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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Formation And Alteration Of Basaltic Soils On Mars, Ian Oliver Mcglynn
Formation And Alteration Of Basaltic Soils On Mars, Ian Oliver Mcglynn
Doctoral Dissertations
The current surface of Mars is an arid inhospitable environment, dominated by aeolian processes, composed of largely volcanic rocks that have little apparent indication of pervasive aqueous chemical weathering, and blanketed by dust. Rocks are composed of basalts and the “soil” sediments appear to be largely basaltic-derived, and are chemically similar on a global scale. If the climate was once warmer and wetter during the Noachian period, with environmental conditions favorable to the development of life, physically weathered remnants, such as large quantities of phyllosilicate minerals, should remain. Basaltic soils provide a crucial constraint on chemical and physical weathering processes, …
Characterizing Phyllosilicate Distribution, Abundance, And Origin On Mars, Christina Elizabeth Viviano
Characterizing Phyllosilicate Distribution, Abundance, And Origin On Mars, Christina Elizabeth Viviano
Doctoral Dissertations
Secondary phyllosilicates are hydrated minerals formed in the presence of liquid water. On Earth, their formation is often indicative of a neutral, water-rich environment, capable of supporting and preserving organic matter. Different phyllosilicate species may be produced in different pH levels and water-to-rock ratios. The identification of mineralogically diverse phyllosilicates in small, localized exposures on Mars provides a complex record of their formation processes. While discrete outcrops of phyllosilicates have been previously identified in high-resolution visible/near-infrared images of Mars, regional coverage of these phyllosilicate-rich areas at better resolution is limited. Furthermore, spectra of minerals in this wavelength range do not …
Dome Formation During Crustal Extension In The Himalaya: Kinematic And Pressure-Temperature-Time-Deformation Constraints On Extensional Exhumation Along The Southern Margin Of The Tibetan Plateau, Jackie M. Langille
Doctoral Dissertations
The Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau were built by a combination of south-directed thrusting, north-directed extension, and generally east-west-directed extension within the Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau all to accommodate convergence between the Indian and Eurasian plates that began in the Eocene. Normal-sense shear zones that accommodate roughly east-west-directed extension across the southern margin of the Himalaya have exhumed young metamorphic domes across the Himalayan front. These metamorphic domes contain high-grade metamorphic rocks bound by normal-sense shear zones. The purpose of this study is to evaluate how these normal-sense shear zones develop and how they exhume metamorphic domes, which remains poorly understood …
From The Mantle To The Moon: Studies Of Kimberlitic Ilmenites, Meteorite Fusion-Crusts, And The Moscoviense Basin On The Moon, Kevin Glenn Thaisen
From The Mantle To The Moon: Studies Of Kimberlitic Ilmenites, Meteorite Fusion-Crusts, And The Moscoviense Basin On The Moon, Kevin Glenn Thaisen
Doctoral Dissertations
I have explored a variety of geologic problems in the course of the chapters contained within this dissertation. These include a study relating to the fusion crusts on meteorites, an impact basin of the Moon, and Siberian kimberlitic ilmenites. The first chapter explores two assumptions commonly employed in meteorite analysis; that fusion crust compositions represent the bulk-rock chemistry of the entire meteorite and that the vesicles within the fusion crust result from the release of implanted solar-wind volatiles. Neither of these assumptions was found to hold true in that study. The second chapter explores the unusual nature of the Moscoviense …