[1] New laboratory thermal infrared emissivity measurements of the plagioclase solid solution series over the 1700 400 cm 1 (6–25 mm) spectral range are presented. Thermal infrared (TIR) spectral changes for fine-particulate samples (0–25 mm) are characterized for the first time under different laboratory environmental conditions: ambient (terrestrial-like), half-vacuum (Mars-like), vacuum, and...

Introduction: Basic knowledge about the composition and structure of the Moon was provided by the space missions of the USSR (Luna since 1959) and USA (Ranger and Surveyor since 1964). In particular Apollo missions 11 to 17 (1969-1972) with ca. 2200 samples (380 kg) gave new highlights and understandings for the geological research of our neighbor. Additional material was sampled by the Russian...

Near-surface reaction of CO2-bearing fluids with silicate minerals in peridotite and basalt forms solid carbonate minerals. Such processes form abundant veins and travertinedeposits, particularly in associationwith tectonically exposed mantle peridotite. This is important in the global carbon cycle, in weathering, and in understanding physical-chemical interaction during retrograde metamorphism...

Reliable quantitative mapping of minerals exposed on Vesta’s surface is crucial for understanding the crustal composition, petrologic evolution, and surface modification of the howardite, eucrite, and diogenite (HED) parent body. However, mineral abundance estimates derived from visible–near infrared (VIS–NIR) reflectance spectra are complicated by multiple scattering, particle size, and nonlin...

Introduction: The Lunar Magma Ocean (LMO) hypothesis holds that, early in its history the Moon was wholly or mostly molten [1,2]. Mafic minerals (olivine and pyroxene) crystallized first from the magma and sank to form the mantle, enriching the remaining magma in Fe and incompatible elements. Later, plagioclase floated in the dense Fe-rich magma [3,4], and concentrated at the Moon’s surface to ...

We carried out viscosity measurements and sampling of a crystal suspension derived from alkali olivine basalt from the Matsuura district, SW Japan, at subliquidus temperatures from 1230 °C to 1140 °C under 1 atm with NNO oxygen buffered conditions. Viscosity increased from 31 to 1235 Pa s with a decrease in temperature from 1230 to 1140 °C. On cooling, olivine first appeared at 1210 °C, followe...

We propose a model for the generation of average MORBs based on phase relations in the CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-CO2 system at pressures from 3 to 7 GPa and in the CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-Na2OFeO (CMASNF) system at pressures from 0.9 to 1.5 GPa. The MELT seismic tomography (Forsyth et al., 2000) across the East Pacific Rise shows the largest amount of melt centered at 30-km depth and lesser amounts at grea...