Laboratory studies in planetary science and quantitative analysis of evaporation rates under current Martian conditions

Mathematics – Logic

Scientific paper

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Planetary Science, Evaporation, Mars, Chondrites

Scientific paper

Laboratory measurements have been performed that are intended to shed light on several problems in planetary science. Thermoluminescence measurements of ordinary chondrites have been performed as part of an effort to identify the most primitive materials in the solar system. Experiments to study the fractionation of metal and silicate grains on asteroid surfaces have been performed on NASA's microgravity facility because of its relevance to meteorite origins and the exploration of asteroids by robotic spacecraft. The results of these studies are presented in this thesis as a conference presentation whose summary appeared in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science and a paper that appeared in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The rest of the thesis describes measurements on the stability of water on the surface of Mars and is submitted in normal thesis format, although at the time of submission some of this work has appeared in Geophysical Research Letters and some has been submitted to the journal Astrobiology.
The thermoluminescence studies were used to derive petrologic classifications for several type 3 ordinary chondrites from North Africa, some of which are very low and have the potential to provide new insights to the early solar system and its formation. The metal-silicate fractionation work suggests that the differences in composition observed among the major chondrite groups, the H, L and LL chondrites, could be the result of processes occurring on the surface of the meteorite parent body, probably an asteroid. They also suggest that minor disturbances of the surface will cause separation of components in the asteroid regolith and this should be borne in mind in robotics exploration of asteroids. The stability of water on Mars was investigated by measuring the evaporation rate of liquid water in a Mars-like environment produced in a large chamber on Earth. The evaporation rates measured are in good agreement with model-dependent theoretical treatments described in the literature in which Fick's Law is adjusted to allow for the greater buoyancy of water relative to carbon dioxide, the major constituent of the martian atmosphere. The results have implications for possible locations of water on Mars.

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