Meteoritics & Planetary Science
ABOUT THIS COLLECTION
Meteoritics & Planetary Science is an international monthly journal of the Meteoritical Society—a scholarly organization promoting research and education in planetary science. Topics include the origin and history of the solar system, planets and natural satellites, interplanetary dust and interstellar medium, lunar samples, meteors and meteorites, asteroids, comets, craters, and tektites.
Meteoritics & Planetary Science was first published in 1935 under the title Contributions of the Society for Research on Meteorites. In 1947, the publication became known as Contributions of the Meteoritical Society and continued through 1951. From 1953 to 1995, the publication was known as Meteoritics, and in 1996, the journal's name was changed to Meteoritics & Planetary Science or MAPS. The journal was not published in 1952 and from 1957 to 1964.
This archive provides access to Meteoritics & Planetary Science Volumes 37-44 (2002-2009).
Visit Wiley Online Library for new and retrospective Meteoritics & Planetary Science content (1935-present).ISSN: 1086-9379
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Insight from the unexpectedThe NASA Stardust mission returned samples from comet 81P/Wild 2, an active Jupiter-family comet that is believed to have formed at a heliocentric distance beyond the orbit of Neptune. The study of the samples has provided a critical first look at the micrometer and larger solid materials that were at the edge of the solar system at the time that Kuiper Belt comets formed. Analysis of the samples has involved a number of challenges and surprises. These issues and the full implications of the information that the samples provide were intently discussed at the Timber Cove II meeting October 2628, 2008. The meeting was sponsored by the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP) and it was held at a ruggedly beautiful and remote location on the Sonoma coast of northern California once protected by a Russian fort. Seventeen of the papers presented at the meeting are presented in this volume.
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Abstracts for the 72nd Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical SocietyThe Meteoritical Society, 2009-01-01
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NanoSIMS studies of Ba isotopic compositions in single presolar silicon carbide grains from AGB stars and supernovaeWe have studied 74 single presolar silicon carbide grains with sizes between 0.2 and 2.6 micrometers from the Murchison and Murray meteorites for Ba isotopic compositions using NanoSIMS. We also analyzed 7 SiC particles either consisting of sub-micron-size SiC grains or representing a morphologically and isotopically distinct subgroup. Of the 55 (likely) mainstream grains, originating from asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, 32 had high enough Ba contents for isotopic analysis. For 26 of them, CsHx interferences were either negligible or could be corrected with confidence. They exhibit typical s-process Ba isotopic patterns with slightly higher than solar 134Ba/136Ba and lower than solar 135,137,138Ba/136Ba ratios. Results are generally well explained in the context of neutron capture nucleosynthesis in low mass (1-3 M(sun)) AGB stars and provide constraints on AGB models, by reducing the needed 13C spread from factor of ~20 down to 2. Out of the 19 supernova X grains, three had sufficient concentrations for isotopic analysis. They tend to exhibit higher than solar 134Ba/136Ba and 138Ba/136Ba ratios, close to solar 137Ba/136Ba, and 135Ba/136Ba lower than solar but higher than in mainstream grains. This signature could indicate a mixture of n-burst type Ba with either normal Ba more s-process-rich than solar, or normal Ba plus weak s-process Ba. In the n-burst component Cs may have to be separated from Ba at ~10 years after the SN explosion. Depending on predictions for its composition, another possibility is early separation (at ~1 year) coupled with addition of some unfractionated n-burst matter. Abundances of trace elements (Sr, Zr, Cs, La, and Ce) analyzed along with Ba signify that implantation may have been an important process for their introduction.
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Titanium isotopic compositions of well-characterized silicon carbide grains from Orgueil (CI): Implications for s-process nucleosynthesisWe have measured the titanium isotopic compositions of 23 silicon carbide grains from the Orgueil (CI) carbonaceous chondrites for which isotopic compositions of silicon, carbon, and nitrogen and aluminum-magnesium systematics had been measured previously. Using the 16 mostprecise measurements, we estimate the relative contributions of stellar nucleosynthesis during the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase and the initial compositions of the parent stars to the compositions of the grains. To do this, we compare our data to the results of several published stellar models that employ different values for some important parameters. Our analysis confirms that s-process synthesis during the AGB phase only slightly modified the titanium compositions in the envelopes of the stars where mainstream silicon carbide grains formed, as it did for silicon. Our analysis suggests that the parent stars of the >1 micrometer silicon carbide grains that we measured were generally somewhat more massive than the Sun (2-3 M(sun)) and had metallicities similar to or slightly higher than solar. Here we differ slightly from results of previous studies, which indicated masses at the lower end of the range 1.5-3 M(sun) and metallicities near solar. We also conclude that models using a standard 13C pocket, which produces a good match for the main component of s-process elements in the solar system, overestimate the contribution of the 13C pocket to s-process nucleosynthesis of titanium found in silicon carbide grains. Although previous studies have suggested that the solar system has a significantly different titanium isotopic composition than the parent stars of silicon carbide grains, we find no compelling evidence that the Sun falls off of the array defined by those stars. We also conclude that the Sun does lie on the low-metallicity end of the silicon and titanium arrays defined by mainstream silicon carbide grains.
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Integrated 3-D model from gravity and petrophysical data at the Bosumtwi impact structure, GhanaThe Bosumtwi impact structure of central Ghana was drilled in 2004 as part of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP). A vast amount of geoscience data is available from the pre-site surveys and the actual drilling phase. A 3-D gravity model was constructed and calibrated with the available data from the two ICDP boreholes, LB-07A and LB-08A. The 3-D gravity model results agree well with both the sediment thickness and size of the central uplift revealed by previously collected seismic data, and with the petrophysical data from the LB-08A and LB-07A core materials and the two borehole logs. Furthermore, the model exhibits lateral density variations across the structure and refines the results from previous 2.5-D modeling. An important new element of the 3-D model is that the thickness of the intervals comprising polymict lithic impact breccia and suevite, monomict lithic breccia and fractured basement is much smaller than that predicted by numerical modeling.
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Impactites as a random medium—Using variations in physical properties to assess heterogeneity within the Bosumtwi meteorite impact craterThe recent drilling of the Bosumtwi impact structure, Ghana, has provided a unique opportunity to study the petrophysical properties of a young, well-preserved impact crater. The damage induced by impact results in extensive fracturing and mixing of target materials. We discuss here a means of using sonic velocity and density logs from two boreholes through the Bosumtwi crater fill and basement to estimate the degree of heterogeneity and fracturing within the impacted target, in order to understand the discrepancy between the large impedances derived from the log data and the nonreflective zone of impactites observed in seismic sections. Based on an analysis of the stochastic fluctuations in the log data, the Bosumtwi impactites are characterized by vertical scale lengths of 23 m. From the resolution of the seismic data over the crater, horizontal scale lengths are estimated at <12 m. The impactites therefore fall within the quasi‐homogeneous scattering regime, i.e., seismic energy will propagate through the medium with little disruption. Scale lengths as small as these are observed in the fractured basement rocks of impact structures, whereas non‐impact related crystalline environments are characterized by scale lengths an order of magnitude larger. Assuming that the high‐frequency fluctuations observed in the log data are more sensitive to fracture distribution than petrology, this suggests that the small scale lengths observed within impact structures are characteristic of impact‐induced damage, and could be used to estimate the extent of fracturing undergone by the rocks at any depth below an impact structure.
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Characterization of the log lithology of cores LB-07A and LB-08A of the Bosumtwi impact structure by using the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibilityPetrophysical data are commonly used for the discrimination of different lithologies, as the variation in mineralogy, texture, and porosity is accompanied by varying physical properties. A special field of investigation is the analysis of the directional dependence (anisotropy) of the petrophysical properties, which can provide further information on the characteristics of the lithologies, due to the fact that this parameter is different in the various rock-forming and rockchanging processes, e.g., deformation or sedimentation. To characterize the rocks in drill cores LB-07A and LB-08A, which were drilled into the deep crater moat and central uplift of the Bosumtwi impact structure, Ghana, samples were taken for the study of petrophysical properties. In the present work the magnetic properties of these samples were determined in the laboratory. The results are discussed in relation to the various lithologies represented by this sample suite. The shape and degree of magnetic anisotropy, in combination with the magnetic susceptibility, proved useful in distinguishing between the different lithologies present in the drill cores (polymict lithic breccia, suevite, shale component, and meta-graywacke). It was possible to correlate layers of high (shale component), ntermediate (graywacke, polymict lithic breccia), and low (suevite) anisotropy degree with the lithostratigraphic sequences determined for cores LB-07A and LB-08A. The shape of the anisotropy showed that foliation is most dominant within the shale component, whereas lineation is more pronounced in the meta-graywacke and polymict lithic breccia. An overall increase of the anisotropy degree was observed from core LB-07A towards core LB-08A. Thus magnetic anisotropy data provide a useful contribution towards an improved petrophysical characterization of the lithostratigraphic sequences in drillcores from the Bosumtwi impact structure.
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The Lake Bosumtwi meteorite impact structure, Ghana—Where is the magnetic source?The Bosumtwi impact structure (Ghana) is a young and well-preserved structure where a vast amount of information is available to constrain any geophysical model. Previous analysis of the airborne magnetic data and results of numerical simulation of impact predicted a strongly magnetic impact-melt body underneath the lake. Recent drilling through the structure did not penetrate such an expected impact-melt rock magnetic source. A new 3-D magnetic model for the structure was constructed based on a newly acquired higher-resolution marine magnetic data set, with consideration of the observed gravity data on the lake, previous seismic models, and the magnetic properties and lithology identified in the two International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) deep boreholes. The new model contains highly magnetic bodies located in the northeast sector of the structure, not centered onto the drilling sites. As in previous models, higher magnetization than that measured in outcropping impactites had to be assigned to the unexposed source bodies. Integration of the new model with the borehole petrophysics and published geology indicates that these bodies likely correspond to an extension to the south of the Kumasi batholith, which outcrops to the northeast of the structure. The possibility that these source bodies are related to the seismically identified central uplift or to an unmapped impact-melt sheet predicted by previous models of the structure is not supported. Detailed magnetic scanning of the Kumasi batholith to the north, and the Bansu intrusion to the south, would provide a test for this interpretation.
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Petrophysical and paleomagnetic data of drill cores from the Bosumtwi impact structure, GhanaPhysical properties from rocks of the Bosumtwi impact structure, Ghana, Central Africa, are essential to understand the formation of the relatively young (1.07 Ma) and small (10.5 km) impact crater and to improve its geophysical modeling. Results of our petrophysical studies of deep drill cores LB-07A and LB-08A reveal distinct lithological patterns but no depth dependence. The most conspicuous difference between impactites and target lithologies are the lower bulk densities and significantly higher porosities of the suevite and lithic breccia units compared to meta-graywacke and metapelites of target lithologies. Magnetic susceptibility shows mostly paramagnetic values (200 x 500 10^(-6) SI) throughout the core, with an exception of a few metasediment samples, and correlates positively with natural remanent magnetization (NRM) and Q values. These data indicate that magnetic parameters are related to inhomogeneously distributed ferrimagnetic pyrrhotite. The paleomagnetic data reveals that the characteristic direction of NRM has shallow normal (in a few cases shallow reversed) polarity, which is in agreement with the Lower Jaramillo N-polarity chron direction, and is carried by ferrimagnetic pyrrhotite. However, our study has not revealed the expected high magnetization body required from previous magnetic modeling. Furthermore, the LB-07A and LB08-A drill cores did not show the predicted high content of melt in the rocks, requiring a new interpretation model for magnetic data.
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The Lake Bosumtwi meteorite impact structure, Ghana—A magnetic image from a third observational levelThe Bosumtwi impact structure in Ghana is the youngest and best-preserved medium-sized impact structure on Earth, and because of the vast amount of prior geophysical and geological data gathered in the area, it constitutes a great natural laboratory to try to develop new geophysical interpretation and modeling techniques. During the 2004 International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) drilling campaign at Lake Bosumtwi, we made magnetic field observations at 162 stations around the lake. This study differs from all previous magnetic surveys at Bosumtwi, which only measured the scalar portion of the Earth’s magnetic field, in that we measured the full magnetic vector at each station. Acquisition of the full magnetic vector was made possible by innovative use of a borehole deviation probe, which uses a magnetic sensor for absolute orientation reference. Estimates of the magnetic vector orientation and magnitude at each observation station were derived from a series of measurements collected at 50 cm spacing over a depth range of 25 m. In this study, we report a comparison between the scalar total field intensity derived from this new survey approach with the other two previously acquired marine and airborne magnetic data sets. The scalar total magnetic intensity (TMI) computed from the vector data set compares in close agreement with the other two data sets. Some discrepancies between the data sets can be explained by differences in the distances between the sensor and the magnetic sources for the various surveys. The highlight of this study is that we demonstrate that is possible to acquire at least partial vector data with readily available instrumentation.
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Noble gas space exposure ages of individual interplanetary dust particlesThe He, Ne, and Ar compositions of 32 individual interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) were measured using low-blank laser probe gas extraction. These measurements reveal definitive evidence of space exposure. The Ne and Ar isotopic compositions in the IDPs are primarily a mixture between solar wind (SW) and an isotopically heavier component dubbed fractionated solar (FS), which could be implantation-fractionated solar wind or a distinct component of the solar corpuscular radiation previously identified as solar energetic particles (SEP). Space exposure ages based on the Ar content of individual IDPs are estimated for a subset of the grains that appear to have escaped significant volatile losses during atmosphere entry. Although model-dependent, most of the particles in this subset have ages that are roughly consistent with origin in the asteroid belt. A short (<1000 years) space exposure age is inferred for one particle, which is suggestive of cometary origin. Among the subset of grains that show some evidence for relatively high atmospheric entry heating, two possess elevated 21Ne/22Ne ratios generated by extended exposure to solar and galactic cosmic rays. The inferred cosmic ray exposure ages of these particles exceeds 107 years, which tends to rule out origin in the asteroid belt. A favorable possibility is that these 21Ne‐rich IDPs previously resided on a relatively stable regolith of an Edgeworth‐Kuiper belt or Oort cloud body and were introduced into the inner solar system by cometary activity. These results demonstrate the utility of noble gas measurements in constraining models for the origins of interplanetary dust particles.
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The Lake Bosumtwi impact structure in Ghana: A brief environmental assessment and discussion of ecotourism potentialLake Bosumtwi is a natural inland freshwater lake that originated from a meteorite impact. The lake is becoming a popular tourist attraction in Ghana and has the potential to be developed as an ecotourism site in the future. However, there have been some unregulated human activities and unplanned infrastructure development, and there are increased levels of pollutants in the lake water. In order to make ecotourism at Lake Bosumtwi successful in the long term, the Lake Bosumtwi Development Committee has been formed to ensure that local people are empowered to mobilize their own capacities. It has been realized that an important criterion required to develop ecotourism in a socially responsible, economically efficient, and environmentally viable way is to foster a constructive dialogue between the local people and tourists about the needs of the indigenous people.
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Physical property measurements: ICDP boreholes LB-07A and LB-08A,Lake Bosumtwi impact structure, GhanaPhysical rock property measurements provide the primary constraints for any geological models hypothesized from geophysical observations. Previous geophysical models of the Bosumtwi impact structure hypothesized that a highly magnetic and dense impact-melt sheet might be the source of the observed magnetic anomalies. However, magnetic susceptibility and density measurements made on International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) cores LB-07A and LB-08A from the interior of the Bosumtwi meteorite impact structure contain no evidence for that. Both density and magnetic susceptibility logs on both boreholes exhibit low-amplitude contrasts between the uppermost polymict lithic breccia and suevite, the intermediate monomict lithic breccia, and the lowermost bedrock. The depth extent of fracture-related density reduction is much greater at LB-08A than at LB-07A. A total magnetic intensity log from borehole LB-08A supports the suggestion that magnetic anomalies over Lake Bosumtwi are mainly sourced in undetected and/or covered bedrock intrusions, like the ones outcropping at the northeast and to the southwest of the lake.
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Petrography and shock-related remagnetization of pyrrhotite in drill cores from the Bosumtwi Impact Crater Drilling Project, GhanaRock magnetic and magnetic mineralogy data are presented from the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) drill cores LB-07A and LB-08A of the Bosumtwi impact structure in order to understand the magnetic behavior of impact and target lithologies and their impact-related remagnetization mechanism. Basic data for the interpretation of the magnetic anomaly patterns and the magnetic borehole measurements as well as for new magnetic modeling are provided. Magnetic susceptibility (150-500 10^)-6) SI) and natural remanent magnetization (10^(-3)-10^(-1) A/m) are generally weak, but locally higher values up to 10.6 x 10^(-3) SI and 43 A/m occur. Sixty-three percent of the investigated rock specimens show Q values above 1 indicating that remanence clearly dominates over induced magnetization, which is a typical feature of impact structures. Ferrimagnetic pyrrhotite is the main magnetite phase, which occurs besides minor magnetite and a magnetic phase with a Curie temperature between 330 and 350 degrees C, interpreted as anomalous pyrrhotite. Coercive forces are between 20 and 40 mT. Brecciation and fracturing of pyrrhotite is a common feature confirming its pre-impact origin. Grain sizes of pyrrhotite show a large variation but the numerous stress-induced nanostructures observable by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are assumed to behave as single-domain grains. We suggest that the drilled rocks lost their pre-shock remanence memory during the shock event and acquired a new, stable remanence during shock-induced grain size reduction. The observed brittle microstructures indicate temperatures not higher than 250 degrees C, which is below the Curie temperature of ferrimagnetic pyrrhotite (310 degrees C).
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Frontier Mountain 93001: A coarse-grained, enstatite-augite-oligoclase-rich, igneous rock from the acapulcoite-lodranite parent asteroidThe Frontier Mountain (FRO) 93001 meteorite is a 4.86 g fragment of an unshocked, medium-to coarse-grained rock from the acapulcoite-lodranite (AL) parent body. It consists of anhedral orthoenstatite (FS13.3 +/- .04 WO 3.1 +/- 0.2), augite (FS6.1 +/- 0.7 WO42.3 +/- 0.9; Cr2O3 = 1.54 +/- 0.03), and oligoclase (Ab80.5 +/- 3.3 Or 3.1 +/- 0.6) up to >1 cm in size enclosing polycrystalline aggregates of fine-grained olivine (average grain size: 460 +/- 210 micrometers) showing granoblastic textures, often associated with Fe,Ni metal, troilite, chromite (cr# = 0.91 +/- 0.03; fe# = 0.62 +/ 0.04), schreibersite, and phosphates. Such aggregates appear to have been corroded by a melt. They are interpreted as lodranitic xenoliths. After the igneous (the term "igneous" is used here strictly to describe rocks or minerals that solidified from molten material) lithology intruding an acapulcoite host in Lewis Cliff (LEW) 86220, FRO 93001 is the second-known silicate-rich melt from the AL parent asteroid. Despite some similarities, the silicate igneous component of FRO 930011 (i.e., the pyroxene-plagioclase mineral assemblage) differs in being coarser-grained and containing abundant enstatite. Melting-crystallization modeling suggests that FRO 93001 formed through high-degree partial melting (greater than or equal to 35 wt%; namely, greater than or equal to 15 wt% silicate melting and ~20 wt% metal melting) of an acapulcoite source rock, or its chondritic precursor, at temperatures greater than or equal to 1200 degrees C, under reducing conditions. The resulting magnesium-rich silicate melt then underwent equilibrium crystallization; prior to complete crystallization at ~1040 degrees C, it incorporated lodranitic xenoliths. FRO 93001 is the highest-temperature melt from the AL parent-body so far available in laboratory. The fact that FRO 93001 could form by partial melting and crystallization under equilibrium conditions, coupled with the lack of quench-textures and evidence for shock deformation in xenoliths, suggests that FRO 93001 is a magmatic rock produced by endogenic heating rather than impact melting.