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Lunar Regolith Simulant Behaviours Affected By Shock Metamorphism And Mineralogy, Xiao Chen Zhang
Lunar Regolith Simulant Behaviours Affected By Shock Metamorphism And Mineralogy, Xiao Chen Zhang
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
There are still many gaps in improving the fidelity of lunar regolith simulants to simulate more properties. This study compares some fundamental physical and mineralogical properties of three types of lunar highland regolith simulants: LHS-1, a commercial product with high mineralogical fidelity; UWO-1G, an original simulant that is the main component of LHS-1; and UWO-1S, another original product that is attempted to produce shocked grains in lunar simulants from pulverizing and mixing impact rocks sourced from the Mistastin Crater.
Preliminary results indicated that even though all simulants are composed of mostly plagioclase minerals and have similar particle size distribution patterns, …
Investigation Of Shocked Basalts From Vargeão Dome And Vista Alegre: Implications For The Search For Life On Mars, Nikol Posnov
Investigation Of Shocked Basalts From Vargeão Dome And Vista Alegre: Implications For The Search For Life On Mars, Nikol Posnov
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Impact craters represent excellent astrobiological targets for planetary exploration missions to Mars. The impact of an asteroid or comet into a crystalline, H2O-bearing target may result in development of a hydrothermal system and increase the habitability of the substrate for the colonization of endolithic microorganisms. Given that Mars’ surface is covered by cratered basaltic rock, this study investigated target rocks and impact breccias from Vargeão Dome and Vista Alegre impact structures that formed in basalt in the Paraná Basin of Brazil.
Utilizing petrography and micro-X-ray diffraction (μXRD), the degree of shock metamorphism in plagioclase was quantitively determined. Measuring …