic results, to help constrain the origin and evolution of Martian soil and dust. We find that soils and dust can be divided into at least eight distinct spectral units, based on parameterization of Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) 400 to 1000 nm multispectral images. The most distinctive spectral parameters for soils and dust are the reflectivity in the red, the red/blue reflectivity ratio, the near-IR spectral slope, and the strength of the 800 to 1000 nm absorption feature. Most of the Pathfinder spectra are consistent with the presence of poorly crystalline or nanophase ferric oxide(s), sometimes mixed with small but varying degrees of well-crystalline ferric and ferrous phases. Darker soil units appear to be coarser-grained. compacted, and/or mixed with a larger amount of dark ferrous materials relative to bright soils. Nanophase goethite, akaganeite, schwertmannite, and maghemite are leading candidates for the origin of the absorption centered near 900 nm in IMP spectra.
Abstract. Rocks at the Mars Pathfinder site are probably locally derived. Textures on rock surfaces may indicate volcanic, sedimentary, or impact-generated rocks, but aeolian abration and dust coatings prevent unambiguous interpretation. Multispectral imaging has resolved four spectral classes of rocks: gray and red, which occur on different surfaces of the same rocks; pink, which is probably soil crusts; and maroon, which occurs as large boulders, mostly in the far field. Rocks are assigned to two spectral trends based on the position of peak reflectance: the primary spectral trend contains gray, red, and pink rocks; maroon rocks constitute the secondary spectral trend. The spatial pattern of spectral variations observed is oriented along the prevailing wind direction. The primary spectral trend arises from thin ferric coatings of aeolian dust on darker rocks. The secondary spectral trend is apparently due to coating by a different mineral, probably maghemite or ferrihydrite. A chronology based on rock spectra suggests that rounded maroon boulders constitute the oldest petrologic unit (a flood deposit), succeeded by smaller cobbles possibly deposited by impact, and followed by aeolian erosion and deposition. Nearly linear chemical trends in alpha proton X-ray spectrometer rock compositions are interpreted as mixing lines between rock and adhering dust, a conclusion supported by a correlation between sulfur abundance and red/blue spectral ratio. Extrapolations of regression lines to zero sulfur give the composition of a presumed igneous rock. The chemistry and normative mineralogy of the sulfurfree rock resemble common terrestrial volcanic rocks, and its classification corresponds to andesite. Igneous rocks of this composition my occur with clastic sedimentary rocks or impact melts and breccias. However, the spectral mottling expected on conglomerates or breccias is not observed in any APXS-analyzed rocks. Interpretation of the rocks as andesites is complicated by absence of a "1 gm" pyroxene absorption band. Plausible explanations include impact glass, band masking by magnetite, or presence of calcium-and iron-rich pyroxenes and olivine which push the absorption band minimum past the imager's spectral range. The inferred andesitic composition is most sinfilar to terrestrial anorogenic icelandites, formed by fractionation of tholeiitic basaltic magmas. Early melting of a relatively primitive Martian mantle could produce an appropriate parent magma, supporting the ancient age of Patlff•nder rocks inferred from their incorporation in Hesperian flood deposits. Although rocks of andesitic composition at the Patlff•nder site may represent samples of ancient Martian crust, inferences drawn about a necessary role for water or plate tectonics in their petrogenesis are probably unwarranted.
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