Other
Scientific paper
Jul 1993
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1993metic..28q.412n&link_type=abstract
Meteoritics, vol. 28, no. 3, volume 28, page 412
Other
2
Helium, Ilmenite, Lunar, Lunar Breccia 79035, Lunar Soil 71501, Neon, Solar Wind
Scientific paper
The pulse-heating technique employed for extracting helium and neon from individual interplanetary dust particles [1] has been extended to a similar study of individual lunar grains. A succession of 5-s constant power pulses is applied to the oven holding the particle. The power is increased in 0.25-W increments until all the gas is removed. The peak temperature reached during a pulse lasts about 2 s and increases by roughly 75 degrees C for each 0.25-W increment in power. In the present investigation six individual ilmenite grains of lunar soil 71501 and of breccia 79035 were studied. It was felt that this method of extracting the gas might help in distinguishing between surface embedded solar wind (SW) particles and more deeply embedded constituents such as solar energetic particles (SEP) [2], or gas of trapped or primordial origin. Although only six particles of each type have been studied to date, interesting results are beginning to emerge. For example, for both types of particles, for the initial low power pulses where the maximum pulse temperature does not exceed 500 degrees C, the ^3He/^4He ratio falls near 4 x 10^-4, as expected, if the helium is primarily unfractionated solar wind implanted near the surface. As the pulse temperature is increased to around 1000 degrees C and the solar wind gas presumably has been removed, the ^3He/^4He ratio falls to around 2.5 x 10^-4, in rough agreement with the layer etching results [2]. Likewise, the ^20Ne/^22Ne ratio falls from around 14 to a value near 12, as in the etching experiments [2]. In the case of ^4He/^20Ne ratios there appears to be a real difference between the particles from the two ilmenites. For the 79035 grains, the ratio falls from around 600 for the surface gas to around 150 for the later high-temperature extractions. On the other hand, for the 71501 grains, the ratio starts somewhat lower, near 400, and drops below 100 as the pulse temperature is raised. A qualitatively similar difference was observed in the total gas released by laser beam extractions performed on single grains from the same lunar ilmenite samples [3]. While there is considerable scatter in the data, the overall results are gratifying, and should become more definitive as more particles are investigated. The initial releases, almost certainly from the surfaces of the particles, come closer to the solar wind values [4] than generally reported for lunar grains. It will be interesting to see whether or not the differences observed are real and have a bearing on the general problem of the variation of the solar wind with time [5]. Acknowledgment: We are indebted to R. Wieler for the ilmenite grains used in the investigation. References: [1] Nier A. O. and Schlutter D. J. (1993) LPS XXIV, 1075-1076.[2] Wieler R. et al. (1986) GCA, 50, 1997-2017. [3] Olinger C. T. et al. (1990) Meteoritics, 25, 394. [4] Geiss J. et al. (1972) Apollo 16 Prelim. Sci. Rept., 14-1 to 14-10, NASA SP 315. [5] Becker R. H. and Pepin R. O. (1989) GCA, 53, 1135-1146.
Nier Alfred O.
Schlutter Dennis J.
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