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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRS1979

New phyllosilicate types in a carbonaceous chondrite matrix

Observations of new types of layer silicates in the crystalline regions of the matrix of a carbonaceous chondrite are reported. Ion-thinned sections of the Murchison meteorite were observed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Images obtained of patterns of fringe spacings of 4.9 and 7.3 A are interpreted as resulting from ordered and disordered sequences of brucite-like and serpentine-like layers, respectively. The temperature and pressure conditions of phyllosilicate formation in the Murchison matrix are discussed in light of the suggested crysotile serpentine and brucite layers and evidence of Fe and Al in the layered intergrowths.

Mackinnon, I. D. R.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Reflectance spectra of mafic silicates and phyllosilicates from .6 to 4.6 microns

The results of spectral measurements for mafic silicates are given. The study provided valuable spectral reflectance information about mafic silicates and phyllosilicates in the 2.5 to 4.6 micron wavelength region. It was shown that the reflectance of these materials is strongly affected by the presence of H2O and OH. Therefore, the identification of these absorbing species is greatly enhanced.

Roush, Ted L.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Spectral effects of dehydration on phyllosilicates

Six phyllosilicates were progressively dehydrated under controlled conditions in an effort to study the spectral effects of their dehydration. The spectra obtained at each level of hydration provide information that may be used in future spectroscopic observations of the planets, as well as a data set which compliments the existing body of terrestrial soil knowledge.

Bruckenthal, E. A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Phyllosilicate absorption features in main-belt and outer-belt asteroid reflectance spectra

Absorption features having depths up to 5 percent are identified in high-quality, high-resolution reflectance spectra of 16 dark asteroids in the main belt and in the Cybele and Hilda groups. Analogs among the CM2 carbonaceous chondrite meteorites exist for some of these asteroids, suggesting that these absorptions are due to iron oxides in phyllosilicates formed on the asteroidal surfaces by aqueous alteration processes. Spectra of ten additional asteroids, located beyond the outer edge of the main belt, show no discernible absorption features, suggesting that aqueous alteration did not always operate at these heliocentric distances.

Vilas, Faith↗
NASA NTRS2002

Seeking and Identifying Phyllosilicates on Mars - A Simulation Study

In a simulation of seeking phyllosilicates on Mars, terrestrial ocean sediments were found to provide high quality Raman spectra of clays with low interfering fluorescence because most organic residues had been converted to graphitic carbon. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Wang, A.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Radial Migration of Phyllosilicates in the Solar Nebula

It has long been recognized that the high temperatures of the inner solar nebula (within approx. 3 AU) would not have allowed water to be incorporated into solids. However, the presence of water on the surface of Earth, as well as evidence for it on the surface of an early Mars imply that water was incorporated into solid bodies in this region. How this water was delivered to the solid bodies has yet to be identified. In this abstract we explore the possibility that hydrous minerals, such as phyllosilicates, formed somewhere in the asteroid belt region of the solar nebula or beyond, and then migrated inward where they would be accreted into larger bodies.

Ciesla, F. J.↗
NASA NTRS2014

SAM-Like Evolved Gas Analyses of Phyllosilicate Minerals and Applications to SAM Analyses of the Sheepbed Mudstone, Gale Crater, Mars

While in Yellowknife Bay, the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover collected two drilled samples, John Klein (hereafter "JK") and Cumberland ("CB"), from the Sheepbed mudstone, as well as a scooped sample from the Rocknest aeolian bedform ("RN"). These samples were sieved by Curiosity's sample processing system and then several subsamples of these materials were delivered to the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite and the CheMin X-ray diffraction/X-ray fluorescence instrument. CheMin provided the first in situ X-ray diffraction-based evidence of clay minerals on Mars, which are likely trioctahedral smectites (e.g., Fe-saponite) and comprise ~20 wt% of the mudstone samples [1]. SAM's evolved gas analysis (EGA) mass spectrometry analyses of JK and CB subsamples, as well as RN subsamples, detected H2O, CO2, O2, H2, SO2, H2S, HCl, NO, OCS, CS2 and other trace gases evolved during pyrolysis. The identity of evolved gases and temperature( s) of evolution can augment mineral detection by CheMin and place constraints on trace volatile-bearing phases present below the CheMin detection limit or those phases difficult to characterize with XRD (e.g., X-ray amorphous phases). Here we will focus on the SAM H2O data, in the context of CheMin analyses, and comparisons to laboratory SAM-like analyses of several phyllosilicate minerals including smectites.

McAdam, A. C.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Signatures of the Impact Histories of Comets and Asteroids within Shocked Phyllosilicates, Enstatite, and Forsterite Minerals

Throughout the lifetime of the solar system, collisions between small bodies and impacts on the surfaces of small bodies in the Kuiper Belt have occured at speeds of 1.5 - 3 km s-1 (Stern, Astron J 124, 2002), typically at 1-10 km s-1 between Trojan asteroids (Marzari et al. Icarus 119, 1996), and at ~4-8 km s-1 in the asteroid belt (Farinella and Davis, Icarus 97, 1992). Shock effects recorded by minerals composing these bodies are one observable legacy of this evolutionary process, whether they were generated through large collisions, micrometeoroid impacts, or processing during the formation of the solar system. Shock metamorphism has been observed in cometary samples such as those from Comet Wild 2 (Keller et al. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 72, 2008; Tomeoka et al. MAPS 43, 2008; Jacobs et al. MAPS 44, 2009) as well as in forsterites and enstatites found in meteorites (McCausland et al. AGU, 2010). To investigate the observable signatures of these processes, we have conducted a suite of impact experiments at NASA Johnson Space Center's Experimental Impact Laboratory (EIL). Target materials included Mg-rich forsterite (olivine), Mg-rich enstatite (orthopyroxene), and antigorite and lizardite (both in the serpentine group of phyllosilicates). Alumina-ceramic spheres were launched at speeds ranging from ~2.0 - 2.6 km s-1 into targets at temperatures from 25degC to -100degC. Recent advancements have been made in cooling targets in the EIL's vertical gun. Liquid nitrogen (LN2) is fed through a unique jacket surrounding the metallic sample container to chill the samples. Real-time values from temperature sensors attached to the sample holder are converted to target temperature through predetermined regression relationships, providing the target temperature at the time of impact with sub-degree accuracy. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR) data in the near to mid-IR will be presented, along with trends relating temperature and velocity with impact speeds, and thereby peak shock stresses experienced by the impacted minerals.

Lederer, Susan M.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Impact of Phyllosilicates on Amino Acid Formation under Asteroidal Conditions

The emergence of life on Earth could have benefitted from an extraterrestrial source of amino acids. Yet, the origin of these amino acids is still debated because they may have formed prior to the solar nebula or inside the parent body of meteorites. Here, we experimentally produced amino acids by exposing an interstellar model molecule (hexamethylenetetramine) to asteroid-like hydrothermal conditions (150 °C; pH 10). We conducted additional experiments in the presence of carboxylic acids and phyllosilicates to simulate asteroidal environments. Analyses via liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry show that glycine is the most abundant amino acid formed, but non-proteinogenic α-, β-, and γ-amino acids are also produced. This production of amino acids seems to be hampered by the presence of Fe-rich smectites, while the presence of Al-rich smectites largely stimulates it. Our findings evidence (1) the production of amino acids during hydrothermal alteration of a putative interstellar precursor, (2) the importance of the formose reaction from formaldehyde and ammonia, for amino acid synthesis in meteorites, and (3) the impact of organic–mineral interactions on the nature/distribution of the amino acids produced. Altogether, the fact that the production of amino acids, which are so central to living structures, can be achieved via organo–mineral interactions under hydrothermal conditions should put these processes at a focal point for research on the origin of extraterrestrial organic compounds and into the origin of life.

Jason Peter Dworkin↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

TEM and XRD Investigation of Impact Glass Alteration Products: Amorphous Materials, Phyllosilicates and Everything in Between

Impact cratering is one of the most ubiquitous geologic processes shaping the surface of all solid bodies in our solar system. Impacts are also a major source of clay minerals and poorly crystalline, clay-like materials on Earth and Mars[1,2].These phyllosilicates and related clay-like phases comprise an incredibly complex group of materials, and their characterization, even in controlled laboratory settings, remains a challenging endeavor. The nature and origin of clay minerals and amorphous materials on Mars, which form a major component (~20-70 wt %) of rock and soil samples in Gale Crater as determined by the CheMin instrument on Curiosity, have remained ambiguous[3]. These amorphous phases likely fall on a spectrum between pristine volcanic and/or impact-produced primary materials and clay minerals and related phases formed from aqueous alteration. Amorphous materials are common weathering products in terrestrial sediments, soils, and paleosols [e.g., 4,5].Primary impact materials (glass, melt rocks)are comparable in some ways to those generated volcanically [6], and so it may be possible that an amorphous component is preserved within altered impactites. There are hundreds of thousands of impact craters on Mars, and Curiosity and Perseverance are currently exploring ancient impact craters. We hypothesize that the sediments and lithologies in Gale and Jezero Craters and elsewhere contain altered impact products; it is therefore important to better understand the composition and structure of these materials. Here we present the first results from a study characterizing materials produced from impact glass alteration–clay minerals, poorly crystalline/amorphous materials–in terrestrial craters using Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), powder X-ray diffraction (pXRD)and chemical (EDS) analysis.

Impact crater↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

High Resolution Imaging and Analysis of Terrestrial Impact Glass: Amorphous Materials, Phyllosilicates and Everything in Between

Introduction: Impact cratering is one of the most ubiquitous geologic processes shaping the surface of all solid bodies in our solar system. Impacts are also a major source of clay minerals, poorly crystalline clay-like phases and amorphous (i.e., lacking long-range atomic order) materials on Earth and Mars. Phyllosilicates and amorphous materials have consistently formed a major component (~20-70 wt%) of every single drilled rock and soil sample in Gale Crater on Mars, as determined by the CheMin instrument on Curiosity. The origin of the amorphous component is speculative, but could be primary impact or volcanic-produced glass(es) deposited via aeolian or fluvial processes, secondary aqueous alteration products or chemical precipitates; it is likely to be a combination of all three possibilities. Efforts to determine the composition of these materials across the rover’s traverse through Gale Crater are ongoing. Naturally occurring amorphous phases are found in a variety of environments on Earth, and terrestrial analogue studies may help shed light on how they may have formed on Mars. Primary and altered impact glass are likely widespread on Mars and may have contributed to the amorphous component found throughout Gale Crater. In its pristine, unaltered state, impact glass (i.e., melt glass) is considered amorphous. However, truly unaltered glass is rarely preserved in crater fill impactites as it quickly alters in the post-impact environ-ment, commonly forming a mixture of hydrated aluminosilicate phases whose structures are not always discernable at the microscale (i.e., they may be amorphous or contain short-range order). These phases are part of an incredibly complex group of materials; differences in their composition and crystalline structure (or lack thereof) and genetic relationship to the more well-crystalline clay minerals are often only discernable at the nanoscale, beyond the resolution of traditional X-ray diffractometers (XRD) and scanning electron microscopes/microprobes (SEM/EPMA) alone. In this contribution, we summarize recent results from ongoing characterization of clay minerals, poorly crystalline clay-like phases, and amorphous materials preserved in altered terrestrial impact glass from the Chicxulub (~66 Ma) and Ries (~15 Ma) impact structures. This work has been performed using a combination of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), SEM, microprobe/EPMA, Raman spectroscopy and XRD.

Impact crater↗