Search results for "Planetary Science"
showing 10 items of 4367 documents
Coupled silicon-oxygen isotope fractionation traces Archaean silicification
2011
International audience; Silica alteration zones and cherts are a conspicuous feature of Archaean greenstone belts worldwide and provide evidence of extensive mobilisation of silica in the marine environment of the early Earth. In order to understand the process(es) of silicification we measured the silicon and oxygen isotope composition of sections of variably silicified basalts and overlying bedded cherts from the Theespruit, Hooggenoeg and Kromberg Formations of the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa.The δ30Si and δ18O values of bulk rock increase with increasing amount of silicification from unsilicified basalts (-0.64‰ 30Si 18O 30Si and δ18O values as high as + 0.81‰ and + 15.6‰, r…
Evidence of deep magma degassing and ascent by geochemistry of peripheral gas emissions at Mount Etna (Italy): Assessment of the magmatic reservoir p…
2003
[1] Five gas discharges in the area of Mount Etna volcano (Italy) and in the near Hyblean plateau have been monitored since 1996. All the emissions displayed low contributions from crustal fluids, whereas magmatic gases were the main component. Selective dissolution of these gases into hydrothermal aquifers has been recognized and modeled, allowing us to calculate the original composition of the magma-released gases. The inferred composition of the magmatic gases exhibits synchronous variations of He/Ne and He/CO2 ratios, which are coherent with the magma degassing process. On the basis of numerical simulations of volatile degassing from Etnean basalts we have computed the initial and final…
MORB-type neon in an enriched mantle beneath Etna, Sicily
1997
Abstract Noble gas elemental and isotopic compositions were determined for five CO 2 –CH 4 samples collected around Etna, Sicily, to investigate the geochemical features of the mantle beneath the volcano. The samples contain mantle-derived noble gases. The measured helium isotopic ratios ( 3 He/ 4 He) vary between 5.9 and 6.4 times atmospheric ratio ( R a =1.4×10 −6 ), which are comparable to the ratios of olivines (6.1–8.2 R a ) in the lavas of the same volcano [1]. Neon in the samples is enriched in both 20 Ne and 21 Ne ( 20 Ne/ 22 Ne 9.95–10.7, 21 Ne/ 22 Ne 0.030–0.037), indicating derivation from the mantle. The δ ( 20 Ne/ 22 Ne)/ δ ( 21 Ne/ 22 Ne) values are identical with that of mid-…
Visible and near-infrared multispectral analysis of geochemically measured rock fragments at the Opportunity landing site in Meridiani Planum
2010
[1] We have used visible and near-infrared Panoramic Camera (Pancam) spectral data acquired by the Opportunity rover to analyze 15 rock fragments at the Meridiani Planum landing site. These spectral results were then compared to geochemistry measurements made by the in situ instruments Mossbauer (MB) and Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) to determine the feasibility of mineralogic characterization from Pancam data. Our results suggest that dust and alteration rinds coat many rock fragments, which limits our ability to adequately measure the mineralogy of some rocks from Pancam spectra relative to the different field of view and penetration depths of MB and APXS. Viewing and lighting …
Bounce Rock-A shergottite-like basalt encountered at Meridiani Planum, Mars
2011
Additional co-authors: Thanasis ECONOMOU, Steven P. GOREVAN, Brian C. HAHN, Gostar KLINGELHOFER, Timothy J. McCOY, Harry Y. McSWEEN Jr, Douglas W. MING, Richard V. MORRIS, Daniel S. RODIONOV, Steven W. SQUYRES, Heinrich WANKE, Shawn P. WRIGHT, Michael B. WYATT, Albert S. YEN
Fe Mossbauer spectroscopy as a tool in astrobiology
2006
The element Fe and Fe-bearing minerals occur ubiquitously throughout the field of astrobiology. Cycling between the various oxidation states of Fe provides a source of energy available for life. Banded iron formations may record the rise of oxygenic photosynthesis. The distribution of Fe between Fe-bearing minerals and its oxidation states can help to characterize and understand ancient environments with respect to the suitability for life by constraining the primary rock type and the redox conditions under which it crystallized, the extent of alteration and weathering, the type of alteration and weathering products, and the processes and environmental conditions for alteration and weatheri…
Accretion of arc-oceanic lithospheric mantle in the Mediterranean: Evidence from extremely high-Mg olivines and Cr-rich spinel inclusions in lamproit…
2007
Abstract Si-rich Mediterranean type lamproites (48–56 wt.% SiO2) are olivine-phyric, mantle-derived volcanics, in which both phenocrystic and xenocrystic olivine are present. Here we demonstrate the phenocrystic origin of the most extremely NiO–MgO enriched olivine in lamproites with Mg# up to 0.95, that host Cr-rich (Cr# around 0.95) spinels. Our comprehensive study of olivine–spinel pairs from Mediterranean lamproites enables us to constrain the extent of depletion of their mantle source. Olivine–spinel pairs from primitive Mediterranean lamproites plot in the most refractory part of the olivine–spinel mantle array diagram, showing even more refractory character than mineral pairs from bo…
Spectral, mineralogical, and geochemical variations across Home Plate, Gusev Crater, Mars indicate high and low temperature alteration
2009
Over the last ~3 years in Gusev Crater, Mars, the Spirit rover observed coherent variations in color, mineralogy, and geochemistry across Home Plate, an ~80 m-diameter outcrop of basaltic tephra. Observations of Home Plate from orbit and from the summit of Husband Hill reveal clear differences in visible/near-infrared (VNIR) colors between its eastern and western regions that are consistent with mineralogical compositions indicated by Mössbauer spectrometer (MB) and by Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES). Pyroxene and magnetite dominate the east side, while olivine, nanophase Fe oxide (npOx) and glass are more abundant on the western side. Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectromet…
Late proterozoic island arc volcanics from Gebeit, Red Sea Hills, north-east Sudan
1994
The area of Gebeit Mine in the northern Red Sea Hills, Sudan, is built up of voluminous volcanic rocks and minor volcaniclastic and clastic sequences. According to their chemical and modal compositions the Gebeit volcanics can be devided into four groups: (a) cpx-physic basalts with clinopyroxene and plagioclase as the dominant phenocrysts and minor opaques; (b) hbl-physic basalts with hornblende, clinopyroxene, plagioclase and subordinate magnetite including one rare dacite; (c) pl-phyric andesites with plagioclase phenocrysts in a matrix that is rich in magnetite; and (d) aphyric basalts. The compositional variation within the distinct volcanic groups can only partly be explained by fract…
Unusually large magmatic CO2gas emissions prior to a basaltic paroxysm
2010
[1] The low-intensity activity of basaltic volcanoes is occasionally interrupted by short-lived but energetic explosions which, whilst frequently observed, are amongst the most enigmatic volcanic events in Nature. The combination of poorly understood and deep, challenging to measure, source processes make such events currently impossible to forecast. Here we report increases in quiescent degassing CO2 emissions (>10,000 t/day) prior to a powerful explosive event on Stromboli volcano on 15 March 2007. We interpret such large CO2 flux as being sourced by passive gas leakage from a deeply (>4 km) stored magma, whose depressurization, possibly caused by the onset of an effusive eruption on 28 F…