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THE PROPOSED RESEARCH INCLUDES PETROLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL STUDIES OF CHONDRITIC METEORITES THAT AIM TO ELUCIDATE PROCESSES THAT TOOK PLACE IN THE EARLY SOLAR SYSTEM. WE WILL EXAMINE THE FORMATION CONDITIONS RECORDED BY CHONDRITIC COMPONENTS IN ORDER TO FURTHER OURUNDERSTANDING OF SOLAR NEBULA EVOLUTION AS WELL AS EARLY GEOLOGICAL PROCESSES ON ASTEROIDS. OUR FOCUS FOR UNDERSTANDING SOLAR NEBULA PROCESSES IS TO STUDY CONSTRAINTS ON THE TRANSIENT HEATING EVENTS THAT FORMED CHONDRULES AS WELL AS PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CONDITIONS OF THE LOCAL ENVIRONMENTS WHERE THEY FORMED. PETROLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL STUDIES OF CHONDRULES IN PRIMITIVE (UNALTERED) CHONDRITE GROUPS ADDRESS FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS SUCH AS WHAT PROCESSES WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR PRODUCING THE WIDE DIVERSITY OF CHONDRULE PROPERTIES BOTH WITHIN AND AMONG CHONDRITE GROUPS. OUR STUDIES OF NATURAL CHONDRULES ARECOMPLEMENTED BY EXPERIMENTS CONDUCTED IN A ONE-ATMOSPHERE GAS-MIXING FURNACE THAT AIM TO PLACE CONSTRAINTS ON COOLING RATES DURING CHONDRULE FORMATION. WE ALSO PLAN TO CARRY OUT A STUDY OF METAL-RICH CB CHONDRITES IN ORDER TO DETERMINE THE DETAILED THERMAL HISTORIES THEY RECORD. THIS WILL BE USED TO PLACE CONSTRAINTS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CB AND CH CHONDRITES AND TO PROVIDE QUANTITATIVE INPUT PARAMETERS FOR MODELS OF IMPACT PLUMES IN WHICH THESE GROUPS ARE SUGGESTED TO HAVE FORMED AS WELL AS POSSIBLEREHEATING THAT MAY HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY A LATER IMPACT THAT RESULTED IN INJECTION OF IMPACT MELT. STUDIES OF CHONDRITE METAMORPHISM PLACE CONSTRAINTS ON THE EARLY THERMAL EVOLUTION OF ASTEROIDS. WE PLAN TO STUDY REDISTRIBUTIONOF MAJOR AND TRACE ELEMENTS IN SILICATE AND PHOSPHATE MINERALS OF ORDINARY CHONDRITES DURING METAMORPHISM. WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE ROLE OF FLUIDS DURING METAMORPHISM ON ORDINARY CHONDRITE PARENT BODIES IN ORDER TO IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THERMAL EVOLUTION MODELS AS WELL AS OUR INTERPRETATION OF THE TIMING OF EVENTS RECORDED BY DIFFERENT GEOCHRONOMETERS. WE EMPHASIZE MICROBEAM ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES BOTH IN HOUSE AND IN COLLABORATION WITH OTHER LABORATORIES. SCANNING ELECTRONMICROSCOPY AND ELECTRON PROBE MICROANALYSIS (SEM / EPMA) AS WELL AS TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (TEM) WILL BE USED FOR PETROGRAPHIC STUDIES AND WE WILL USE THE FOCUSED ION BEAM (FIB)/SEM INSTRUMENT TO PREPARE SAMPLES FOR TEM ANALYSIS. WE WILL ALSO USE SECONDARY ION MASS SPECTROMETRY (SIMS) FOR MEASUREMENTS OF TRACE ELEMENTS AND ISOTOPE RATIOS.

$381,130FY2014National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA

University Of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM

Investigators

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THE PROPOSED RESEARCH INCLUDES PETROLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL STUDIES OF CHONDRITIC METEORITES THAT AIM TO ELUCIDATE PROCESSES THAT TOOK PLACE IN THE EARLY SOLAR SYSTEM. WE WILL EXAMINE THE FORMATION CONDITIONS RECORDED BY CHONDRITIC COMPONENTS IN ORDER TO FURTHER OURUNDERSTANDING OF SOLAR NEBULA EVOLUTION AS WELL AS EARLY GEOLOGICAL PROCESSES ON ASTEROIDS. OUR FOCUS FOR UNDERSTANDING SOLAR NEBULA PROCESSES IS TO STUDY CONSTRAINTS ON THE TRANSIENT HEATING EVENTS THAT FORMED CHONDRULES AS WELL AS PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CONDITIONS OF THE LOCAL ENVIRONMENTS WHERE THEY FORMED. PETROLOGIC AND GEOCHEMICAL STUDIES OF CHONDRULES IN PRIMITIVE (UNALTERED) CHONDRITE GROUPS ADDRESS FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS SUCH AS WHAT PROCESSES WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR PRODUCING THE WIDE DIVERSITY OF CHONDRULE PROPERTIES BOTH WITHIN AND AMONG CHONDRITE GROUPS. OUR STUDIES OF NATURAL CHONDRULES ARECOMPLEMENTED BY EXPERIMENTS CONDUCTED IN A ONE-ATMOSPHERE GAS-MIXING FURNACE THAT AIM TO PLACE CONSTRAINTS ON COOLING RATES DURING CHONDRULE FORMATION. WE ALSO PLAN TO CARRY OUT A STUDY OF METAL-RICH CB CHONDRITES IN ORDER TO DETERMINE THE DETAILED THERMAL HISTORIES THEY RECORD. THIS WILL BE USED TO PLACE CONSTRAINTS ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CB AND CH CHONDRITES AND TO PROVIDE QUANTITATIVE INPUT PARAMETERS FOR MODELS OF IMPACT PLUMES IN WHICH THESE GROUPS ARE SUGGESTED TO HAVE FORMED AS WELL AS POSSIBLEREHEATING THAT MAY HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY A LATER IMPACT THAT RESULTED IN INJECTION OF IMPACT MELT. STUDIES OF CHONDRITE METAMORPHISM PLACE CONSTRAINTS ON THE EARLY THERMAL EVOLUTION OF ASTEROIDS. WE PLAN TO STUDY REDISTRIBUTIONOF MAJOR AND TRACE ELEMENTS IN SILICATE AND PHOSPHATE MINERALS OF ORDINARY CHONDRITES DURING METAMORPHISM. WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE ROLE OF FLUIDS DURING METAMORPHISM ON ORDINARY CHONDRITE PARENT BODIES IN ORDER TO IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THERMAL EVOLUTION MODELS AS WELL AS OUR INTERPRETATION OF THE TIMING OF EVENTS RECORDED BY DIFFERENT GEOCHRONOMETERS. WE EMPHASIZE MICROBEAM ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES BOTH IN HOUSE AND IN COLLABORATION WITH OTHER LABORATORIES. SCANNING ELECTRONMICROSCOPY AND ELECTRON PROBE MICROANALYSIS (SEM / EPMA) AS WELL AS TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY (TEM) WILL BE USED FOR PETROGRAPHIC STUDIES AND WE WILL USE THE FOCUSED ION BEAM (FIB)/SEM INSTRUMENT TO PREPARE SAMPLES FOR TEM ANALYSIS. WE WILL ALSO USE SECONDARY ION MASS SPECTROMETRY (SIMS) FOR MEASUREMENTS OF TRACE ELEMENTS AND ISOTOPE RATIOS. · GrantIndex