Search NASA⌕ Search

Engineering topics

Klein, L. C.

Publications and source records attributed to Klein, L. C..

Viscous flow behavior of four iron-containing silicates with alumina, effects of composition and oxidation condition

The viscosity of a magma is an important parameter in connection with its effect on geologic processes such as melt segregation, magma vesiculation, and crystal fractionation. Though most models of geologic processes assume relatively low values for the magma viscosity less than 10,000 poise, it would be useful to have an empirical model for estimating viscosities when the process occurs during continuous cooling to a temperature region where the viscosity is expected to be very high. The considered work has been carried out to provide the experimental measurements of viscosity at low temperatures which would be used in formulating the empirical model. Ten iron-containing silicate compositions have been investigated by Klein et al. (1981), and four of these compositions have been selected for the present study with alumina. The study involves substitutions of Al2O3 for FeOx at Na2O/Al2O3 moles greater than one. For the four iron-containing silicate glasses with alumina, the viscosity at a given temperature is found to increase with increasing (Fe + Al).

Klein, L. C.↗

Conditions of formation of pyroxene excentroradial chondrules

Understanding the exact mechanism of origin of chondrules and the attendant physical conditions remains a key factor in understanding the early evolution of the solar system. The present investigation is concerned with an interpretation of the range of cooling histories needed to make chondrules. Chondrule-like spherules were formed in dynamic crystallization experiments, using gas-mixing facilities. It is found that textures in pyroxene-rich chondrules are well reproduced in the laboratory by cooling melts of chondrule composition from just above the liquidus. The range of pyroxene dendrite widths is slightly greater for natural chondrules than for droplets cooled from 50 C/hr to greater than 3000 C/hr. A blanketing medium of variable thickness explains the cooling rates lower than expected for radiative cooling. Experimental results, textures indicating incomplete melting, and isotopic disequilibrium are compatible with reheating of primitive material in the early solar nebula.

Hewins, R. H.↗

Flow behavior of ten iron-containing silicate compositions

The viscosity of ten iron-containing silicates has been measured over the temperature range 400 to 650 C. The compositions contain trace amounts up to 30 wt. pct. or 20 mole. pct. Fe3O4 from 10 to 20 wt. pct. or 10 to 20 mole. pct. Na2O and the remainder is SiO2. Samples were melted in air to form oxidized samples, in forming gas (95% N2-5% H2) to form mildly reduced samples, and in forming gas with carbon in the batch to form strongly reduced samples. In general, the viscosity decreased with increasing mole. pct. Na2O and decreasing mole. pct. SiO2 for a given temperature. In samples with increasing mole. pct. FeO(x) the difference in the viscosity between the oxidized sample and the reduced sample grew in magnitude at a given temperature. In all of the compositions, the log or viscosity, vs reciprocal-of-temperature relation shows curvature with an apparent activation energy between 90 and 100 kcal/mole.

Klein, L. C.↗

Viscous flow and crystallization behavior of tektite glasses

The variation of viscosity with temperature was determined in the 200-2000 K range for a Muong Nong tektite material. The viscosity at the liquidus temperature of 1320 C is 20,000 P; treatments between 900 and 1300 C do not result in significant crystallization in the natural sample except when the sample is heated in contact with a synthetic tektite composition. Two synthetic microtektite with lower SiO2 contents than the Muong Nong material were also examined; heat flow calculations were performed for 2.5 to 10 cm spheres of tektite when cooling by radiation.

Klein, L. C.↗

Flow behavior of droplet chondrules in the Manych /L-3/ chondrite

The Manych (L-3) chondrite contains chondrules that have radically different thermal histories. The high-SiO2 composition cooled at about 1 K/min to a glassy state or more slowly to form a variety of fractions of crystals. The low-SiO2 composition cooled at about 3000 K/min to form a glassy coating or much more slowly to form microporphyry. The extreme range of cooling rates displayed by objects in the Manych chondrite is difficult to reconcile with a model involving droplet condensation at low pressure which provides a uniform temperature, a uniform cooling rate, and an ambient that is not necessarily cold. The experimental results presented here are interpreted to mean that the origin of the chondrules is likely a result of impact melting because of the range of cooling histories represented in the chondrite.

Klein, L. C.↗

Origin of impact melt rocks in the Bununu howardite

The Bununu howardite is a polymict regolith breccia which contains impact melt that is largely restricted to a 1-cm thick intrusion containing residual glass. As in Malvern, the melt rock contains melt with meteoritic Ni-Co contents. The cooling rate, interpreted for forming glass from this composition, is a few tenths of a degree per minute. The intrusive melts rock, which is a feature unique to Bununu, may indicate that Bununu was consolidated at the time of impact melting.

Klein, L. C.↗

Provenance of metal and melt rock textures in the Malvern howardite

Malvern has been recognized as a breccia containing crystal clasts, clasts of parent rock types, and clasts of impact origin. The matrix consists primarily of small angular crystal fragments of pyroxene and plagioclase. Contrary to achondrites, the Malvern clasts of primary rocks and crystals are virtually devoid of metal, and the matrix contains no metal or primary achondrite composition. The melt rocks contain metal of meteoritic composition, which is also present in the matrix of Malvern.

Hewins, R. H.↗

Crystallization kinetics, viscous flow, and thermal history of lunar breccia 67975

The maximum crystal growth rate for the 67975 matrix composition, about 0.00073 cm/min, was found to occur at about 990 C (undercooling 220 C). The Shaw (1972) model and, to a slightly lesser extent, the Bottinga and Weill (1972) model indicate the variation of viscosity with temperature. Time-temperature-transformation and continuous cooling curves were constructed from the measured crystal growth rates and viscosities and used to estimate the cooling rate required to form bodies with the degree of crystallinity observed in the matrix of the breccia. It is estimated on the basis of kinetic analysis that the 67975 breccia cooled at a rate of about 0.06 C/min over the temperature range below the liquidus. Heat flow analyses indicate that the 67975 breccia did not cool in the size of the lunar sample but as part of a much larger body. Viscous singering as well as cooling of a melt-clast mixture are investigated.

Uhlmann, D. R.↗

Matrix glass vs. intruded glass in lunar breccia 15286

The viscous flow and crystallization behavior of the matrix composition of breccia 15286 have been determined in the 1159-1307 C and 644-770 C temperature ranges. The Shaw (1972) model and, to a slightly lesser extent, the semiempirical Bottinga and Weill (1972) model describe the variation of viscosity with temperature. The crystal growth rate has been determined over the temperature range 821-1185 C. Time-temperature-transformation, logarithmic cooling, and continuous cooling curves were constructed; a nucleation barrier of 60 kT at a relative undercooling of 0.2 is assumed. It is estimated that the matrix of 15286 breccia cooled at a rate greater than 80 K/min through the glass transition region. The increase in density that occurs when the matrix glass is annealed suggests that the breccia was formed by cooling from the molten state rather than by direct shock-induced transition from crystal to glass. Viscous sintering under continuous cooling and logarithmic cooling conditions is analyzed.

Handwerker, C. A.↗

The kinetics of lunar glass formation, revisited

The nucleation frequency of Lunar Composition 70019, a lithified soil breccia from the center of a small crater in the Taurus-Littrow Valley, is determined using a relation that describes nucleation throughout the volume of a liquid together with measurements of the time required at temperatures of 780 to 930 C to obtain sensibly crystalline bodies. Curves indicating the time required at a given temperature to reach a particular fraction crystallized are shown to have the general form predicted by kinetic analysis. Nucleation frequencies are evaluated by applying such analysis to a curve representing the transition between glassy material and material with a sensible degree of crystallinity. The results obtained are found to be in excellent agreement with the values expected from the classical theory of homogeneous nucleation, indicating that such nucleation represents the dominant contribution to crystal formation, at least over the range of undercoolings covered (250 to 400 C).

Klein, L. C.↗