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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2011

FE-SEM, FIB and TEM Study of Surface Deposits of Apollo 15 Green Glass Volcanic Spherules

Surface deposits on lunar pyroclastic green (Apollo 15) and orange (Apollo 17) glass spherules have been attributed to condensation from the gas clouds that accompanied fire-fountain eruptions. The fire fountains cast molten lava high above the lunar surface and the silicate melt droplets quenched before landing producing the glass beads. Early investigations showed that these deposits are rich in sulfur and zinc. The deposits are extremely fine-grained and thin, so that it was never possible to determine their chemical compositions cleanly by SEM/EDX or electron probe x-ray analysis because most of the excited volume was in the under-lying silicate glass. We are investigating the surface deposits by TEM, using focused ion beam (FIB) microscopy to extract and thin the surface deposits. Here we report on chemical mapping of a FIB section of surface deposits of an Apollo green glass bead 15401using the ultra-high resolution JEOL 2500 STEM located at NASA Johnson Space Center.

Ross, Daniel K.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Surface Coatings on Lunar Volcanic Glasses

We are undertaking a detailed study of surface deposits on lunar volcanic glass beads. These tiny deposits formed by vapor condensation during cooling of the gases that drove the fire fountain eruptions responsible for the formation of the beads. Volcanic glass beads are present in most lunar soil samples in the returned lunar collection. The mare-composition beads formed as a result of fire-fountaining approx.3.4-3.7 Ga ago, within the age range of large-scale mare volcanism. Some samples from the Apollo 15 and Apollo 17 landing sites are enriched in volcanic spherules. Three major types of volcanic glass bead have been identified: Apollo 15 green glass, Apollo 17 orange glass, and Apollo 17 "black" glass. The Apollo 15 green glass has a primitive composition with low Ti. The high-Ti compositions of the orange and black glasses are essentially identical to each other but the black glasses are opaque because of quench crystallization. A poorly understood feature common to the Apollo 15 and 17 volcanic glasses is the presence of small deposits of unusual materials on their exterior surfaces. For example, early studies indicated that the Apollo 17 orange glasses had surface enrichments of In, Cd, Zn, Ga, Ge, Au, and Na, and possible Pb- and Zn-sulfides, but it was not possible to characterize the surface features in detail. Technological advances now permit us to examine such features in detail. Preliminary FE-TEM/X-ray studies of ultramicrotome sections of Apollo 15 green glass indicate that the surface deposits are heterogeneous and layered, with an inner layer consisting of Fe with minor S and an outer layer of Fe and no S, and scattered Zn enrichments. Layering in surface deposits has not been identified previously; it will be key to defining the history of lunar fire fountaining.

Wentworth, Susan J.↗
DOE OSTI2025

A small core in Vesta inferred from Dawn’s observations

Vesta’s large-scale interior structure had previously been constrained primarily using the gravity and shape data from the Dawn mission. However, these data alone still allow a wide range of possibilities for the differentiation state of the body. The moment of inertia is arguably the most diagnostic parameter related to the radial density distribution of a planetary body, making it crucial for assessing the body’s state of internal differentiation. Determining the moment of inertia requires additional measurements of the amplitudes of small rotational motions, such as precession and nutation. Here we report an updated estimate of the moment of inertia of Vesta inferred from Dawn’s Doppler tracking via the Deep Space Network and onboard imaging data. The recovered value for Vesta’s normalized polar moment of inertia is $\overline{C}$/MR 2 = 0.4208 ± 0.0047 (where M is the mass of Vesta and R is the reference radius), which is only 6.6% lower than the homogeneous value of 0.4505. This value, combined with the gravity field and global shape, suggests that Vesta’s interior has limited density stratification beneath its howardite–eucrite–diogenite-dominated crust. We propose two possible origin scenarios that are consistent with the observed constraints. In the first scenario, Vesta’s interior did not undergo full differentiation due to late accretion. In the second scenario, Vesta originated as an impact remnant of a larger differentiated body re-accreted with non-chondritic bulk composition produced from a catastrophic impact. Vesta did not experience complete differentiation in either scenario, suggesting that its current state reflects a complex interplay between its accretion timing, thermal evolution, redistribution of 26 Al bearing melt and/or impact processes.

CNEOS 2014-01-08 bolide↗
NASA NTRS1990

Proceedings of a workshop on Lunar Volcanic Glasses: Scientific and Resource Potential

This workshop on lunar mare volcanism was the first since 1975 to deal with the major scientific advances that have occurred in this general subject, and the first ever to deal specifically with volcanic glasses. Lunar volcanic glasses are increasingly being recognized as the best geochemical and petrologic probes into the lunar mantle. Lunar volcanic glasses, of which 25 compositional varieties are presently known, appear to represent primary magmas that were produced by partial melting of differentiated mantle source regions at depths of perhaps 400 to 500 km. These high-magnesian picritic magmas were erupted onto the lunar surface in fire fountains associated with the release of indigenous lunar volatiles. The cosmic significance of this volatile component, in an otherwise depleted Moon, remains a lingering puzzle. The resource potential, if any, of the surface-correlated volatile sublimates on the volcanic glass spherules had not been systematically addressed prior to this workshop.

Delano, John W.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Recycled grains in lunar soils as an additional, necessary, regolith evolution parameter

Recycled lunar soil grains are defined as those soil grains that have been a part of either regolith breccias or agglutinates; thus, mineral grains, rock fragments, older agglutinates, and volcanic glass spherules, if dislodged from an agglutinate or a regolith breccia, would all qualify as recycled grains. This paper shows that it is possible to estimate the proportion of recycled material in lunar soils. Optical data from 12 soils in the Apollo 16 core 64001/2 were collected to estimate the proportion (W) of recycled crystalline grains in each of these soils. The W values show a correspondence with other independently derived parameters and the history of the core soils, indicating that W can be used as a valid soil-evolution parameter.

Basu, A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Petrogenetic modeling of 74220 high-Ti orange volcanic glasses and the Apollo 11 and 17 high-Ti mare basalts

An INAA analysis of 16 individual spherules of orange volcanic glass extracted from the 74220,680 soil was performed in order to determine trace element signatures in a primary high-Ti mare magma. The composition of these glasses is shown to be nearly identical to that of 74220 bulk soil, indicating a general absence of constituents other than volcanic glass in the soil. The results suggest that the evolving lunar mantle included processes of cumulate-mass transport and/or segregation of the primordial lunar magma ocean into separate differentiating zones, allowing commingling of early and late components.

Hughes, S. S.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Ferromagnetic resonance intensity - A rapid method for determining lunar glass bead origin

Ferromagnetic resonance intensity, I(s), relies on the absence or presence of single-domain Fe formed during impact melting by autoreduction of Fe(2+) in the melt to distinguish volcanic from impact glass spherules in the lunar soil. SEM inspection of individual glass bead surfaces gave reliable evidence of the mode of glass genesis. Ferromagnetic resonance intensity was tested against the Apollo 15 and 17 volcanics. I(s) values of less than one were found in 94% of the volcanic glasses, implying the absence of single-domain Fe, while 75% of the impact glasses had elevated I(s) values. These samples lack single-domain Fe, and may represent impact melts of bedrock with little or no regolith contribution. Both the primary discrimination of volcanic and impact glasses, and the secondary one of bedrock-derived impact melts from impact melts partially or entirely derived from regolith, have been demonstrated for the I(s) technique.

Stone, C. D.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Hydrothermal Synthesis of Hematite-Rich Spherules: Implications for Diagenesis and Hematite Spherule Formation in Outcrops at Meridiani Planum, Mars

The Athena science payload onboard the Opportunity rover identified hematite-rich spherules (mean diameter of 4.2 +/- 0.8 mm) embedded in outcrops and occurring as lag deposits at Meridiani Planum. They have formed as diagenetic concretions from the rapid breakdown of pre-existing jarosite and other iron sulfates when chemically distinct groundwater passed through the sediments. Diagenetic, Fe-cemented concretions found in the Jurassic Navajo Formation, Utah and hematite-rich spherules found within sulfate-rich volcanic breccia on Mauna Kea volcano, Hawaii are possible terrestrial analogues for Meridiani spherules. The Navajo Formation concretions form in porous quartz arenite from the dissolution of iron oxides by reducing fluids and subsequent Fe precipitation to form spherical Fe- and Si-rich concretions. The Mauna Kea spherules form by hydrothermal, acid-sulfate alteration of basaltic tephra. The formation of hematite-rich spherules with similar chemical, mineralogical, and morphological properties to the Meridiani spherules is rare on Earth, so little is known about their formation conditions. In this study, we have synthesized in the laboratory hematite-rich spherules that are analogous in nearly all respects to the Meridiani spherules.

Golden, D. C.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Analysis of Cosmic Spherule Candidates from the Kwajalein Micrometeorite Collection

The Kwajalein micrometeorite collection utilised high volume air samplers fitted with 5 micrometer laser-etched polycarbonate membrane filters to capture particles directly from the atmosphere. The filters were changed weekly over several months throughout 2011/12, providing the opportunity to investigate the contemporary flux of micrometeorites. We recently reported the results of our initial survey of cosmic spherule-like particles on several of these filters. We identified three main groups of particle based on bulk compositions: 1. Silicate spherules rich in Mg, Ca and Fe, 2. Silicate spherules rich in Al, Ca, K and/or Na and 3. Fe-rich spherules. Abundances appeared to change over time suggesting links with celestial activity (e.g. meteor showers), however, spherules similar to groups 2 and 3 can be produced by terrestrial and anthropogenic activity (e.g. volcanic microspherules exhibit similar compositions to group 2 spherules and metallic spherules similar to those of group 3 can be formed during fuel combustion). We are now studying the internal structures and chemistries of these spherules and comparing against cosmic spherules identified in other collections to confrim their origins and further contrain the contemporary micrometeorite flux. Particles are being picked, embedded in resin and polished through to reveal their interiors. Here we will describe our ongoing analyses of these particles via SEM. We will also introduce our new collection using this method that is currently being performed in the Antarctic.

Wozniakiewicz, P. J.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Estimating the Average Diameter of a Population of Spheres from Observed Diameters of Random Two-Dimensional Sections

Size distributions of chondrules, volcanic fire-fountain or impact glass spherules, or of immiscible globules in silicate melts (e.g., in basaltic mesostasis, agglutinitic glass, impact melt sheets) are imperfectly known because the spherical objects are usually so strongly embedded in the bulk samples that they are nearly impossible to separate. Hence, measurements are confined to two-dimensional sections, e.g. polished thin sections that are commonly examined under reflected light optical or backscattered electron microscopy. Three kinds of approaches exist in the geologic literature for estimating the mean real diameter of a population of 3D spheres from 2D observations: (1) a stereological approach with complicated calculations; (2) an empirical approach in which independent 3D size measurements of a population of spheres separated from their parent sample and their 2D cross sectional diameters in thin sections have produced an array of somewhat contested conversion equations; and (3) measuring pairs of 2D diameters of upper and lower surfaces of cross sections each sphere in thin sections using transmitted light microscopy. We describe an entirely probabilistic approach and propose a simple factor of 4/x (approximately equal to 1.27) to convert the 2D mean size to 3D mean size.

Kong, Maiying↗
NASA NTRS1993

Modelling of dispersal and deposition of impact glass spherules from the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary deposit

The dispersal of glass spherules or tektites from a bolide impact with the Earth is modelled as ballistic trajectories in standard atmosphere. Ballistic dispersal of Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary impact glass spherules found in Haiti and Mimbral, Mexico requires a fireball radius in excess of 50 km but less than 100 km to account for the observed distribution. Glass spherules from 1 and up to 8 mm in diameter have been found at the KT boundary at Beloc in Haiti, at Mimbral, Mexico, and at DSDP Sites 536 and 540 in the Gulf of Mexico corresponding to paleodistances of 600 to 1000 km from the Chicxulub crater. In Haiti the basal and major glass-bearing unit at the KT boundary is attributed to fallout on basis of sedimentologic features. When compared with theoretical and observed dispersal of volcanic ejecta, the grain size versus distance relationship of the KT boundary tektite fallout is extreme, and rules out a volcanic fallout origin. At a comparable distance from source, the KT impact glass spherules are more than an order of mangitude coarser than ejecta of the largest known volcanic events. We model the dispersal of KT boundary impact glass spherules as ballistic ejecta from a fireball generated by the impact of a 10 km diameter bolide. Mass of ejecta in the fireball is taken as twice the bolide mass. Melt droplets are accelerated by gas flow in the fireball cloud, and leave the fireball on ballistic trajectories within the atmosphere, subject to drag, depending on angle of ejection and altitude. The model for ballistic dispersal is based on equations of motion, drag and ablation for silicate spheres in standard atmosphere.

Espindola, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Volcanic ash - Terrestrial versus extraterrestrial

A principal difference between terrestrial and extraterrestrial lavas may consist in the greater ability of terrestrial lavas to form thin films (like those of soap bubbles) and hence foams. It would follow that, in place of the pumice and spiny shards found in terrestrial volcanic ash, an extraterrestrial ash should contain minute spherules. This hypothesis may help to explain lunar microspherules.

Okeefe, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1996

A Glass Spherule of Questionable Impact Origin from the Apollo 15 Landing Site: Unique Target Mare Basalt

A 6 mm-diameter dark spherule, 15434,28, from the regolith on the Apennine Front at the Apollo 15 landing site has a homogeneous glass interior with a 200 microns-thick rind of devitrified or crystallized melt. The rind contains abundant small fragments of Apollo 15 olivine-normative mare basalt and rare volcanic Apollo 15 green glass. The glass interior of the spherule has the chemical composition, including a high FeO content and high CaO/Al2O3, of a mare basalt. Whereas the major element and Sc, Ni, and Co abundances are similar to those of low-Ti mare basalts, the incompatible elements and Sr abundances are similar to those of high-Ti mare basaits. The relative abundance patterns of the incompatible trace elements are distinct from any other lunar mare basalts or KREEP; among these distinctions are a much steeper slope of the heavy rare earth elements. The 15434,28 glass has abundances of the volatile element Zn consistent with both impact glasses and crystalline mare basalts, but much lower than in glasses of mare volcanic origin. The glass contains siderophile elements such as Ir in abundances only slightly higher than accepted lunar indigenous levels, and some, such as Au, are just below such upper limits. The age of the glass, determined by the Ar-40/Ar-39 laser incremental heating technique, is 1647 +/- 11 Ma (2 sigma); it is expressed as an age spectrum of seventeen steps over 96% of the Ar-38 released, unusual for an impact glass. Trapped argon is negligible. The undamaged nature of the sphere demonstrates that it must have spent most of its life buried in regolith; Ar-38 cosmic ray exposure data suggest that it was buried at less than 2m but more than a few centimeters if a single depth is appropriate. That the spherule solidified to a glass is surprising; for such a mare composition, cooling at about 50 C/s is required to avoid crystallization, and barely attainable in such a large spherule. The low volatile abundances, slightly high siderophile abundances, and the young age are perhaps all most consistent with an impact origin, but nonetheless not absolutely definitive.

Ryder, Graham↗
NASA NTRS2014

Investigating the Present Day Cosmic Dust Flux at the Earth's Surface: Initial Results from the Kwajalein Micrometeorite Collection

Examination of impact craters on the Long Duration Exposure Facility satellite indicate a present day micrometeoroid flux of approx. 30,000 tonnes [1 after 2]. But what portion of this material arrives at the Earth's surface as micrometeorites? Studies of available micrometeorite collections from deep sea sediments [e.g. 3], Greenland blue ice [e.g. 4] and the South Pole water well [e.g. 1] may be complicated by terrestrial weathering and, in some cases, collection bias (magnetic separation for deep sea sediments) and poorly constrained ages. We have recently set up a micrometeorite collection station on Kwajalein Island in the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean, using high volume air samplers to collect particles directly from the atmosphere. By collecting in this way, the terrestrial age of the particles is known, the weathering they experience is minimal, and we are able to constrain particle arrival times. Collecting at this location also exploits the considerably reduced anthropogenic background [5]. Method: High volume air samplers were installed on top of the two-story airport building on Kwajalein. These were fitted with polycarbonate membrane filters with 5μm diameter perforations. The flow rates were set to 0.5m3/min, and filters were changed once a week. After collection, filters were washed to remove salt and concentrate particles [see 5] in preparation for analysis by SEM. Results and Discussion: A selection of filters have been prepared and surveyed. Due to their ease of identification our initial investigations have focused on particles resembling cosmic spherules. The spheres can be divided into three main groups: 1. Silicate spherules rich in Al, Ca, K and Na (to varying degrees), 2. Silicate spherules rich in Mg and Fe and 3. Fe-rich spherules. Group 1 spherules are often vesiculated and can occur as aggregates. They are similar in appearance and composition to volcanic microspheres [e.g. 6] and are thus likely terrestrial in origin (volcanic). Those of groups 2 and 3, however, typically exhibit quenched surface textures consistent with cosmic spherules. Initial results suggest there is significant variation in the abundance of these groups from filter to filter. Work is ongoing to fully characterize these spherules and to constrain their flux with time.

Wozniakiewicz, P. J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Abundances of sodium, sulfur, and potassium in lunar volcanic glasses: Evidence for volatile loss during eruption

Six varieties of lunar volcanic glass are known to occur within the Apollo 17 sample collection. Investigations have shown that 25 volatile elements are known to be concentrated on the exterior surfaces of individual volcanic glass spheres. Since bulk analyses of volcanic glass provide an integrated abundance of an element on and with the glass spherules, other methods must be relied on to determine the interior abundance of an element. The interior abundance of an element with a volcanic glass sphere establishes the abundance of that element in the melt at the time of quench. The current study is part of a comprehensive attempt to measure the abundance of three volatile elements (Na, S, and K) within representative spheres of the 25 varieties of lunar volcanic glass currently known to exist at the Apollo landing sites. Comparison of the measured abundances of these elements within the interiors of individual glasses with bulk analyses and crystalline mare basalts will furnish new constraints on the geochemical behavior of volatile elements during lunar mare volcanism.

Delano, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Early Archean Spherule Beds-Confirmation of Impact Origin

The oldest record of major impact events on Earth may be a number of early Archean (3.5 to 3.2 Ga) spherule beds that have been identified in the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. Several field, petrographic, and geochemical criteria distinguish these beds from typical volcanic and clastic sediments. These criteria include the wide geographic distribution of two beds in a variety of depositional environments, the presence of relict quench textures, absence of juvenile volcaniclastic debris within the beds, and extreme enrichment of Ir and other platinum group elements (PGE) as compared to surrounding sediments. Some researchers, however, argued for a terrestrial origin for spherule bed formation, possibly related to volcanism and gold mineralization.

Shukolyukov, A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Apollo 15 yellow-brown volcanic glass - Chemistry and petrogenetic relations to green volcanic glass and olivine-normative mare basalts

Electron microprobe and INAA were used to analyze forty spherules of Apollo 15 yellow-brown glass for major and trace elements. The glass is one of twenty-five high-Mg primary magmas emplaced on the lunar surface in pyroclastic eruptions. The abundances show that the magma was produced by partial melting of differentiated cumulates in the lunar mantle. Models to explain the possible source-regions of several Apollo 15 and Apollo 12 low-Ti mare magmas are presented.

Hughes, S. S.↗