Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Jun 1997
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997asee....1...12h&link_type=abstract
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) /American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Summer Faculty Fellowshi
Mathematics
Logic
Meteorites, Meteoritic Composition, Mineralogy, Metamorphism (Geology), Mars (Planet), Terrestrial Planets, Shergottites, Pyroxenes, Magma, Igneous Rocks, Basalt, Geological Surveys, Mars Surface, Volcanoes, Sulfides, Phosphates, Geology, Crystallization
Scientific paper
Currently there are 12 meteorites thought by planetary scientists to be martian samples, delivered to the Earth after violent impacts on that planet's surface. Of these 12 specimens, 4 are basaltic: Shergotty, Zagami, EETA 79001 and QUE 94201. Basalts are particularly important rocks to planetary geologists- they are the most common rocks found on the surfaces of the terrestrial planets, representing volcanic activity of their parent worlds. In addition, because they are generated by partial melting of the mantle and/or lower crust, they can serve as guide posts to the composition and internal processes of a planet. Consequently these four meteorites can serve as 'ground-truth' representatives of the predominant volcanic surface rocks of Mars, and offer researchers a glimpse of the magmatic history of that planet. Unfortunately, unraveling the parentage of a basaltic rock is not always straightforward. While many basalts are simple, unaltered partial melts of the mantle, others have undergone secondary processes which change the original parental chemistry, such as assimilation of other crustal rocks, mixing with other magmas, accumulation, re-equilibration between mineral species after crystallization, loss of late-stage magmatic fluids and alteration by metamorphic or metasomatic processes. Fortunately, magmatic inclusions can trap the evolving magmatic liquid, isolating it from many of these secondary processes and offering a direct look at the magma during different stages of development. These inclusions form when major or minor phases grow skeletally, surrounding small amounts of the parental magma within pockets in the growing crystal. The inclusion as a whole (usually consisting of glass with enclosed crystals) continues to represent the composition of the parental magma at the time the melt pocket closed, even when the rock as a whole evolves under changing conditions. The four basaltic martian meteorites contain several distinct generations of melt inclusions; those found within early-forming pigeonite, intermediate and late-forming Ti, Fe-oxides and sulfides, and intermediate to late-forming phosphates. In this summer' s study we have made a detailed study of all of the various forms of inclusions found within the 4 basaltic martian meteorites listed above. Glasses and minerals within the inclusions were analyzed using the Camera SX-100 Electron Microprobe in Building 31. The mineralogy and textural context of the inclusions will then be used to explore the crystallization history of these specimens, and to investigate any differences in crystallization history or parental magma compositions between these rocks. In this manner, the magmatic inclusions provide a road map backwards toward the 'parental' compositions for the basaltic martian meteorites and provide significant insight into the igneous processes found within the crust of Mars.
Harvey Ralph P.
McKay Gordon A.
No associations
LandOfFree
Studies of Magmatic Inclusions in the Basaltic Martian Meteorites Shergotty, Zagami, EETA 79001 and QUE 94201 does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Studies of Magmatic Inclusions in the Basaltic Martian Meteorites Shergotty, Zagami, EETA 79001 and QUE 94201, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Studies of Magmatic Inclusions in the Basaltic Martian Meteorites Shergotty, Zagami, EETA 79001 and QUE 94201 will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1473334