Assessing the spatial variability of the ~3 μm OH/H2O absorption feature in CM2 carbonaceous chondrites

H₂O and OH are readily detected in hydrated minerals in CM chondrites via reflectance spectroscopy due to their characteristic vibration absorptions at infrared wavelengths. Previous spectroscopic work on bulk powdered CM chondrites has shown that spectral parameters, like the wavelength position of the “3 μm absorption feature,” vary systematically with the extent to which the samples have been aqueously altered. However, it is yet unclear how these spectral features may vary across an intact meteorite chip when measured at spatial scales smaller than that of the individual components of the meteorite. Here, we explore the spatial variability of this spectral feature and others on intact CM2 chips which, unlike powders, retain their petrologic and textural characteristics. We also model the modal mineralogy of the bulk meteorite powders and correlate this with key spectral features, demonstrating that microscope Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic mapping provides a powerful, rapid, and non-destructive technique for assessing compositional diversity and variations in water–rock interactions in chondritic planetary materials. In all CM2 chondrites studied here, we find that variations in the position, shape, and strength of the 3 μm absorption feature reveal a single chondrite can exhibit as much spectral variation as the entire suite of CM2 chondrites. The observed variations in the position and shape of the 3 μm feature within individual CM2 chondrite chips suggest a range of alteration products (e.g., Mg-rich to Fe-rich phyllosilicates) are present and record sub-mm scale variations in the amount and/or chemistry of the altering fluids. The samples having experienced the most progressive aqueous alteration show the least amount of variability in features like the 3 μm absorption band minimum position, whereas the least altered samples exhibit the most variability. We also find that the bulk spectral signatures in the least altered samples appear to be biased toward the spectral signatures of clasts versus matrix. By extension, asteroid reflectance spectra exhibiting 3 μm absorption features consistent with those measured here may be interpreted in a similar framework in which the spectrum of what may appear to be the least altered asteroids represents an average that belies the true diversity of mineralogy and chemistry of the body.     

Metasomatic crystallization of muscovite in granite and tourmaline in schist related to pegmatite emplacement near Yellowknife,Canada

Numerous pegmatite dikes occur in the Sparrow pluton (muscovite-biotite granite) and in the adjacent cordierite-zone schist-hornfels of the Yellowknife Supergroup. Where pegmatite dikes cut granite, the adjacent granite is enriched in muscovite and apatite, and depleted in K-feldspar. Mass transfer calculations, based on rock, mineral, and modal analyses, indicate that H, P, and locally B, Ti, Fe, and Ca were added, and K, Sr, Ba, and locally Na were removed (hydrogen metasomatism). In one alteration zone (8 cm wide) the calculated change (in terms of mols/gram of unaltered granite) is, 600 K-feldspar+24 biotite+190 plagioclase +[770 H+36 P+3 Ti+13 Fe+13 Ca] 400 muscovite+1100 quartz +11 apatite+[240 Na+260 K]. Where pegmatite dikes cut schist-hornfels (biotite-plagioclase-quartz), the adjacent rock is, in places, enriched in tourmaline, apatite, and quartz, and depleted in biotite and plagioclase. These alteration zones are variable in width; most are less than 20 cm wide. Mass transfer calculations, based on rock, mineral, and modal analyses, indicate that B, P, Zn, and locally Ca, Fe, and Al were added, and that Na, K, Fe, Rb, Sr, Ba, and locally Mg and Si were removed (boron metasomatism). In one zone, 2 cm wide, the calculated reaction (in units of mols/gram of unaltered schist) is, 730 biotite+1530 plagioclase +[1080 B+600 H+430 P+360 Ca] 480 tourmaline+480 quartz+115 apatite +[3630 Si+870 Na+590 K+110 Fe]. Changes in the volume fraction of muscovite, K-feldspar, tourmaline, and biotite, relative to distance from pegmatite, are progressive, and in most alteration zones may be expressed by use of an error-function equation. Some tourmaline zones are more complex. Zone formation is considered in terms of a steady-state reaction model in which grainboundary diffusion is the transport mechanism.     

Finite-element method in modeling geologic transport processes

Deterministic mathematical modeling of complex geologic transport processes may require the use of odd boundary shapes, time dependency, and two or three dimensions. Under these circumstances the governing transport equations must be solved by numerical methods. For a number of transport phenomena a general form of the convective-dispersion equation can be employed. The solution of this equation for complicated problems can be solved readily by the finite-element method. Using quadrilateral isoparametric elements or triangular elements and a computational algorithm based on Galerkin's procedure, solutions to unsteady heat flux from a dike and seawater intrusion in an aquifer have been obtained. These examples illustrate that the finite-element numerical procedure is well suited for solving boundary-value problems resulting from modeling of complex physical phenomena.