Platinum metals and microstructure in magnetic deep sea cosmic spherules

Details Platinum metals and microstructure in magnetic deep sea cosmic spherules Platinum metals and microstructure in magnetic deep sea cosmic spherules

Mar 1987

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987jgr....92..641b&link_type=abstract

(Lunar and Planetary Institute, NASA, AAS, et al., Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 17th, Houston, TX, Mar. 17-21, 1986)

Physics

8

Cosmochemistry, Magnetic Materials, Metallicity, Microstructure, Ocean Bottom, Spherules, Electron Microscopy, Fractionation, Metal Particles, Neutron Activation Analysis, Platinum

Scientific paper

Instrumental neutron activation analysis was used to determine the concentrations of Ir, Fe, Ni, Co, Cr, and Sc in 16 'iron' and 8 'chondritic' magnetic deep sea spherules with sizes of about 200 microns. With the exception of two iron spheres, high iridium concentrations were found in each sphere, thus confirming their extraterrestrial origin. Moreover, the 'depth profile' of the residual mass of iridium was monitored in individual spheres by comparing the variations of the intensities of the gamma-ray lines of iridium, cobalt, and iron during a very gradual sequential polishing. Each sharp but partial discontinuity, observed only in the Ir profiles, reflects the intersection of a polished section with a tiny Ir-rich nugget. These profiles show that such nuggets are much more common in both the iron and the chondritic spheres than previously thought. New types of disequilibrated clusters of micrometer-sized nuggets of platinum metals were found. All types of nuggets, which were characterized with a scanning electron microscope and an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer, seem to be associated with magnetite. The compositions of the nuggets, as well as the fractionation patterns for Ir, Fe, Ni, Co, and Sc in the spheres, suggest that most of the Ir-rich iron spheres originate from iron-rich bodies.

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