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NASA NTRS1985

A Circum-terrestrial Compositional Filter

A major question about the moon is its under abundance of iron. It is the purpose of this research to understand whether a metal-silicate fractionation of heliocentrically orbiting bodies can be achieved through collisional interactions with a circum-terrestrial swarm. Rates of diffusion are investigated and the mutual collisional destruction within the population is examined. The interactions of these differentiated planetesimals and their collisional products (both silicate mantle fragments and iron cores) with a swarm of Earth orbiting lunesimals (perhaps ejecta from the Earth) of km scale, totaling a mass of order 0.1 lunar mass, extending out 10 or 20 Earth radii are considered. It is found that such a small near Earth population of lunesimals can filter out silicate rich material, while passing iron cores, and form a moon composed partly of terrestrial material, but more substantially of the captured silicate rich portions of the planetesimals.

Chapman, C. R.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Implications for Core Formation of the Earth from High Pressure-Temperature Au Partitioning Experiments

Siderophile elements in the Earth.s mantle are depleted relative to chondrites. This is most pronounced for the highly siderophile elements (HSEs), which are approximately 400x lower than chondrites. Also remarkable is the relative chondritic abundances of the HSEs. This signature has been interpreted as representing their sequestration into an iron-rich core during the separation of metal from silicate liquids early in the Earth's history, followed by a late addition of chondritic material. Alternative efforts to explain this trace element signature have centered on element partitioning experiments at varying pressures, temperatures, and compositions (P-T-X). However, first results from experiments conducted at 1 bar did not match the observed mantle abundances, which motivated the model described above, a "late veneer" of chondritic material deposited on the earth and mixed into the upper mantle. Alternatively, the mantle trace element signature could be the result of equilibrium partitioning between metal and silicate in the deep mantle, under P-T-X conditions which are not yet completely identified. An earlier model determined that equilibrium between metal and silicate liquids could occur at a depth of approximately 700 km, 27(plus or minus 6) GPa and approximately 2000 (plus or minus 200) C, based on an extrapolation of partitioning data for a variety of moderately siderophile elements obtained at lower pressures and temperatures. Based on Ni-Co partitioning, the magma ocean may have been as deep as 1450 km. At present, only a small range of possible P-T-X trace element partitioning conditions has been explored, necessitating large extrapolations from experimental to mantle conditions for tests of equilibrium models. Our primary objective was to reduce or remove the additional uncertainty introduced by extrapolation by testing the equilibrium core formation hypothesis at P-T-X conditions appropriate to the mantle.

Danielson, L. R.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Core Formation in the Earth: Constraints from Ni and Co

Due to their metal-loving nature, Ni and Co were strongly partitioned into the metallic core and were left depleted in the silicate mantle during core formation in the Earth. Based on experimental liquid metal- liquid silicate partition coefficients (D), studies have suggested that core formation in an early magma Ocean can explain the observed mantle depletions of Ni and Co [l-51. However, the conditions proposed by the magma ocean models have ranged from pressures of 24 to 59 GPa and temperatures of 2200 to < 4000 K. Furthermore, the proposed magma Ocean oxygen fugacities have differed by nearly two orders of magnitude.Chabot and Agee noted that the different models predicted contradictory behaviors for D(Ni) and D(Co) as a function of temperature. With the hope of resolving the discrepancies between the magma ocean models, we conducted a systematic experimental study to constrain the effects of temperature on D(Ni) and D(Co).

Chabot, N. L.↗

NASA NTRS1974

Distribution of gold and rhenium between nickel-iron and silicate melts - Implications for the abundance of siderophile elements on the earth and moon

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Kimura, K.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Monitoring the Hazards of Silicic Volcanoes with Remote Sensing

This report details the final progress on the Solid Earth and Natural Hazards project: Monitoring of Hazards of Silicic Volcanoes with Remote Sensing (SENH99-0000-0159). The original award went to Arizona State University (ASU) with Dr. Jonathan Fink as the P.I. and Dr. Michael Ramsey as the Co-I. In May 2000, Dr. Ramsey left ASU to take a tenure-track faculty position at the University of Pittsburgh. The principle investigators and NASA Headquarters agreed to split the grant award at the HQ level and therefore avoid the double overhead charges that would arise from a university subcontract. The objectives of the science were divided, and coordinated yearly progress reports have been submitted from each University. This report details the final progress on work carried out at Arizona State. A report by Dr. Ramsey at the University of Pittsburgh has already been submitted. The work from both institutions is closely related and this report will reflect that connection.

Fink, Jonathan↗

NASA NTRS2016

Is Tridymite at Gale Crater Evidence for Silicic Volcanism on Mars?

The X-ray diffraction (XRD) instrument (CheMin) onboard the MSL rover Curiosity detected 17 wt% of the SiO2 polymorph tridymite (relative to bulk sample) for the Buckskin drill sample (73 wt% SiO2) obtained from sedimentary rock in the Murray formation at Gale Crater, Mars. Other detected crystalline materials are plagioclase, sanidine, cristobalite, cation-deficient magnetite, and anhydrite. XRD amorphous material constitutes approx. 60 wt% of bulk sample, and the position of its broad diffraction peak near approx. 26 deg. 2-theta is consistent with opal-A. Tridymite is a lowpressure, high-temperature mineral (approx. 870 to 1670 deg. C) whose XRD-identified occurrence on the Earth is usually associated with silicic (e.g., rhyolitic) volcanism. High SiO2 deposits have been detected at Gale crater by remote sensing from martian orbit and interpreted as opal-A on the basis H2O and Si-OH spectral features. Proposed opal-A formation pathways include precipitation of silica from lake waters and high-SiO2 residues of acid-sulfate leaching. Tridymite is nominally anhydrous and would not exhibit these spectral features. We have chemically and spectrally analyzed rhyolitic samples from New Mexico and Iwodake volcano (Japan). The glassy (by XRD) NM samples have H2O spectral features similar to opal-A. The Iwodake sample, which has been subjected to high-temperature acid sulfate leaching, also has H2O spectral features similar to opal-A. The Iwodake sample has approx. 98 wt% SiO2 and 1% wt% TiO2 (by XRF), tridymite (>80 wt.% of crystalline material without detectable quartz by XRD), and H2O and Si-OH spectral features. These results open the working hypothesis that the opal-A-like high-SiO2 deposits at Gale crater detected from martian orbit are products of alteration associated with silicic volcanism. The presence or absence of tridymite will depend on lava crystallization temperatures (NM) and post crystallization alteration temperatures (Iwodake).

Morris, Richard V.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Impact cratering calculations

In the course of carrying out finite difference calculations, it was discovered that for large craters, a previously unrecognized type of crater (diameter) growth occurred which was called lip wave propagation. This type of growth is illustrated for an impact of a 1000 km (2a) silicate bolide at 12 km/sec (U) onto a silicate half-space at earth gravity (1 g). The von Misses crustal strength is 2.4 kbar. The motion at the crater lip associated with this wave type phenomena is up, outward, and then down, similar to the particle motion of a surface wave. It is shown that the crater diameter has grown d/a of approximately 25 to d/a of approximately 4 via lip propagation from Ut/a = 5.56 to 17.0 during the time when rebound occurs. A new code is being used to study partitioning of energy and momentum and cratering efficiency with self gravity for finite-sized objects rather than the previously discussed planetary half-space problems. These are important and fundamental subjects which can be addressed with smoothed particle hydrodynamic (SPH) codes. The SPH method was used to model various problems in astrophysics and planetary physics. The initial work demonstrates that the energy budget for normal and oblique impacts are distinctly different than earlier calculations for silicate projectile impact on a silicate half space. Motivated by the first striking radar images of Venus obtained by Magellan, the effect of the atmosphere on impact cratering was studied. In order the further quantify the processes of meteor break-up and trajectory scattering upon break-up, the reentry physics of meteors striking Venus' atmosphere versus that of the Earth were studied.

Ahrens, Thomas J.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Geochemical Constraints on Core Formation in the Earth

New experimental data on the partitioning of siderophile and chalcophile elements among metallic and silicate phases may be used to constrain hypotheses of core formation in the Earth. Three current hypotheses can explain gross features of mantle geochemistry, but none predicts siderophile and chalcophile element abundances to within a factor of two of observed values. Either our understanding of metal-silicate interactions and/or our understanding of the early Earth requires revision.

Jones, John H.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Workshop on Oxygen in the Terrestrial Planets

This volume contains abstracts that have been accepted for presentation at the Workshop on Oxygen in the Terrestrial Planets, July 20-23,2004, Santa Fe, New Mexico. The contents include: 1) Experimental Constraints on Oxygen and Other Light Element Partitioning During Planetary Core Formation; 2) In Situ Determination of Fe(3+)/SigmaFe of Spinels by Electron Microprobe: An Evaluation of the Flank Method; 3) The Effect of Oxygen Fugacity on Large-Strain Deformation and Recrystallization of Olivine; 4) Plagioclase-Liquid Trace Element Oxygen Barometry and Oxygen Behaviour in Closed and Open System Magmatic Processes; 5) Core Formation in the Earth: Constraints from Ni and Co; 6) Oxygen Isotopic Compositions of the Terrestrial Planets; 7) The Effect of Oxygen Fugacity on Electrical Conduction of Olivine and Implications for Earth s Mantle; 8) Redox Chemical Diffusion in Silicate Melts: The Impact of the Semiconductor Condition; 9) Ultra-High Temperature Effects in Earth s Magma Ocean: Pt and W Partitioning; 10) Terrestrial Oxygen and Hydrogen Isotope Variations: Primordial Values, Systematics, Subsolidus Effects, Planetary Comparisons, and the Role of Water; 11) Redox State of the Moon s Interior; 12) How did the Terrestrial Planets Acquire Their Water?; 13) Molecular Oxygen Mixing Ratio and Its Seasonal Variability in the Martian Atmosphere; 14) Exchange Between the Atmosphere and the Regolith of Mars: Discussion of Oxygen and Sulfur Isotope Evidence; 15) Oxygen and Hydrogen Isotope Systematics of Atmospheric Water Vapor and Meteoric Waters: Evidence from North Texas; 16) Implications of Isotopic and Redox Heterogeneities in Silicate Reservoirs on Mars; 17) Oxygen Isotopic Variation of the Terrestrial Planets; 18) Redox Exchanges in Hydrous Magma; 19) Hydrothermal Systems on Terrestrial Planets: Lessons from Earth; 20) Oxygen in Martian Meteorites: A Review of Results from Mineral Equilibria Oxybarometers; 21) Non-Linear Fractionation of Oxygen Isotopes Implanted in Lunar Metal Grains: Solar, Lunar or Terrestrial Origin? 22) Isotopic Zoning in the Inner Solar System; 23) Redox Conditions on Small Bodies; 24) Determining the Oxygen Fugacity of Lunar Pyroclastic Glasses Using Vanadium Valence - An Update; 25) Mantle Redox Evolution and the Rise of Atmospheric O2; 26) Variation of Kd for Fe-Mg Exchange Between Olivine and Melt for Compositions Ranging from Alkaline Basalt to Rhyolite; 27) Determining the Partial Pressure of Oxygen (PO,) in Solutions on Mars; 28) The Influence of Oxygen Environment on Kinetic Properties of Silicate Rocks and Minerals; 29) Redox Evolution of Magmatic Systems; 30) The Constancy of Upper Mantlefo, Through Time Inferred from V/Sc Ratios in Basalts: Implications for the Rise in Atmospheric 0 2; 31) Nitrogen Solubility in Basaltic Melt. Effects of Oxygen Fugacity, Melt Composition and Gas Speciation; 32) Oxygen Isotope Anomalies in the Atmospheres of Earth and Mars; 33) The Effect of Oxygen Fugacity on Interdiffusion of Iron and Magnesium in Magnesiowiistite 34) The Calibration of the Pyroxene Eu-Oxybarometer for the Martian Meteorites; 35) The Europium Oxybarometer: Power and Pitfalls; 36) Oxygen Fugacity of the Martian Mantle from PigeoniteMelt Partitioning of Samarium, Europium and Gadolinium; 37) Oxidation-Reduction Processes on the Moon: Experimental Verification of Graphite Oxidation in the Apollo 17 Orange Glasses; 38) Oxygen and Core Formation in the Earth; 39) Geologic Record of the Atmospheric Sulfur Chemistry Before the Oxygenation of the Early Earth s Atmosphere; 40) Comparative Planetary Mineralogy: V/(CrCAl) Systematics in Chromite as an Indicator of Relative Oxygen Fugacity; 41) How Well do Sulfur Isotopes Constrain Oxygen Abundance in the Ancient Atmospheres? 42) Experimental Constraints on the Oxygen Isotope (O-18/ O-16) Fractionation in the Ice vapor and Adsorbant vapor Systems of CO2 at Conditions Relevant to the Surface of Mars; 43) Micro-XANES Measurements on Experimental Spinels andhe Oxidation State of Vanadium in Spinel-Melt Pairs; 44) Testing the Magma Ocean Hypothesis Using Metal-Silicate Partitioning of Te, Se and S; 45) Solubility of Oxygen in Liquid Iron at High Pressure and Consequences for the Early Differentiation of Earth and Mars Metallic Liquid Segregation in Planetesimals; 46) Oxygen Fugacity of Lunar Basalts and the Lunar Mantle. Range of fo2 and the Effectiveness of Oxybarometers; 47) Thermodynamic Study of Dissociation Processes of Molecular Oxygen in Vapor over Oxide Compounds; 48) Oxygen Profile of a Thermo-Haliophilic Community in the Badwater Salt Flat; 49) Oxygen Barometry Using Synchrotron MicroXANES of Vanadium; 50) Mass-Independent Isotopic Fractionation of Sulfur from Sulfides in the Huronian Supergroup, Canada; 51) Mass Independent Isotopes and Applications to Planetary Atmospheres; 52) Electrical Conductivity, Oxygen Fugacity, and Mantle Materials; 53) Crustal Evolution and Maturation on Earth: Oxygen Isotope Evidence; 54) The Oxygen Isotope Composition of the Moon: Implications for Planet Formation; 55) Oxygen Isotope Composition of Eucrites and Implications for the Formation of Crust on the HED Parent Body; and 56) The Role of Water in Determining the Oxygen Isotopic Composition of Planets.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2014

Taurus Littrow Pyroclastic Deposit-An Optimum Feedstock for Lunar Oxygen

Future human habitation of the Moon will likely require the use of locally derived materials because of the high cost of transportation from Earth. Oxygen, extracted from oxides and silicates, is a potentially abundant lunar resource vital for life support and spacecraft propulsion. The anticipated costs of supplying all oxygen needs for a lunar base from Earth are high enough to warrant serious study of oxygen production from local resources. Over 20 different processes have been proposed for oxygen production on the Moon. Among the simplest and best studied of these processes is the reduction of oxides in lunar minerals and glass using hydrogen gas. Oxygen can be extracted from lunar soils and pyroclastic glass beads by exposing the samples to flowing hydrogen at subsolidus temperatures (approx. 1050 C). Total oxygen yield is directly correlated to the sample's abundance of FeO, but is not correlated to the abundance of any other oxide. Oxygen is extracted predominantly from FeO, with lesser contributions from TiO2 and SiO2. Oxygen yield is independent of soil maturity. All major FeO-bearing phases contribute oxygen, with extraction from ilmenite and glass significantly more efficient than from olivine and pyroxene. This study demonstrates that the optimum location for a lunar resources demonstration mission can be identified, and that the oxygen yield can be predicted, using a combination of high-resolution imaging and thermal-infrared data. A mission to Taurus Littrow will encounter a deposit at least 10 m in depth with few landing hazards, a uniform composition, and a predicted oxygen yield of approximately 3 wt. %, among the highest values on the Moon.

Allen, Carlton C.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Taurus Littrow Pyroclastic Deposit: High-Yield Feedstock for Lunar Oxygen

Allen, Carlton C.↗

NASA NTRS2006

On the Discovery of CO Nighttime Emissions on Titan by Cassini/VIMS: Derived Stratospheric Abundances and Geological Implications

We present a quantitative analysis of CO thermal emissions discovered on the nightside of Titan by Baines et al. [2005. The atmospheres of Saturn and Titan in the near-infrared: First results of Cassini/VIMS. Earth, Moon, and Planets, 96, 119-147] in Cassini/VIMS spectral imagery. We identify these emission features as the P and R branches of the 1-0 vibrational band of carbon monoxide (CO) near 4.65 microns. For CH3D, the prominent Q branch of the nu(2) fundamental band of CH3D near 4.55 microns is apparent. CO2 emissions from the strong nu(3) vibrational band are virtually absent, indicating a CO2 abundance several orders of magnitude less than CO, in agreement with previous investigations. Analysis of CO emission spectra obtained over a variety of altitudes on Titan's nightside limb indicates that the stratospheric abundance of CO is 32 +/- 15 ppm, and together with other recent determinations, suggests a vertical distribution of CO nearly constant at this value from the surface throughout the troposphere to at least the stratopause near 300 km altitude. The corresponding total atmospheric content of CO in Titan is similar to 2.9 +/- 1.5 x 10(exp 14) kg. Given the long lifetime of CO in the oxygen-poor Titan atmosphere (similar to 0.5-1.0 Gyr), we find a mean CO atmospheric production rate of 6 +/- 3 x 10(exp 5) kg yr(exp -1). Given the lack of primordial heavy noble gases observed by Huygens [Niemann et al., 2005. The abundances of constituents of Titan's atmosphere from the GCMS on the Huygens probe. Nature, 438, 779-784], the primary source of atmospheric CO is likely surface emissions. The implied CO/CH4 mixing ratio of near-surface material is 1.8 +/- 0.9 x 10(exp -4), based on an average methane surface emission rate over the past 0.5 Gyr of 1.3 x 10(exp -13) gm cm(exp -2) s(exp -1) as required to balance hydrocarbon haze production via methane photolysis [Wilson and Atreya, 2004. Current state of modeling the photochemistry of Titan's mutually dependent atmosphere and ionosphere. J. Geophys. Res. 109, E06002 Doi: 10.1029/2003JE002181]. This low CO/CH4 ratio is much lower than expected for the sub-nebular formation region of Titan and supports the hypothesis [e.g., Atreya et al., 2005. Methane on Titan: photochemical-meteorological-hydrogeochemical cycle. Bull. Am. Astron. Soc. 37, 735] that the conversion of primordial CO and other carbon-bearing materials into CH4-enriched clathrate-hydrates occurs within the deep interior of Titan via the release of hydrogen through the serpentinization process followed by Fischer-Tropsch catalysis. The time-averaged predicted emission rate of methane-rich surface materials is approximately 0.02 km(exp 3) yr (exp -1), a value significantly lower than the rate of silicate lava production for the Earth and Venus, but nonetheless indicative of significant geological processes reshaping the surface of Titan.

carbon compounds↗

NASA NTRS1981

Constraints on the origin and interior structure of the major planets

Fitting models to the external gravity field of the major planets (Uranus, Neptune, Jupiter, and Saturn), it is found that certain interior characteristics may be common to all four. For Uranus and Neptune, a model with a central iron-silicate core of approximately four earth masses, an 'ice' layer of H2O, CH4, and NH3 in solar proportions of about 10 earth masses, and an H2-He atmosphere of about 1-2 earth masses gives a good fit to available constraints, including heat flow measurements. Models of Jupiter and Saturn have cores very similar to those of Uranus and Neptune; the H2-He layer, however, is markedly more extensive. Modes of origin that are consistent with these features are discussed. Models of this type predict a considerable enrichment of deuterium relative to primordial solar abundances in Uranus and Neptune. Such enrichment is not observed in Uranus; implications are discussed for interior structure and origin.

Hubbard, W. B.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Experimental determination of the partitioning of gallium between solid iron metal and synthetic basaltic melt Electron and ion microprobe study

The distribution of Ga between solid Fe metal and synthetic basaltic melt is investigated experimentally at temperatures of 1190 and 1330 C, and over a narrow range of oxygen fugacities. Metal-silicate reversal experiments were conducted, indicating a close approach to equilibrium. The analysis of the partitioned products was performed using electron and ion microprobes. At one bar total pressure, the solid metal/silicate melt partition coefficient D(Ga) is used to evaluate metal-silicate fractionation processes in the earth, moon, and Eucrite Parent Body (EPB). It is found that the depletion of Ga abundances in the EPB is due to the extraction of Ga into a metallic core. Likewise, the depletion of Ga in the lunar mantle is consistent with the extraction of Ga into a smaller lunar core if Ga was originally present in a subchondritic concentration. The relatively high Ga abundances in the earth's mantle are discussed, with reference to several theoretical models.

Drake, M. J.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Thermal and dynamical regimes of single- and two-phase magmatic flow in dikes

The coupling between thermal and dynamical regimes of single- and two-phase magmatic flow in dikes, due to temperature-dependent viscosity and dissipation, was investigated using finite element calculations of magma flow in dikelike channels with length-to-width ratios of 1000:1 or more. Solutions of the steady state equations governing magma flow are obtained for a variety of conditions ranging from idealized plane-parallel models to cases involving nonparallel geometry and two-phase flows. The implications of the numerical simulations for the dynamics of flow in a dike-reservoir system and the consequences of dike entrance conditions on magmatic storage are discussed. Consideration is also given to an unmixing/self-lubrication mechanism which may be important for the lubrication of silicic magmas rising to the earth's surface in mixed magma ascent scenarios, which naturally segregates magma mixtures of two components with differing viscosities to minimize the driving pressure gradient.

Carrigan, Charles R.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Cosmic acceleration of Earth and the Moon by dark matter

In order to test the hypothesis that the gravitational interaction between our Galaxy's dark matter and the ordinary matter in Earth and the Moon might not fulfill the equivalence principle (universality of free fall), we consider the pertinent perturbation of the lunar orbit -- a sidereal month period range oscillation resulting from a spatially fixed polarization of the orbit. Lunar laser ranging (LLR) data can measure this sidereal perturbation to an accuracy equal to or better than its existing measurement of the synodic month period range oscillation amplitude (+/- 3 cm) which has been used for testing whether Earth and the Moon accelerate at equal rates toward the Sun. Because of the slow precession rate of the Moon's perigree (8.9 yr period), the lunar orbit is particularly sensitive to a cosmic acceleration; the LLR fit of the orbit places an upper limit of 10(exp -13) cm/sq. s for any cosmic differential acceleration between Earth (Fe) and the Moon (silicates). This is 10(exp -5) of the total galactic acceleration of the solar system, of which, it has been suggested, a large portion is produced by dark matter.

Nordtvedt, Kenneth L.↗

NASA NTRS2011

HyTES: Thermal Imaging Spectrometer Development

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has developed the Hyperspectral Thermal Emission Spectrometer (HyTES). It is an airborne pushbroom imaging spectrometer based on the Dyson optical configuration. First low altitude test flights are scheduled for later this year. HyTES uses a compact 7.5-12 micrometer m hyperspectral grating spectrometer in combination with a Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector (QWIP) and grating based spectrometer. The Dyson design allows for a very compact and optically fast system (F/1.6). Cooling requirements are minimized due to the single monolithic prism-like grating design. The configuration has the potential to be the optimal science-grade imaging spectroscopy solution for high altitude, lighter-than-air (HAA, LTA) vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) due to its small form factor and relatively low power requirements. The QWIP sensor allows for optimum spatial and spectral uniformity and provides adequate responsivity which allows for near 100mK noise equivalent temperature difference (NEDT) operation across the LWIR passband. The QWIP's repeatability and uniformity will be helpful for data integrity since currently an onboard calibrator is not planned. A calibration will be done before and after eight hour flights to gage any inconsistencies. This has been demonstrated with lab testing. Further test results show adequate NEDT, linearity as well as applicable earth science emissivity target results (Silicates, water) measured in direct sunlight.

remote sensing↗

NASA NTRS2002

Constraining the Material that Formed the Moon: The Origin of Lunar V, CR, and MN Depletions

The mantles of the Earth and Moon are similarly depleted in V, Cr, and Mn relative to chondritic values. Core formation deep within the Earth was suggested by as the origin of the depletions. Following Earth's core formation, the Moon was proposed to have inherited its mantle from the depleted mantle of the Earth by a giant impact event. This theory implied the Moon was primarily composed of material from the Earth's mantle. Recent systematic metal-silicate experiments of V, Cr, and Mn evaluated the behavior of these elements during different core formation scenarios. The study found that the V, Cr, and Mn depletions in the Earth could indeed be explained by core formation. The conditions of core formation necessary to deplete V, Cr, and Mn in the Earth's mantle were consistent with the deep magma ocean proposed to account for the Earth's mantle abundances of Ni and Co. Using the parameterizations of for the metal-silicate partition coefficients (D) of V, Cr, and Mn, we investigate here the conditions needed to match the depletions in the silicate Moon and determine if such conditions could have been present on the giant impactor.

Chabot, N. L.↗