Our story begins nearly 4.6 billion years ago...
Solar System Formation
4.56 billion years ago
Q: From what materials is our solar system made?
Chondrite –compositionroughly equal to that of theEarth. This is a slab of NWA2089 (LL3)
M
eteo
rites
www.arizonaskiesmeteorites.comAnatomy of a chondrite
CAI’s: Calcium Aluminum-rich inclusions, varying size ofmaterial that condensed at T> 1100ºC
Chondrules: rounded grains rich in silicon, condensedbetween 400-900 ºC.
Matrix: low temperature silicon and carbon rich phases,condensed below 175 ºC.
Carbonaceous Chondrite –likely composition of the Sunwithout light elements. This
is a piece of the AllendeMeteorite from Chihuahua,
Mexico
Chondrites are fragments of the mostprimitive pieces of our solar system.
Compared composition
M
eteo
rites
Iron-nickel - likely compositionof the Earth’s core. EtchedWidmanstatten exsolutiontexture
Stony iron – mixedcomposition of olivine
and iron
Glorieta Mountainpallasite (NM)
www.arizonaskiesmeteorites.com
E.B. Watson
r = 6378 km
The structure of Earth is
thought to be very similar to
the rest of the terrestrial
planets.
] Iron (w 10% Nickel) core
] Fe-Mg Silicate mantle
] Al Ca / K-Na Silicate crust
The magnetic fields of Earth
and Mercury may result from
the liquid state of their cores.
Chondrites become attractedand attach
Growth continues with impacts- heating, rounding with size
When a body is larger than 100km diameter and hot, iron andother heavy compounds sinktowards center, silicon-oxygencompounds float towardssurface.
M
eteo
rites
Achondrite – fragments of the Moon, Mars,and 4 Vesta. This is Martian ShergottiticMeteorite: Dar Al Gani (DAG) 476 fromLybia
Achondrite – fragments of theMoon and Mars
Allan Hills 84001
A fragment of Mars found inthe Antarctic ice.
Carbonate concretions
Q: What is the evidence for life on Mars?
Asteroids
Smaller fragments of condensed solid matter
Most orbit sun between Mars and Jupiter
Infrequently impact planets
E.B. Watson
E.B. Watson
http://near.jhuapl.edu/
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/orbits
A chilling vision of things to come…
2036 potential impact fromAsteroid Apophis (d =390m)
April 13, 2029 enters low-earth space (beneath g.s.satellites).
But not hit Earth
However, the closeencounter will influence itspath. If it flies through a600 m area it will hit theEarth in 2036. (1:45,000chance)
This might hurt a bit…
Concentrated at the edge of solar system (OortCloud)
A few make closer orbits to the sun
Image of C/2002 C1 (Ikeya-Zhang)March 11.77, 2002 UT with deltagraph 300/1000 8 min.
Ektachrome 100 filmCopyright ©2002 Michael Jager.
http://encke.jpl.nasa.gov/Recent_Images.html
Comets – mostly water ice
E.B. WatsonKuiper belt - objects outboard of Neptune, but insidethe Oort cloud. Includes Pluto and Charon.
Centaurs - between Saturn and Neptune
Comets arepotential meteoritesources
July 20, 1994
Shoemaker-Levy 9
A disaggregatedcomet stuck Jupiter
Bright area is alittle bigger thanthe Earth
Earth’s Moon
NASAGalileo
Avg. distance = 380,000 km(238,00 mi)
Surface
•Orange glass – volcanic
•Basalt – dark colored volcanicrock
•Anorthosite – light coloredrock that crystallized beneaththe sruface
•Breccias – mixed rock
•Regolith - fine powder dustJSC/NASA
•Impact Theory – Mars-sized object strikes Earth, ejectslunar material
Moon’s composition indicates that formation must occurafter partial differentiation of the earth
Q: How do we currently think ourmoon formed? Why?
© 2006, NASA
Our story begins nearly 4.6 billion years ago...
The MER-A Spirit
Meteor Crater, AZ . New computations point to anorigin in the impact of a fragmented, nickel-ironmeteorite about 50,000 years ago. USGS / DavidRoddy
(c) 2000 Andrew Alden
Tektites
Glass fragments (typicallysmall) produced from ameteor impact.
The origins are somewhatdebatable - chemically linkedto the earth, but proximal toimpact?
Recognized Strewnfields
After Press & Sevier,1986
ChondriteDar al Gani, Saharmet.comPlanetary building blocksThis high-Fe example hasspherules of and chondrulesrimmed by Fe-Ni aloy
Iron Meteorites
1020304050
Numb
er
Liquid
345
100200300400500600700800900
1000110012001300140015001600
Solid solution ofNi in g-Fe (FCC)taenite
Atomic % Ni
a-FeBCCkamacite
10 20 30 40 50
0 10 20 30 40 50Weight % Ni
Temper
ature
ºC
Remote s
ensing tu
torial,
nasa.gov
/rocherm
ichel.free
.fr/www
.alaska.n
et/~mete
orhexahedrites
octahedrites
ataxites
The WillametteMeteoriteAMNH
Liquid
100200300400500600700800900
1000110012001300140015001600
Ni in g-Fe taenite
Atomic % Ni
a-Fe
10 20 30 40 50
0 10 20 30 40 50Weight % Ni
Temper
ature º
C
TaeniteKamacite
T0T1T2T3T4
Kamacite
Ni con
centra
tion
DistanceModified from Watson, 2004
Gibeon IVA light kamacite bands bordered by darker taenite
www.alas
ka.net/~
meteor
Cape York Meteorite
From Watson, 2004Other elements exhibit similar or inverted concentration patterns Pt-group siderophiles, like Pt, Pd, Ir, Au, are partitioned into taenite in many iron meteorites. In other meteorites, such as Toluca and Cape York, Ir and Pt partitions weakly into kamacite (McDonough et al., 1999).
From Cambell and Humayun, 2004
4 01 01380
FeNi powderMgO capsule
Graphite FurnacePyrex Sleeve
MgO capsule
W-ReThermocouple(a) (b)
(c) (d)
Sputter CoatingAu-Pd Target
Vaccum EvaporatorPt and Ir
Heating Element
Sample is sealedunder ~1 Torrvacuum
Steel casing
Thermocouple
Ceramic tube
Ceramic “wool”insulation
o765 CT P S
SSR
o800 C
Sample in glasscapsule
Short duration runs5 min-60 minLow temperature500 ºC - 1000 ºC
Liquid
200
400600
8001000
120014001600
Solid solution ofNi in g-Fe (fcc)
Fabrication
Atomic % Ni
a-Febcc
10 30 40 50
0 10 20 30 40 50Wt % NiTem
peratu
re ºC
DiffusionAnneals
0MS
T gC
T aC
AS
20
Au&PdIrPt
MartensiteBCC tetragonal needles in FCC gamma Fe (Austenite)
100500
1 E 0Film
Fe-Ni Alloy
0 nm
5 E-20
1-d diffusion intoSemi-infiniteConcentration independent0 initial concentration
Rutherford Backscattering
infinite source
Curve fitting and D
finite source
surface evaporation
T ºCT ºC
g g+a aMs
As
g g+aAs
g g+aAs
1000 900 800 700 600 500
13 151197
Arrhenius plots
Arrhenius parameters2Element Alloy Ea (kJ/mol) Do (m /s)Au Fe5%Ni 117 ± 12 2.5 (+7.4 / - 3.1) E-12Fe10%Ni 188 ± 14 1.5 (+5.7 / -1.9) E -8 Fe20%Ni 177 ± 50 4.1 (+1600 / -4.1) E-9Pd Fe5%Ni 107 ±13 1.6 (+6.1 / -1.9) E-12 Fe10%Ni 166 ± 23 1.4 (+18 / - 1.5) E-9Fe20%Ni 145 ± 72 5.3 (+51000 / -5.3 ) E-11
139 115 7
10001200 800 700 600 5001400T ºC
Arrhenius plots
Righter et al., 2004, concluded that short-duration, rapid cooling best explains the zonation in Ir and Ni recorded in some of the chondrite grains.These are based on down-T extrapolation of their data - which yields lower D.