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1.
Regolithic howardites are analogs for the surface materials of asteroid 4 Vesta, recently mapped by the Dawn spacecraft. Rigorously evaluating pairing of howardites recovered in 1995 in the Grosvenor Mountains (GRO 95), Antarctica, enables an examination of a larger, more representative regolith sample. Previous work on two of the howardites studied here concluded that GRO 95602 and GRO 95535 are solar wind‐rich surface regolith samples and that they are not paired with each other, leading to uncertainty regarding pairing relationships between the other GRO 95 howardites. Based on petrology, cosmic‐ray exposure history, and terrestrial age, four GRO 95 howardites are paired. The paired howardites (GRO 95534, 95535, 95574, 95581) were from a meteoroid with radius of 10–15 cm, a preatmospheric size comparable to that of Kapoeta, the largest known regolithic howardite. The paired GRO 95 howardites contain clasts of at least 18 separate HED lithologies, providing evidence they were assembled from diverse source materials. The total eucrite:diogenite mixing ratio (ratio of all eucrite lithologies to all diogenite lithologies) in the paired GRO 95 howardites is ~2:1. Petrographically determined basaltic eucrite:cumulate eucrite ratios in regolithic howardites, studied here and previously, vary more widely than total eucrite:diogenite ratios. Relative to eucritic pyroxene, plagioclase is depleted in these howardites, which provides evidence that plagioclase is preferentially comminuted in the vestan regolith. The extent of plagioclase depletion could be an indicator of regolith maturity.  相似文献   

2.
In this paper, we present the first correlation of derived mineral abundances of V-class Asteroid 1929 Kollaa, 4 Vesta, and the HED meteorites. We demonstrate that 1929 Kollaa has a basaltic composition consistent with an origin within the crustal layer of 4 Vesta, and show a plausible genetic connection between Kollaa and the cumulate eucrite meteorites. These data support the proposed delivery mechanism of HED meteorites to the Earth from Vesta, and provide the first mineralogical constraint derived from the observation of a small V-class, Vesta family asteroid on the crustal thickness of 4 Vesta.  相似文献   

3.
The spectral-frequency method (Busarev et al., 2007b) allowed us to obtain data on 16 sizes of hydrosilicate spots on the surface of the asteroid 4 Vesta. Large sizes (800 and 750 km) show clusters of small hydrosilicate spots near a well-known crater. Small spots of 50–13 km cover more than 50% of the surface. The predominant number of small-sized spots suggests their recent origin. Our data confirm the presence of water combinations on the surface of 4 Vesta and allow us to draw a conclusion on their recent appearance in collisions of this asteroid with primitive bodies arriving from the zone of Jupiter.  相似文献   

4.
We have done petrologic and compositional studies on a suite of polymict eucrites and howardites to better understand regolith processes on their parent asteroid, which we accept is (4) Vesta. Taking into account noble gas results from companion studies, we interpret five howardites to represent breccias assembled from the true regolith: Elephant Moraine (EET) 87513, Grosvenor Mountains (GRO) 95535, GRO 95602, Lewis Cliff (LEW) 85313, and Meteorite Hills (MET) 00423. We suggest that EET 87503 is paired with EET 87513, and thus is also regolithic. Pecora Escarpment (PCA) 02066 is dominated by melt‐matrix clasts, which may have been formed from true regolith by impact melting. These meteorites display a range in eucrite:diogenite mixing ratio from 55:45 to 76:24. There is no correlation between degree of regolith character and Ni content. The Ni contents of howardite, eucrite, and diogenites (HEDs) are mostly controlled by the distribution of coarse chondritic clasts and metal grains, which in some cases resulted from individual, low‐velocity accretion events, rather than extensive regolith gardening. Trace element compositions indicate that the mafic component of HED polymict breccias is mostly basalt similar to main‐group eucrites; Stannern‐trend basaltic debris is less common. Pyroxene compositions show that some trace element‐rich howardites contain abundant debris from evolved basalts, and that cumulate gabbro debris is present in some breccias. The scale of heterogeneity varies considerably; regolithic howardite EET 87513 is more homogeneous than fragmental howardite Queen Alexandra Range (QUE) 97001. Individual samples of a given howardite can have different compositions even at roughly 5 g masses, indicating that obtaining representative meteorite compositions requires multiple or large samples.  相似文献   

5.
Here, we construct a comprehensive howardite, eucrite, and diogenite (HED) bulk chemistry data set to compare with Dawn data. Using the bulk chemistry data set, we determine four gamma‐ray/neutron parameters in the HEDs (1) relative fast neutron counts (fast counts), (2) macroscopic thermal neutron absorption cross section (absorption), (3) a high‐energy gamma‐ray compositional parameter (Cp), and (4) Fe abundance. These correspond to the four measurements of Vesta made by Dawn's Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector (GRaND) that can be used to discern HED lithologic variability on the Vestan surface. We investigate covariance between fast counts and average atomic mass (<A>) in the meteorite data set, where a strong correlation (r2 = 0.99) is observed, and we demonstrate that systematic offsets from the fast count/<A> trend are linked to changes in Fe and Ni concentrations. To compare the meteorite and GRaND data, we investigate and report covariance among fast counts, absorption, Cp, and Fe abundance in the HED meteorite data set. We identify several GRaND measurement spaces where the Yamato type B diogenites are distinct from all other HED lithologies, including polymict mixtures. The type B's are diogenites that are enriched in Fe + pigeonite + diopside ± plagioclase, relative to typical, orthopyroxenitic diogenites. We then compare these results to GRaND data and demonstrate that regions north of ~70°N latitude on Vesta (including the north pole) are consistent with type B diogenites. We propose two models to explain type B diogenite compositions in the north (1) deposition as Rheasilvia ejecta, or (2) type B plutons that were emplaced at shallow depths in the north polar region and sampled by local impacts. Lastly, using principal component (PC) analysis, we identify unique PC spaces for all HED lithologies, indicating that the corresponding GRaND measurables may be used to produce comprehensive lithologic maps for Vesta.  相似文献   

6.
The sizes of color patches on the surface of the asteroid 4 Vesta were estimated with the spectral-frequency method. We used the digital records of the asteroid spectra obtained on February 2, 3, 4, and 7, 2002, with the TV system and the slitless afocal spectrograph of the MTM-500 telescope at the Research Institute of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory. The spectral resolution caused by the image quantity was about 40 Å and the exposure duration was 30 s. The energy calibration was performed both with the artificial light-emitting diode standard and three standard stars. The synthetic color indices B-V and V-R were calculated from the asteroid spectra taken out of the atmosphere. From these data, the changes with an asteroid rotation phase were eliminated. After that, the periods that were significantly smaller than the asteroid rotation period were searched for, and each time the data were whitened for the obtained period. Assuming that the patch sizes are determined by the half-obtained period and that the patches are located in the equatorial region of the asteroid, we estimated the sizes of 20 and 19 patches in the long-and short-wavelength ranges, respectively. The smallest found patch was about 9 km across. The statistical estimates of the reddish patches and the comparison with the statistics of old craters allowed us to suggest that the reddish patches on the asteroid Vesta surface are old formations.  相似文献   

7.
We investigate the depth, variability, and history of regolith on asteroid Vesta using data from the Dawn spacecraft. High‐resolution (15–20 m pixel?1) Framing Camera images are used to assess the presence of morphologic indicators of a shallow regolith, including the presence of blocks in crater ejecta, spur‐and‐gully–type features in crater walls, and the retention of small (<300 m) impact craters. Such features reveal that the broad, regional heterogeneities observed on Vesta in terms of albedo and surface composition extend to the physical properties of the upper ~1 km of the surface. Regions of thin regolith are found within the Rheasilvia basin and at equatorial latitudes from ~0–90°E and ~260–360°E. Craters in these areas that appear to excavate material from beneath the regolith have more diogenitic (Rheasilvia, 0–90°E) and cumulate eucrite (260–360°E) compositions. A region of especially thick regolith, where depths generally exceed 1 km, is found from ~100–240°E and corresponds to heavily cratered, low‐albedo surface with a basaltic eucrite composition enriched in carbonaceous chondrite material. The presence of a thick regolith in this area supports the idea that this is an ancient terrain that has accumulated a larger component of exogenic debris. We find evidence for the gardening of crater ejecta toward more howarditic compositions, consistent with regolith mixing being the dominant form of “weathering” on Vesta.  相似文献   

8.
Phase angle and temperature are two important parameters that affect the photometric and spectral behavior of planetary surfaces in telescopic and spacecraft data. We have derived photometric and spectral phase functions for the Asteroid 4 Vesta, the first target of the Dawn mission, using ground-based telescopes operating at visible and near-infrared wavelengths (0.4–2.5 μm). Photometric lightcurve observations of Vesta were conducted on 15 nights at a phase angle range of 3.8–25.7° using duplicates of the seven narrowband Dawn Framing Camera filters (0.4–1.0 μm). Rotationally resolved visible (0.4–0.7 μm) and near-IR spectral observations (0.7–2.5 μm) were obtained on four nights over a similar phase angle range. Our Vesta photometric observations suggest the phase slope is between 0.019 and 0.029 mag/deg. The G parameter ranges from 0.22 to 0.37 consistent with previous results (e.g., Lagerkvist, C.-I., Magnusson, P., Williams, I.P., Buontempo, M.E., Argyle, R.W., Morrison, L.V. [1992]. Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 94, 43–71; Piironen, J., Magnusson, P., Lagerkvist, C.-I., Williams, I.P., Buontempo, M.E., Morrison, L.V. [1997]. Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 121, 489–497; Hasegawa, S. et al. [2009]. Lunar Planet. Sci. 40. ID 1503) within the uncertainty. We found that in the phase angle range of 0° < α ? 25° for every 10° increase in phase angle Vesta’s visible slope (0.5–0.7 μm) increases 20%, Band I and Band II depths increase 2.35% and 1.5% respectively, and the BAR value increase 0.30. Phase angle spectral measurements of the eucrite Moama in the lab show a decrease in Band I and Band II depths and BAR from the lowest phase angle 13° to 30°, followed by possible small increases up to 90°, and then a dramatic drop between 90° and 120° phase angle. Temperature-induced spectral effects shift the Band I and II centers of the pyroxene bands to longer wavelengths with increasing temperature. We have derived new correction equations using a temperature series (80–400 K) of HED meteorite spectra that will enable interpretation of telescopic and spacecraft spectral data using laboratory calibrations at room temperature (300 K).  相似文献   

9.
Abstract— We demonstrate that the use of an established spectral deconvolution algorithm with mid‐infrared spectral libraries of mineral separates of varying grain sizes is capable of identifying the known mineral compositions and abundances of a selection of howardite, eucrite, and diogenite (HED) meteorite samples. In addition, we apply the same technique to mid‐infrared spectral emissivity measurements of Vesta that have been obtained from Cornell's Mid‐Infrared Asteroid Spectroscopy (MIDAS) Survey and the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). Each Vesta measurement was made over a different range of longitudes. Our spectral deconvolution results to the Vesta spectra corroborate that Vesta's surface is howardite or eucrite‐like in composition and heterogeneous across its surface. The spectral fits produced by the linear deconvolution algorithm yields good results for the HED samples of known composition, thus giving us a high degree of confidence that our results for Vesta are valid.  相似文献   

10.
Abstract— Asteroid 4 Vesta, believed to be the parent body of the howardite, eucrite, and diogenite (HED) meteorites, will be investigated by the Dawn orbiting spacecraft. Dawn carries a gamma ray and neutron detector (GRaND) that will measure and map some major‐ and trace‐element abundances. Drawing on HED geochemistry, we propose a mixing model that uses element ratios appropriate for the interpretation of GRaND data. Because the spatial resolution of GRaND is relatively coarse, the analyzed chemical compositions on the surface of Vesta will likely reflect mixing of three endmember components: diogenite, cumulate eucrite, and basaltic eucrite. Reliability of the mixing model is statistically investigated based on published whole‐rock data for HED meteorites. We demonstrate that the mixing model can accurately estimate the abundances of all the GRaND‐analyzed major elements, as well as of minor elements (Na, Cr, and Mn) not analyzed by this instrument. We also show how a similar mixing model can determine the modal abundance of olivine, and we compare estimated and normative olivine data for olivine‐bearing diogenites. By linking the compositions of well‐analyzed HED meteorites with elemental mapping data from GRaND, this study may help constrain the geological context for HED meteorites and provide new insight into the magmatic evolution of Vesta.  相似文献   

11.
Abstract– The absence of dunite (>90 vol% olivine) in the howardite, eucrite, and diogenite (HED) meteorite suite, when viewed with respect to spectroscopic and petrologic evidence for olivine on Vesta, is problematic. Herein, we present petrologic, geochemical, and isotopic evidence confirming that Miller Range (MIL) 03443, containing 91 vol% olivine, should be classified with the HED clan rather than with mesosiderites. Similarities in olivine and pyroxene FeO/MnO ratios, mineral compositions, and unusual mineral inclusions between MIL 03443 and the diogenites support their formation on a common parent body. This hypothesis is bolstered by oxygen isotopic and bulk geochemical data. Beyond evidence for its reclassification, we present observations and interpretations that MIL 03443 is probably a crustal cumulate rock like the diogenites, rather than a sample of the Vestan mantle.  相似文献   

12.
V-type asteroids in the inner Main Belt (a < 2.5 AU) and the HED meteorites are thought to be genetically related to one another as collisional fragments from the surface of the large basaltic Asteroid 4 Vesta. We investigate this relationship by comparing the near-infrared (0.7-2.5 μm) spectra of 39 V-type asteroids to laboratory spectra of HED meteorites. The central wavelengths and areas spanned by the 1 and 2 μm pyroxene-olivine absorption bands that are characteristic of planetary basalts are measured for both the asteroidal and meteoritic data. The band centers are shown to be well correlated, however the ratio of areas spanned by the 1 and 2 μm absorption bands are much larger for the asteroids than for the meteorites. We argue that this offset in band area ratio is consistent with our currently limited understanding of the effects of space weathering, however we cannot rule out the possibility that this offset is due to compositional differences. Several other possible causes of this offset are discussed.Amongst these inner Main Belt asteroids we do not find evidence for non-Vestoid mineralogies. Instead, these asteroids seem to represent a continuum of compositions, consistent with an origin from a single differentiated parent body. In addition, our analysis shows that V-type asteroids with low inclinations (i < 6°) tend to have band centers slightly shifted towards long wavelengths. This may imply that more than one collision on Vesta’s surface was responsible for producing the observed population of inner belt V-type asteroids. Finally, we offer several predictions that can be tested when the Dawn spacecraft enters into orbit around Vesta in the summer of 2011.  相似文献   

13.
Vesta’s crater sizes that are based on images returned from the Dawn probe orbiting the asteroid 4 Vesta are compared with sizes of spots on its surface derived from hydrosilicate equivalent widths and asteroid color indices B-V and V-R observed spectrophotometrically on earth using a spectral-frequency method. The sizes of craters and spots at the asteroid poles prove to correspond to the sizes of spots that are assumed to be located at latitudes of 40°...45° N and S. Comparative results for the crater sizes ranging from 10 to 100 km are tabulated. We conclude that crater sizes on asteroid surfaces can be determined using the spectral-frequency method.  相似文献   

14.
Abstract— We evaluate the consequences of explosive activity having taken place during volcanic eruptions on the differentiated asteroid 4 Vesta, which is the likely parent body of the howardite-eucrite-diogenite (HED) meteorites. For a wide range of magma volatile contents, we calculate the eruption speeds and subsequent trajectories of the pyroclastic magma droplets produced. By considering the size distribution and eruption speeds of the droplets, and the mass fluxes at which they are ejected, we show that, under all realistic circumstances, the droplets will have formed lava fountains that were extremely optically dense. As a result, virtually all of the droplets will have reached the surface having suffered a negligible amount of radiative cooling and will have coalesced into lava ponds feeding lava flows. Typically, <1% of the pyroclasts will have undergone enough cooling to allow them to accumulate into a recognizable fall deposit consisting of unwelded or partly welded volcanic glass beads. This result is consistent with the apparent absence of identifiable pyroclastic material in the HED (and other types of) differentiated meteorites.  相似文献   

15.
16.
Identifying and mapping olivine on asteroid 4 Vesta are important components to understanding differentiation on that body, which is one of the objectives of the Dawn mission. Harzburgitic diogenites are the main olivine‐bearing lithology in the howardite‐eucrite‐diogenite (HED) meteorites, a group of samples thought to originate from Vesta. Here, we examine all the Antarctic harzburgites and estimate that, on scales resolvable by Dawn, olivine abundances in putative harzburgite exposures on the surface of Vesta are likely at best in the 10–30% range, but probably lower due to impact mixing. We examine the visible/near‐infrared spectra of two harzburgitic diogenites representative of the 10–30% olivine range and demonstrate that they are spectrally indistinguishable from orthopyroxenitic diogenites, the dominant diogenitic lithology in the HED group. This suggests that the visible/near‐infrared spectrometer onboard Dawn (VIR) will be unable to resolve harzburgites from orthopyroxenites on the surface of Vesta, which may explain the current lack of identification of harzburgitic diogenite on Vesta.  相似文献   

17.
Our understanding of planet formation depends in fundamental ways on what we learn by analyzing the composition, mineralogy, and petrology of meteorites. Yet, it is difficult to deduce the compositional and thermal gradients that existed in the solar nebula from the meteoritic record because, in most cases, we do not know where meteorites with different chemical and isotopic signatures originated. Here we developed a model that tracks the orbits of meteoroid-sized objects as they evolve from the ν6 secular resonance to Earth-crossing orbits. We apply this model to determining the number of meteorites accreted on the Earth immediately after a collisional disruption of a D∼200-km-diameter inner-main-belt asteroid in the Flora family region. We show that this event could produce fossil chondrite meteorites found in an ≈470 Myr old marine limestone quarry in southern Sweden, the L-chondrite meteorites with shock ages ≈470 Myr falling on the Earth today, as well as asteroid-sized fragments in the Flora family. To explain the measured short cosmic-ray exposure ages of fossil meteorites our model requires that the meteoroid-sized fragments were launched at speeds >500 m s−1 and/or the collisional lifetimes of these objects were much shorter immediately after the breakup event than they are today.  相似文献   

18.
Abstract— The recent discovery of the importance of Sun-grazing phenomena dramatically changed our understanding of the dynamics of objects emerging from the asteroid belt via resonant phenomena. The typical lifetimes of such objects are now expected to be <10 Ma, thus demanding a reassessment of our general picture of the meteorite delivery process. By analysing direct numerical integrations of ~2000 test particles beginning in the v6, 3:1, and 5:2 resonances in the main belt, we have reexamined the orbital and temporal distribution of meteoroids that journey to Earth. Comparing the results with fireball data, we find that the orbital distribution of Earth-impacting chondrites is consistent with a steady-state injection of meteoroids into the 3:1 and v6, resonances. Because this is the most complete and unbiased data set concerning Earth-impacting meteoroids, the agreement leads us to believe that our model is accurate. The simulations predict a P.M. fall ratio for chondrites ~14% lower than the observed value of ~68%, which argues for a moderate bias being present in this statistic. Most interestingly, the typical meteorite transfer times predicted by our models are several factors lower than the typical chondrite exposure ages, which implies that these meteorites acquired most of their exposure in the main belt before entering the resonances. We discuss some processes that would allow such preexposure. The case of achondrites and iron meteorites is also briefly discussed.  相似文献   

19.
A. Parker  ?. Ivezi?  R. Lupton  A. Kowalski 《Icarus》2008,198(1):138-155
Asteroid families, traditionally defined as clusters of objects in orbital parameter space, often have distinctive optical colors. We show that the separation of family members from background interlopers can be improved with the aid of SDSS colors as a qualifier for family membership. Based on an ∼88,000 object subset of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Moving Object Catalog 4 with available proper orbital elements, we define 37 statistically robust asteroid families with at least 100 members (12 families have over 1000 members) using a simple Gaussian distribution model in both orbital and color space. The interloper rejection rate based on colors is typically ∼10% for a given orbital family definition, with four families that can be reliably isolated only with the aid of colors. About 50% of all objects in this data set belong to families, and this fraction varies from about 35% for objects brighter than an H magnitude of 13 and rises to 60% for objects fainter than this. The fraction of C-type objects in families decreases with increasing H magnitude for H>13, while the fraction of S-type objects above this limit remains effectively constant. This suggests that S-type objects require a shorter timescale for equilibrating the background and family size distributions via collisional processing. The size distribution varies significantly among families, and is typically different from size distributions for background populations. The size distributions for 15 families display a well-defined change of slope and can be modeled as a “broken” double power-law. Such “broken” size distributions are twice as likely for S-type familes than for C-type families (73% vs. 36%), and are dominated by dynamically old families. The remaining families with size distributions that can be modeled as a single power law are dominated by young families (<1 Gyr). When size distribution requires a double power-law model, the two slopes are correlated and are steeper for S-type families. No such slope-color correlation is discernible for families whose size distribution follows a single power law. For several very populous families, we find that the size distribution varies with the distance from the core in orbital-color space, such that small objects are more prevalent in the family outskirts. This “size sorting” is consistent with predictions based on the Yarkovsky effect.  相似文献   

20.
J. Warell  D.T. Blewett 《Icarus》2004,168(2):257-276
We present new optical (0.4-0.65 μm) spectra of Mercury and lunar pure anorthosite locations, obtained quasi-simultaneously with the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) in 2002. A comparative study is performed with the model of Lucey et al. (2000, J. Geophys. Res. 105, 20297-20305, and references therein) between iron-poor, mature, pure anorthosite (>90% plagioclase feldspar) Clementine spectra from the lunar farside and a combined 0.4-1.0 μm mercurian spectrum, obtained with the NOT, calculated for standard photometric geometry. Mercury is located at more extreme locations in the Lucey ratio-reflectance diagrams than any known lunar soil, specifically with respect to the extremely iron-poor mature anorthosites. Though quantitative prediction of FeO and TiO2 abundances cannot be made without a more generally applicable model, we find qualitatively that the abundances of both these oxides must be near zero for Mercury. We utilize the theory of Hapke (2002, Icarus 157, 523-534, and references therein), with realistic photometric parameters, to model laboratory spectra of matured mineral powders and lunar soils, and remotely sensed spectra of lunar anorthosites and Mercury. An important difference between fabricated and natural powders is the high value for the internal scattering parameter necessary to interpret the spectra for the former, and the requirement of rough and non-isotropically scattering surfaces in the modelling of the latter. The mature lunar anorthosite spectra were well modelled with binary mixtures of calcic feldspars and olivines, grain sizes of 25-30 μm and a concentration of submicroscopic metallic iron (SMFe) of 0.12-0.15% in grain coatings. The mercurian spectrum is not possible to interpret from terrestrial mineral powder spectra without introducing an average particle scattering function for the bulk soil that increases in backscattering efficiency with wavelength. The observed spectrum is somewhat better predicted with binary mixture models of feldspars and pyroxenes, than with single-component regoliths consisting of either albite or diopside. Correct spectral reflectance values were predicted with a concentration of 0.1 wt% SMFe in coatings of 15-30 μm sized grains. Since reasonable cosmogonical formation scenarios for Mercury, or meteoritic infall, predict iron concentrations at least this high, we draw the conclusion that the average grain size of Mercury is about a factor of two smaller than for average returned lunar soil samples. The 0.6-2.5 μm spectrum of McCord and Clark (1979, J. Geophys. Res. 178, 745-747) is used to further limit the possible range of mineralogical composition of Mercury. It is found that an intimately mixed and matured 3:1 labradorite-to-enstatite regolith composition best matches both the optical and near-infrared spectra, yielding an abundance of ∼1.2 wt% FeO and ∼0 wt% TiO2.  相似文献   

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