Thermal and radiation stability of the hydrated salt minerals epsomite, mirabilite, and natron under Europa environmental conditions

Details Thermal and radiation stability of the hydrated salt minerals epsomite, mirabilite, and natron under Europa environmental conditions Thermal and radiation stability of the hydrated salt minerals epsomite, mirabilite, and natron under Europa environmental conditions

Feb 2001

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001jgr...106.3311m&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research, Volume 106, Issue E2, p. 3311-3319

Physics

29

Planetology: Comets And Small Bodies: Composition, Planetology: Comets And Small Bodies: Physics And Chemistry Of Materials, Planetology: Comets And Small Bodies: Radiation And Spectra

Scientific paper

We report studies on the thermal and radiolytic stability of the hydrated salt minerals epsomite (MgSO4.7H2O), mirabilite (Na2SO4.10H2O), and natron (Na2CO3.10H2O) under the low-temperature and ultrahigh vacuum conditions characteristic of the surface of the Galilean satellite Europa. We prepared samples, ran temperature-programmed dehydration (TPD) profiles and irradiated the samples with electrons. The TPD profiles are fit using Arrhenius-type first-order desorption kinetics. This analysis yields activation energies of 0.90+/-0.10, 0.70+/-0.07, and 0.45+/-0.05eV for removal of the hydration water for epsomite, natron, and mirabilite, respectively. A simple extrapolation indicates that at Europa surface temperatures (<=130 K), epsomite should remain hydrated over geologic timescales (~1011-1014 years), whereas natron and mirabilite may dehydrate appreciably in approximately 108 and 103 years, respectively. A small amount of SO2 was detected during and after 100 eV electron-beam irradiation of dehydrated epsomite and mirabilite samples, whereas products such as O2 remained below detection limits. The upper limit for the 100 eV electron-induced damage cross section of mirabilite and epsomite is ~10-19cm2. The overall radiolytic stability of these minerals is partially due to (1) the multiply charged nature of the sulfate anion, (2) the low probability of reversing the attractive Madelung (mostly the attractive electrostatic) potential via Auger decay, and (3) solid-state caging effects. Our laboratory results on the thermal and radiolytic stabilities of these salt minerals indicate that hydrated magnesium sulfate and perhaps other salts could exist for geologic timescales on the surface of Europa.

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