NASA NTRS · 20140012871
Vesta Evolution from Surface Mineralogy: Mafic and Ultramafic Mineral Distribution
Abstract
Vesta is the only intact, differentiated, rocky protoplanet and it is the parent body of HED meterorites. Howardite, eucrite and diogenite (HED) meteorites represent regolith, basaltic-crust, lower-crust and possibly ultramafic-mantle samples of asteroid Vesta. Only a few of these meteorites, the orthopyroxene-rich diogenites, contain olivine, a mineral that is a major component of the mantles of differentiated bodies, including Vesta. The HED parent body experienced complex igneous processes that are not yet fully understood and olivine and diogenite distribution is a key measurement to understand Vesta evolution. Here we report on the distribution of olivine and its constraints on vestan evolution models.
Keep this discovery
Explore connections, maps & timelines
DeSanctis, M. C., Ammannito, E., Palomba, E., Longobardo, A., Mittlefehldt, D. W., McSween, H. Y, Marchi, S., Capria, M. T., Capaccioni, F., Frigeri, A., Pieters, C. M., Ruesch, O., Tosi, F., Zambon, F., Hiesinger, H., Magni, G., McFadden, L. A., Raymond, C. A., Russell, C. T., Sunshine, J. M.. 2014-03-17. Vesta Evolution from Surface Mineralogy: Mafic and Ultramafic Mineral Distribution. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20140012871
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.