Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Using A Novel Chain Of Chemical, Crystallographic, And Isotopic Analytical Techniques To Examine The Formation Histories Of Features In Chondritic Meteorites And Orbicular Granites, Samuel P. Alpert

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Understanding the chemistry, crystallography, and isotopic variability of minerals allows us to place significant constraints on the formation history of their host rocks. These constraints provide insight into everything from the distribution of water in the solar system to the onset of plate tectonics. Electron beam instruments and ion probes are important tools used by modern geologists to obtain crystallographic, chemical, and isotopic data. Here I present a new workflow, using these instruments, combining wavelength dispersive spectrometry (WDS), backscattered electron (BSE) imaging, machine learning algorithms, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), and secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), to place quantitative constraints on …

Microstructural, Mineralogical, And Chemical Characterization Of The Handys Bend And Flax Creek Meteorites, Kentucky: Relevance For The Iron Meteorite Record, Ethan S.L. Davis

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Iron meteorites remain the only material view into planetary cores. Despite their scientific relevance, iron meteorites are relatively rare. In June 2021 and March 2022, the Kentucky Geological Survey received requests to identify two metallic specimens discovered in central Kentucky. The specimens were given the provisional names Handys Bend (3175.2 g) and Flax Creek (286.2 g). The goal of this project is to confirm meteoritic origin, characterize their structures and chemistry, assign genetic classifications, and examine potential relations to previous discoveries. Petrography was conducted using scanning electron microscopy. Mineral phases were examined using X-Ray diffraction crystallography. Chemical compositions were determined …

Experimental Determination Of Zinc, Potassium And Rubidium Diffusion Coefficients In Olivine, Christopher J. Willingham

MSU Graduate Theses

One of NASA’s key strategies is to learn more about the early solar system and its formation. Chondrites were formed from the most primitive materials at the collapse of the solar system and over time have been classified into different categories based on their elemental abundance. These chondrites have fallen to Earth and have even formed entities such as asteroids and planetary bodies. It has been found through studies that one of these chondrites is close to the elemental abundance of the Sun. The other types of chondrites were up to two orders of magnitude less in concentration …

Halogen And Non-Traditional Isotope Geochemistry Of Planetary And Terrestrial Materials, Anthony Gargano, Zachary Sharp, Justin Simon, Charles Shearer, Adrian Brearley, James Day

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

This dissertation presents the advances in non-traditional isotope geochemistry of planetary and terrestrial materials encompassing chlorine, sulfur, and zinc isotopes, as well as halogen geochemistry. A wide breadth of materials was studied throughout the completion of this work including iron meteorites, achondrites, chondrites, Apollo lunar samples, as well ancient marine chert, and carbonate sediments. Much of the focus involved the development of a method capable of simultaneously measuring the halogen contents and chlorine isotope compositions of geological materials. Here, I present these data sets to broadly characterize the process of devolatilization of planetary materials, and specifically the problem of ‘halogen-poisoning’ …

Early Solar System Chronology And Isotopic Linkage Of Non-Carbonaceous Chondrules, Clasts And Achondrites, Philip M. Reger

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Chondrules are ubiquitous igneous spherules, the main constituents of ordinary chondrites, and are considered to be critical building blocks of planetesimals, yet their age and formation mechanism(s) remain debated. Differences between ages determined from the long-lived Pb-Pb and the short-lived ²⁶Al-²⁶Mg chronometers have been attributed to the heterogeneous distribution of ²⁶Al in the solar nebula, a radionuclide that was responsible for early differentiation of planetesimals.

To evaluate this hypothesis, the ²⁶Al-²⁶Mg and the ²⁰⁷Pb-²⁰⁶Pb isotopic compositions were both measured by multi-collector ICP-MS in individual chondrules and igneous clasts in unequilibrated …

Petrology And Geochemistry Of Evolved Achondrites: Planetesimal Mantles And Crusts, Zoltan Vaci

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Melting and differentiation are fundamental to early solar system evolution on planetary bodies that accreted enough material to heat up radioactively or through impacts and breach their solidi. Partially and fully melted material is present in the meteorite record in the form of primitive achondrites and achondrites, which are fragments of planetesimals that underwent heating events in the first few million years of solar system history. Although the vast majority of this material is mafic or ultramafic, new evolved samples, recovered in the last few decades, are pushing the petrologic and geochemical boundaries of planetesimal melting, differentiation, and crust formation. …

An Experimental Study Of Evaporites On Titan: Implications For Lake Composition And Future Missions, Ellen Czaplinski

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Titan is the only other planetary body in the solar system with liquid on the surface. With a surface temperature and pressure of 89 – 94 K and 1.5 bar (N2), respectively, Titan’s lakes are comprised of liquid hydrocarbons, predominantly methane and ethane. Over time, Titan’s lakes may evaporate, leaving behind residual deposits (evaporites). The evaporation processes and composition of the evaporites is poorly understood. I address these outstanding questions by experimentally investigating the physical and spectral properties of evaporites at Titan surface conditions using an experimental chamber.

Chapter 1 addresses the formation of ethylene evaporites. Ethylene evaporites form more …

Frozen In Time: A Numerical Modeling Approach To The Study Of Ice Bearing Planetesimals Through Carbonaceous Chondrites, Jasmine M. Bayron

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Icy planetesimals are significant objects of study for meteoritics, planetary science, and astrobiology due to their connections to the origins of life and liquid water on Earth. An existing closed system aqueous alteration model was adapted to simulate several scenarios involving early Solar System geologic processes occurring in an icy planetesimal interior. The model described in this work has been developed not only to test the validity of constraints currently thought to apply to CM1 parent bodies, but to directly compare the implications of these constraints for the isotopic composition and the modal mineralogy of carbonaceous chondrites. Isotopic ratios of …

Microstructural And Microchemical Studies Of Fluid–Chondrule Interactions In A Pristine Cr Carbonaceous Chondrite And Apatite In Martian Nakhlites, Marina Martínez

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

PROJECT 1: Chondrites are the most primitive objects in the solar system, aggregates of the material that formed in the solar protoplanetary disk during the first 1-5 million years of its formation. However, petrographic observations indicate that most chondrites have been modified by secondary processes, including aqueous alteration, thermal metamorphism, and shock. Fortunately, a few chondrites largely escaped these processes and are considered pristine, such as the CR carbonaceous chondrite Queen Alexandra Range (QUE) 99177. QUE 99177 is an excellent sample for deciphering information about the reactions that took place between unaltered anhydrous solar nebular components and water under highly …

Microstructural Constraints On The Nebular And Asteroidal Histories Of Calcium-Aluminum-Rich Inclusions From Cv3 Chondrites, Shaofan Che

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The petrology and mineralogy of calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) from CV3 carbonaceous chondrites have been investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The goal of this dissertation is twofold: (1) to gain new insights into the nebular processes, such as vapor-solid reactions, accretion, transport, that are responsible for the formation of non-igneous CAIs, and (2) to better understand the role of fluid in the secondary alteration of CAIs on the CV3 chondrite parent body. This work represents the first systematic microstructural study of CAIs from CV3 chondrites.

Chapter 2 presents the microstructural observations of primary mineralogies of fine-grained, spinel-rich inclusions (FGIs) from …

An Experimental Investigation Of Liquid Hydrocarbons In A Simulated Titan Environment, Kendra Farnsworth

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Saturn’s moon, Titan, has surface conditions (89–94 K, 1.5-bar atmosphere) that permit lakes of methane, ethane, and dissolved atmospheric nitrogen. The effects of atmospheric nitrogen on methane-ethane liquid properties is poorly understood, leading to uncertainty in Titan modeling. I address this question by experimentally investigating the physical properties of methane-ethane liquids under a 1.5-bar nitrogen atmosphere in a simulated Titan environmental chamber.

Chapter 1 addresses nitrogen dissolution kinetics in Titan’s liquid hydrocarbons. I found an exponential increase in nitrogen quantity and diffusion coefficients with increasing methane mol%. I find that Titan’s liquids are likely not saturated in nitrogen, with dissolution …

Effects Of Terrestrial Weathering On Rare Earth Element Concentrations And Sulfur Isotopic Signatures Of Carbonaceous And Ordinary Chondrites, Ruby Virginia Patterson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the effects of weathering of chondrites is essential to gaining accurate and useful information about the formation of our solar system, as well as a more detailed account of the mobilization of chondritic compounds when they encounter terrestrial conditions. Elemental concentrations and stable isotope analyses of chondrites, considered to be the most primordial material in the solar system, are two tools which help unlock the weathering patterns of these specimens when they enter the earth system. However, it is not currently known exactly how time spent in the field alters rare earth element (REE) concentration or δ34S signatures within …

Early Meteoritic Records Of Asteroidal Melt And Impact Environments, Brendt Hyde

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The characterization of meteorites formed in early melt and impact environments helps deepen our understanding of the processes involved in the formation and modification of terrestrial bodies in the solar system. The main objective of this thesis is to interpret and describe a range of igneous and metamorphic environments on asteroidal bodies, through the chemical, microstructural and isotopic analysis of meteorites, and to place these in the context of evolving rocky bodies in the early protoplanetary disk. Study of the meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 869 has led to the novel discovery of a eucrite impactor clast in chondritic regolith material. …

Shock Effects Recorded By The U-Pb Radiometric System In Zircons Of Apollo 17 Impact Breccias And By Raman Spectroscopy In Enstatite Meteorites, Bidong Zhang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Impact cratering processes and formations are ubiquitous on the rocky planets within the Solar System. The Earth-Moon system was formed by a massive planetary impact, and numerous impacts afterwards significantly reshaped the topography and lithology of the Moon surface. This dissertation focuses on studying some specific geochemical, geochronological, and geophysical signatures of impact processes preserved in lunar rocks and asteroidal meteorites.

The zircon U-Pb radiometric system is one of the most reliable geochronometers in measuring geological time. Recently, unsupported radiogenic Pb enrichment has been reported to compromise the accuracy and precision of zircon U-Pb geochronometer in terrestrial rocks. In Chapter …

Sm-Nd, Lu-Hf, And Mn-Cr Isotope Geochemistry Of Achondrite Meteorites: Implications For The Formation Reservoirs Of Differentiated Planetesimals, Zhiguo Guo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Accretion and differentiation of planetesimals are critical steps of planetary formation. By studying achondrite meteorites, we can bring further geochemical and chronological constraints on the source and composition of materials and their evolution throughout the protoplanetary disk. Major and trace element analyses for mineral and whole-rock compositions and high-precision isotopic compositions for the short- and long-lived radiochronometers ⁵³Mn-⁵³Cr, ^147,146Sm-^143,142Nd and ¹⁷⁶Lu-¹⁷⁶Hf are reported for two eucrites, two diogenites, and three ungrouped achondrites. Of these, NWA 12338 is a newly classified ungrouped achondrite with an anomalously higher Δ¹⁷O than mean …

Ni And Fe Isotope Fractionation During Weathering And The Formation Of Ni Laterite Ore Deposits In The Philippines, Congxi Zhu

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Weathering processes on Ni-rich ultramafic rocks in tropical areas produce laterites that become exploitable for Ni mining. To better understand these processes, samples were collected stratigraphically with water samples from several Ni mines in the Philippines and studied for Ni and Fe isotope compositions. This study found that Ni isotope fractionation takes place during the formation of Ni-enriched minerals (goethite), when light Ni isotopes are preferentially incorporated into new minerals formed, leaving heavy Ni isotopes in groundwater. The Δ⁶⁰Ni_{Limonite-Bedrock} is up to -0.19 ± 0.32‰. Even though Fe is partitioned with redox state change during these reactions, …

Impact Cratering Processes On The Earth And Moon: Meteorites, Complex Craters, And The Origin Of The Moon, Patrick Hill

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis seeks to understand the mechanism of hypervelocity impacts, lunar origin and geology, and stable isotope techniques and its application to lunar material. Three lunar regolith breccias, Dhofar 1673, Dhofar 1983, and Dhofar 1984, were examined. The petrography, mineralogy, isotope chemistry, and bulk chemistry of these meteorites were quantified to investigate their origin. The chemistry of the impact melt rock and bulk chemical analysis suggests sourcing from either the Feldspathic or Outer Feldspathic Highland Terranes. Given the similarities in the meteorites, and the proximal location of each find (within 500 m), this thesis proposes strong evidence for their pairing. …

Aluminum-26: A Canonized Cosmochemical Conundrum, John Anton

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study focuses on the challenges associated with the historical development of the interpretative role of ²⁶Al as both a thermodynamic contributor to planetesimal formation processes and an acutely precise chronometer of protoplanetary disk events. Conventional thought asserts that ²⁶Mg concentrations can occur as isotopic excesses in meteorites and represent the daughter product of ²⁶Al, a radioactive form of aluminum (t_½ = ~0.73 ka). The greatest ²⁶Mg concentrations generally occur in calcium aluminum inclusions (CAIs), meteoric constituents considered among the oldest known materials in the Solar System whose formation appear to predate the less refractory …

The Formation Of Fine-Grained Chondrule Rims In Unequilibrated Ordinary Chondrites, John Bigolski

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Fine-grained rims are ubiquitous, non-igneous, features that completely or partially envelope the majority of chondrules within the least equilibrated of the unequilibrated ordinary chondrites (UOCs). A detailed examination of such rims in 4 UOC samples less than petrologic type 3.2 was conducted in order to 1) characterize the relative distribution of rims within chondrite samples, 2) inspect differences between fine-grained rims and adjacent matrix material, 3) petrologically analyze the rims and their relationships with chondrule cores, 4) characterize an ungrouped UOC, Northwest Africa 5717, 5) conduct a microanalytical investigation of rim / matrix boundaries to discern relative chronologies of fine-grained …

Enstatite Achondrites As Indicators Of Processes And Environments In The Early Solar System, Diego David Uribe

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis investigates the processes and environments of formation of the anomalous enstatite achondrites NWA 4301, Zakłodzie, and NWA 8173 to determine how they relate to other enstatite meteorites (chondrites, impact melt rocks, aubrites, and so-called “primitive enstatite achondrites”). Observations of Zakłodzie and NWA 4301 showed both meteorites may share a common parent body, but experienced different metamorphic conditions. Different zonation patterns in plagioclase, silica polymorphs and associations, and sulfide assemblages indicate Zakłodzie experienced higher metamorphic temperatures and cooled faster than NWA 4301, therefore NWA 4301 was buried deeper in the parent body relative to Zakłodzie. In NWA 8173, mineral …

Magmatic Hydrothermal Alteration And Secondary Post-Shock Features In Martian Olivine-Phyric Basalt Northwest Africa 10416; Petrology And Geochemistry Of Primitive Achondrite Northwest Africa 11042, Zoltan Vaci

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Martian olivine-phyric basalt Northwest Africa (NWA) 10416 contains large olivine xenocrysts whose cores have been stained brown by hydrothermal alteration and whose rims are composed of pristine olivine overgrowths. Microanalysis of these olivine cores reveals various degrees of amorphization, some of which have been overprinted by terrestrial weathering, evident as part of a weathering rind along the exposed surface of the meteorite. Studies of a completely unweathered terrestrial analogue basalt from southern Colorado reveal similar features and indicate that both basalts were altered in a supersolidus magma chamber setting. The alteration features in NWA 10416 thus imply the presence …

Insights Into Planetesimal Evolution: Petrological Investigations Of Regolithic Howardites And Carbonaceous Chondrite Impact Melts, Nicole Gabriel Lunning

Doctoral Dissertations

Asteroidal meteorites are the only available geologic samples from the early part of our solar system’s history. These meteorites contain evidence regarding how the earliest protoplanetary bodies formed and evolved. I use petrological and geochemical techniques to investigate the evolution of these early planetesimals, focusing on two meteorite types: Howardites, which are brecciated samples of a differentiated parent body (thought to be the asteroid 4 Vesta), and CV chondrites, which are primitive chondrites that have not undergone differentiation on their parent body.

Quantitative petrological analysis and characterization of paired regolithic (solar wind-rich) howardites indicate that this large sample of the …

Exploring Martian Magmas: From The Mantle To The Regolith, Arya Sigrid Waltraud Udry

Doctoral Dissertations

The planet Mars is geologically more similar to Earth than to other planets of the solar system. For the past 50 years, new rovers, orbital spacecraft, and new martian meteorites have helped us to understand the geological processes that occurred on Mars. In this dissertation, I investigate a wide range of martian igneous compositions, such as shergottite and nakhlite meteorites, Gusev and Gale surface basalts, and the Northwest Africa (NWA) 7034 breccia. I attempt to better understand magmatic processes that occurred in the martian mantle and crust as well as surficial processes using various petrologic and geochemical tools.

As shown …

The Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector Crater Origins And Hypervelocity Cratering At Oblique Angles In Aluminum Foil, Harison Wiesman

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

From 1999 to 2006 the NASA Stardust mission collected cometary particles from the Wild 2 comet and interstellar dust from the interstellar medium in two collectors made from aerogel tiles and aluminum foil. By studying their isotopic compositions, these particles can provide us with information about nucleosynthetic processes in stars. Both collector trays are being studied for traces of these particles, though a number of challenges have arisen in doing so. Identifying impact craters in the aluminum foil on the interstellar collector tray has been incredibly difficult. In addition to being only a few micrometers or less in diameter, many …

Survey Of ‘Low-Z’ Particles From The Interplanetary Dust Collection In Search Of Idps, Harison Wiesman

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

Micrometeorites are one of the most common types of extraterrestrial material that fall to the Earth, beside meteorites and interplanetary dust particles (IDPs). All of these materials are known to contain presolar grains that, when studied in the laboratory, provide information about the origin of the solar system and help to constrain models of nucleosynthesis in stars. Recent studies of micrometeorites revealed the presence of a group of particles with very high C contents. These ultra-carbonaceous Antarctic micrometeorites (UCAMMs) are fine-grained, fluffy particles dominated by highly disordered carbonaceous matter. The presence of H and N isotopic anomalies, abundant presolar grains, …

Ballistics Analysis Of Volcanic Ejecta: Miter Crater, Ice Springs Volcanic Field, Black Rock Desert, Utah, William Cary

Senior Independent Study Theses

Ice Springs Volcanic Field, located in the Black Rock Desert west of Fillmore, Utah, is composed of three large craters, Crescent, Miter, and Terrace, and several smaller craters. Concern over the hazards of the volcanic field, ±660 years old, reactivating prompted the creation of a hazards model. This study focuses on Miter Crater in order to conduct a ballistic analysis of the blocks and bombs observed along the crater rim. Data analysis of Miter Crater ejecta was then used to create a hazards model for ballistic volcanic ejecta. Thirty-four blocks and bombs were recorded along the rim of Miter Crater. …

Crystal Structure And Al/Si Cation Ordering In "Fassaite": A Combined Single Crystal, 27al And 29si Nmr Study, Monika M. Haring

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Al-,Ti-rich diopside, referred to herein as fassaite, occurs in both terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments. The composition of fassaite, Ca(Mg,Al)(Si,Al)₂O₆, makes it ideal for Al/Si cation ordering studies. In this study, crystal XRD, ²⁷Al and 29Si MAS NMR as well as ²⁷Al 3QMAS NMR is used to study cation ordering in extraterrestrial fassaite from Allende CAIs and a terrestrial analogue from Fassa Valley Italy. From ²⁷Al and ²⁹Si spectroscopy, fassaite from Allende CAIs is found to have more local Al/Si cation ordering than terrestrial Fassaite. Both terrestrial and extraterrestrial have C2/c …

Identification Of An Unknown Meteorite Found In North Africa, Carroll C. Rigler

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Geochemical And Field Relationships Of Pillow And Dike Units In A Subglacial Pillow Unit Undirhliđar Quarry, Southwest Iceland, Lindsey J. Bowman

Senior Independent Study Theses

Undirhlíðar quarry is located on the Sveifluhals ridge, a Pleistocene subglacial pillow ridge within the NE-SW trending Krísuvík fissure swarm on the Reykjanes peninsula in Southwest Iceland. The walls of Undirhlíðar quarry provide excellent exposures of the internal architecture of the pillow ridge, yielding insights into the sequence of eruptive and intrusive events that construct subglacial ridges. In particular, the south and east walls expose at least 5 different pillow units and 3 dikes. Also seen in the east wall is a black, glassy breccia unit that appears on both the north and south sections of the east wall. Preliminary …

Analysis Of Lunar Basalt Flows In Oceanus Procellarum Using Clementine Data, Noel William Jackson

OES Theses and Dissertations

Remote sensing analyses of data set taken by Clementine in 1994 permit new observations about mineral distribution on the lunar surface, basalt flow stratigraphy, and thus the geologic evolution of the Moon. The northern section of Oceanus Procellarum contains numerous impact craters which penetrated the basalt and thus can be used as natural probes to estimate the number and thicknesses of flows.

I constructed a mosaic taken in three frequencies ( 415 nm, 750 nm, 950 nm), and a Ratio Image (750/415 = red, 750/950 = green, 415/750 = blue). On such an image, red indicates the iron-poor mature highland …