Impact Characteristics of Different Rocks in a Pulsed Laser Irradiation Experiment: Simulation of Micrometeorite Bombardment on the Moon

Wu, Yanxue; Li, Xiongyao; Yao, Wenqing; Wang, Shijie

doi:10.1002/2016je005220

Cited by 16 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…After the ion exposure, the sample was irradiated at 10 K by a pulsed infrared laser followed by TPD. Laser pulses can create intense heating events reaching temperatures higher than 1,400 K well above maximum diurnal temperatures of 400 K (SI Appendix), but close to temperatures produced by micrometeorite impacts (31,40,41). After the TPD phase, the sample was exposed to the laser twice to examine whether water could still be generated via micrometeorite impact at surface temperatures closely approximating lunar daytime temperatures.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untangling the formation and liberation of water in the lunar regolith

Crandall

Gillis-Davis

Ishii

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The source of water (H 2 O) and hydroxyl radicals (OH), identified on the lunar surface, represents a fundamental, unsolved puzzle. The interaction of solar-wind protons with silicates and oxides has been proposed as a key mechanism, but laboratory experiments yield conflicting results that suggest that proton implantation alone is insufficient to generate and liberate water. Here, we demonstrate in laboratory simulation experiments combined with imaging studies that water can be efficiently generated and released through rapid energetic heating like micrometeorite impacts into anhydrous silicates implanted with solar-wind protons. These synergistic effects of solar-wind protons and micrometeorites liberate water at mineral temperatures from 10 to 300 K via vesicles, thus providing evidence of a key mechanism to synthesize water in silicates and advancing our understanding on the origin of water as detected on the Moon and other airless bodies in our solar system such as Mercury and asteroids. solar wind | water | Moon

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untangling the formation and liberation of water in the lunar regolith

Crandall

Gillis-Davis

Ishii

et al. 2019

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Furthermore, the amorphous layers in sample 71501‐ol contain measureable Al and Ca, components not present in single‐phase olivine experiments. In laser irradiation experiments using a multiphase basalt sample, the rim features depend strongly on the substrate phase, for example, a plagioclase rim does not contain any npFe 0 , while olivine, pyroxene, and ilmenite do (Wu et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coordinated Nanoscale Compositional and Oxidation State Measurements of Lunar Space‐Weathered Material

Burgess

Stroud

2018

JGR Planets

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Space weathering on airless bodies includes a number of processes, such as micrometeorite impacts and solar wind bombardment, which leads to a variety of microscale to nanoscale alteration features, including vapor deposited layers on grain and rock surfaces and creation of nanophase opaque inclusions. The nanophase inclusions cause reddening and darkening of the visible to near-infrared spectra of space weathered material, features associated with increasing space exposure of many airless body regoliths. On the Moon, most nanophase inclusions are metallic iron (npFe 0 ), but recent work using aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy has provided evidence of oxidized nanoparticles in space weathered lunar soil grains. We examined three different lunar soils in order to confirm the finding of oxidized nanophase inclusions and to provide detailed elemental and mineralogical information about the surrounding material. Our data show that substrate and rim composition are key factors in determining whether highly localized oxidation occurs; for example, nanophase inclusions in rims on low Fe substrates are more prone to oxidation. Detailed understanding of the phases and features present in these samples is necessary for the correct interpretation of remotely sensed data as well as extrapolation from processes on the lunar surface to those on other airless bodies.Plain Language Summary The Moon and asteroids are being constantly altered by interactions with the space environment, a process known as space weathering. These interactions, such as with solar wind ions and micrometeoroids, can be studied by examining samples from the Moon and analyzing the nanoscale features present in surface coatings or rims on small lunar dust grains. Using techniques such as energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy in the scanning transmission electron microscope, we are able to image and measure the composition and oxidation state of the nanoscale inclusions and layers in these rims. These data provide evidence of complex material interactions, such as formation of metallic iron inclusions at a variety of sizes contained within specific sublayers, and oxidation to magnetite of some of those inclusions. From this information, we can better interpret spacecraft and telescopic data of the Moon and asteroids that can be significantly influenced by space weathering and the presence of nanoscale inclusions. We can also compare these data to samples that have been experimentally space weathered in the laboratory using pulsed laser or ion irradiation in order to gain a better understanding of the conditions necessary to create observed features.

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“…In those prior studies, vesicles were identified in one phase (i.e., lunar ilmenite and Itokawa pyroxene) but not in others directly adjacent (i.e., silicate glass and plagioclase, respectively). Only a small number of recent experiments have been done on polyphase silicate-rich samples (Corley et al 2016;Kaluna et al 2018), and even fewer include detailed nanoscale comparisons of space weathering features across adjacent phases (Wu et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of space weathering features in three particles from Itokawa

Burgess

Stroud

Sandford

2021

Meteorit & Planetary Scien

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The return of samples from S-type asteroid 25143 Itokawa have enabled significant improvements in our understanding of space weathering on asteroids and the link between S-type asteroids and ordinary chondrites. We report on three new particles, providing details on space weathering of adjacent grains within a particle and several different phases. The features we observe are consistent with formation via irradiation from the solar wind, as opposed to micrometeoroid bombardment. We also see differences in the degree of weathering for grains collected from the two different touchdown locations on the asteroid. Continued analysis of new grains from Itokawa allow us to draw a more complete picture of the variety of space weathering features and the processes that lead to their formation on Itokawa and other airless bodies.

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Impact Characteristics of Different Rocks in a Pulsed Laser Irradiation Experiment: Simulation of Micrometeorite Bombardment on the Moon

Cited by 16 publications

References 32 publications

Untangling the formation and liberation of water in the lunar regolith

Untangling the formation and liberation of water in the lunar regolith

Coordinated Nanoscale Compositional and Oxidation State Measurements of Lunar Space‐Weathered Material

Comparison of space weathering features in three particles from Itokawa

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