Nanophase Fe0 in lunar soils

Journal of Earth system science

Abhijit Basu1¹ 

[1] Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, 1001 East 10th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.$$

关键词: Moon;    regolith;    micrometeorite impact;    agglutinate;    vapor deposit;    SEM.;   

DOI  :  

学科分类：天文学(综合)

来源: Indian Academy of Sciences

【 摘 要 】

Back scattered electron and transmission electron imaging of lunar soil grains reveal an abundance of submicrometer-sized pure Fe00 globules that occur in the rinds of many soil grains and in the submillimeter sized vesicular glass-cemented grains called agglutinates. Grain rinds are amorphous silicates that were deposited on grains exposed at the lunar surface from transient vapors produced by hypervelocity micrometeorite impacts. Fe0 may have dissociated from Fe-compounds in a high temperature (< 3000°C) vapor phase and then condensed as globules on grain surfaces. The agglutinitic glass is a quenched product of silicate melts, also produced by micrometeorite impacts on lunar soils. Reduction by solar wind hydrogen in agglutinitic melts may have produced immiscible droplets that solidified as globules. The exact mechanism of formation of such Fe0 globules in lunar soils remains unresolved.

【 授权许可】

Unknown