| 1. |
- Tinetti, Giovanna, et al.
(author)
-
The EChO science case
- 2015
-
In: Experimental astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 40:2-3, s. 329-391
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The discovery of almost two thousand exoplanets has revealed an unexpectedly diverse planet population. We see gas giants in few-day orbits, whole multi-planet systems within the orbit of Mercury, and new populations of planets with masses between that of the Earth and Neptune-all unknown in the Solar System. Observations to date have shown that our Solar System is certainly not representative of the general population of planets in our Milky Way. The key science questions that urgently need addressing are therefore: What are exoplanets made of? Why are planets as they are? How do planetary systems work and what causes the exceptional diversity observed as compared to the Solar System? The EChO (Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory) space mission was conceived to take up the challenge to explain this diversity in terms of formation, evolution, internal structure and planet and atmospheric composition. This requires in-depth spectroscopic knowledge of the atmospheres of a large and well-defined planet sample for which precise physical, chemical and dynamical information can be obtained. In order to fulfil this ambitious scientific program, EChO was designed as a dedicated survey mission for transit and eclipse spectroscopy capable of observing a large, diverse and well-defined planet sample within its 4-year mission lifetime. The transit and eclipse spectroscopy method, whereby the signal from the star and planet are differentiated using knowledge of the planetary ephemerides, allows us to measure atmospheric signals from the planet at levels of at least 10(-4) relative to the star. This can only be achieved in conjunction with a carefully designed stable payload and satellite platform. It is also necessary to provide broad instantaneous wavelength coverage to detect as many molecular species as possible, to probe the thermal structure of the planetary atmospheres and to correct for the contaminating effects of the stellar photosphere. This requires wavelength coverage of at least 0.55 to 11 mu m with a goal of covering from 0.4 to 16 mu m. Only modest spectral resolving power is needed, with R similar to 300 for wavelengths less than 5 mu m and R similar to 30 for wavelengths greater than this. The transit spectroscopy technique means that no spatial resolution is required. A telescope collecting area of about 1 m(2) is sufficiently large to achieve the necessary spectro-photometric precision: for the Phase A study a 1.13 m(2) telescope, diffraction limited at 3 mu m has been adopted. Placing the satellite at L2 provides a cold and stable thermal environment as well as a large field of regard to allow efficient time-critical observation of targets randomly distributed over the sky. EChO has been conceived to achieve a single goal: exoplanet spectroscopy. The spectral coverage and signal-to-noise to be achieved by EChO, thanks to its high stability and dedicated design, would be a game changer by allowing atmospheric composition to be measured with unparalleled exactness: at least a factor 10 more precise and a factor 10 to 1000 more accurate than current observations. This would enable the detection of molecular abundances three orders of magnitude lower than currently possible and a fourfold increase from the handful of molecules detected to date. Combining these data with estimates of planetary bulk compositions from accurate measurements of their radii and masses would allow degeneracies associated with planetary interior modelling to be broken, giving unique insight into the interior structure and elemental abundances of these alien worlds. EChO would allow scientists to study exoplanets both as a population and as individuals. The mission can target super-Earths, Neptune-like, and Jupiter-like planets, in the very hot to temperate zones (planet temperatures of 300-3000 K) of F to M-type host stars. The EChO core science would be delivered by a three-tier survey. The EChO Chemical Census: This is a broad survey of a few-hundred exoplanets, which allows us to explore the spectroscopic and chemical diversity of the exoplanet population as a whole. The EChO Origin: This is a deep survey of a subsample of tens of exoplanets for which significantly higher signal to noise and spectral resolution spectra can be obtained to explain the origin of the exoplanet diversity (such as formation mechanisms, chemical processes, atmospheric escape). The EChO Rosetta Stones: This is an ultra-high accuracy survey targeting a subsample of select exoplanets. These will be the bright "benchmark" cases for which a large number of measurements would be taken to explore temporal variations, and to obtain two and three dimensional spatial information on the atmospheric conditions through eclipse-mapping techniques. If EChO were launched today, the exoplanets currently observed are sufficient to provide a large and diverse sample. The Chemical Census survey would consist of > 160 exoplanets with a range of planetary sizes, temperatures, orbital parameters and stellar host properties. Additionally, over the next 10 years, several new ground- and space-based transit photometric surveys and missions will come on-line (e.g. NGTS, CHEOPS, TESS, PLATO), which will specifically focus on finding bright, nearby systems. The current rapid rate of discovery would allow the target list to be further optimised in the years prior to EChO's launch and enable the atmospheric characterisation of hundreds of planets.
|
|
| 2. |
- Lorand, Jean-Pierre, et al.
(author)
-
The sulfur budget and sulfur isotopic composition of Martian regolith breccia NWA 7533
- 2020
-
In: Meteoritics and Planetary Science. - : John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. - 1086-9379 .- 1945-5100. ; 55:9, s. 2097-2116
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The sulfur isotope budget of Martian regolith breccia (NWA 7533) has been addressed from conventional fluorination bulk rock analyses and ion microprobe in situ analyses. The bulk rock analyses yield 865 ± 50 ppm S in agreement with LA-ICP-MS analyses. These new data support previous estimates of 80% S loss resulting from terrestrial weathering of NWA 7533 pyrite. Pyrite is by far the major S host. Apatite and Fe oxyhydroxides are negligible S carriers, as are the few tiny igneous pyrrhotite-pentlandite sulfide grains included in lithic clasts so far identified. A small nonzero delta-33S (-0.029 ± 0.010) signal is clearly resolved at the 2σ level in the bulk rock analyses, coupled with negative CDT-normalized δ34S (-2.54 ± 0.10 permil) and near-zero delta-36S (0.002 ± 0.09 permil). In situ analyses also yield negative delta-33S values (-0.05 to -0.30 permil) with only a few positive delta-33S up to +0.38 permil. The slight discrepancy compared to the bulk rock results is attributed to a possible sampling bias. The occurrence of mass-independent fractionation (MIF) supports a model of NWA 7533 pyrite formation from surface sulfur that experienced photochemical reaction(s). The driving force that recycled crustal S in NWA 7533 lithologies - magmatic intrusions or impact-induced heat - is presently unclear. However, in situ analyses also gave negative δ34S values (+1 to -5.8 permil). Such negative values in the hydrothermal setting of NWA 7533 are reflective of hydrothermal sulfides precipitated from H2S/HS- aqueous fluid produced via open-system thermochemical reduction of sulfates at high temperatures (>300 °C).
|
|
| 3. |
- Snape, Joshua, 1986-, et al.
(author)
-
Lunar basalt chronology, mantle differentiation and implications for determining the age of the Moon
- 2016
-
In: Earth and Planetary Science Letters. - : Elsevier BV. - 0012-821X .- 1385-013X. ; 451, s. 149-158
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Despite more than 40 years of studying Apollo samples, the age and early evolution of the Moon remain contentious. Following the formation of the Moon in the aftermath of a giant impact, the resulting Lunar Magma Ocean (LMO) is predicted to have generated major geochemically distinct silicate reservoirs, including the sources of lunar basalts. Samples of these basalts, therefore, provide a unique opportunity to characterize these reservoirs. However, the precise timing and extent of geochemical fractionation is poorly constrained, not least due to the difficulty in determining accurate ages and initial Pb isotopic compositions of lunar basalts. Application of an in situ ion microprobe approach to Pb isotope analysis has allowed us to obtain precise crystallization ages from six lunar basalts, typically with an uncertainty of about +/- 10 Ma, as well as constrain their initial Pb-isotopic compositions. This has enabled construction of a two-stage model for the Pb-isotopic evolution of lunar silicate reservoirs, which necessitates the prolonged existence of high-mu reservoirs in order to explain the very radiogenic compositions of the samples. Further, once firm constraints on U and Pb partitioning behaviour are established, this model has the potential to help distinguish between conflicting estimates for the age of the Moon. Nonetheless, we are able to constrain the timing of a lunar mantle reservoir differentiation event at 4376 +/- 18 Ma, which is consistent with that derived from the Sm-Nd and Lu-Hf isotopic systems, and is interpreted as an average estimate of the time at which the high-mu, urKREEP reservoir was established and the Ferroan Anorthosite (FAN) suite was formed.
|
|
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
- Weis, Franz, et al.
(author)
-
Water content in the Martian mantle : A Nakhla perspective
- 2017
-
In: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-7037 .- 1872-9533. ; 212, s. 84-98
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Water contents of the Martian mantle have previously been investigated using Martian meteorites, with several comprehensive studies estimating the water content in the parental melts and mantle source regions of the shergottites and Chassigny. However, no detailed studies have been performed on the Nakhla meteorite. One possible way to determine the water content of a crystallizing melt is to use the water content in nominally anhydrous minerals (NAMs) such as clinopyroxene and olivine. During or after eruption on the surface of a planetary body and during residence in a degassing magma, these minerals may dehydrate. By reversing this process experimentally, original (pre-dehydration) water concentrations can be quantified. In this study, hydrothermal rehydration experiments were performed at 2 kbar and 700 degrees C on potentially dehydrated Nakhla clinopyroxene crystals. Rehydrated clinopyroxene crystals exhibit water contents of 130 +/- 26 (2 sigma) ppm and are thus similar to values observed in similar phenocrysts from terrestrial basalts. Utilizing clinopyroxene/melt partition coefficients, both the water content of the Nakhla parent melt and mantle source region were estimated. Despite previous assumptions of a relatively dry melt, the basaltic magma crystallizing Nakhla may have had up to 1.42 +/- 0.28 (2 sigma) wt.% H2O. Based on an assumed low degree of partial melting, this estimate can be used to calculate a minimum estimate of the water content for Nakhlas mantle source region of 72 +/- 16 ppm. Combining this value with values determined for other SNC mantle sources, by alternative methods, gives an average mantle value of 102 +/- 9 (2 sigma) ppm H2O for the Martian upper mantle throughout geologic time. This value is lower than the bulk water content of Earths upper mantle (similar to 250 ppm H2O) but similar to Earths MORB source (54330 ppm, average similar to 130 ppm H2O).
|
|
| 6. |
- Bellucci, Jeremy, 1984-, et al.
(author)
-
A scanning ion imaging investigation into the micron-scale U-Pb systematics in a complex lunar zircon
- 2016
-
In: Chemical Geology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0009-2541 .- 1872-6836. ; 438, s. 112-122
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The full U-Pb isotopic systematics in a complex lunar zircon ‘Pomegranate’ from lunar impact breccia 73235 have been investigated by the development of a novel Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) scanning ion imaging (SII) technique. This technique offers at least a four-fold increase in analytical spatial resolution over traditional SIMS analyses in zircon. Results from this study confirm the hypothesis that the Pomegranate zircon crystallized at 4.302 ± 0.013 Ga and experienced an impact that formed, U-enriched zircon around primary zircon cores at 4.184 ± 0.007 Ga (2σ, all uncertainties). The increase in spatial resolution offered by this technique has facilitated targeting of primary zircon that was previously inaccessible to conventional spot analyses. This approach has yielded results indicating that individual grains with a diffusive distance of less than ~4 μm have been reset to the young impact age, while individual grains with a diffusive distance larger than ~6 μm have retained the old crystallization age. Assuming a broad range in cooling rate of 0.5–50 °C/year, which has been observed in a suite of similar lunar breccias, a maximum localized temperature generated by the impact that reset small prima- ry zircon and created new, high-U zircon is estimated to be between 1100 and 1280 °C.
|
|
| 7. |
- Bellucci, Jeremy
(author)
-
Pb-isotopic evidence for an early, enriched crust on Mars
- 2015
-
In: Earth and Planetary Science Letters. - 0012-821X .- 1385-013X. ; 410, s. 34-41
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Martian meteorite NWA 7533 is a regolith breccia that compositionally resembles the Martian surface measured by orbiters and landers. NWA 7533 contains monzonitic clasts that have zircon with U–Pb ages of 4.428 Ga. The Pb isotopic compositions of plagioclase and alkali feldspars, as well as U–Pb isotopic compositions of chlorapatitein the monzonitic clasts of NWA 7533 have been measured by Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS). The U–Pb isotopic compositions measured from the chlorapatitein NWA 7533 yield an age of 1.357 ±81Ga(2σ). The least radiogenic Pb isotopic compositions measured in plagioclase and K-feldspar lie within error of the 4.428 Ga Geochron. These data indicate that the monzonitic clasts in NWA 7533 are a product of a differentiation history that includes residence in areservoir that formed prior to 4.428 Ga with a μ-value (238U/204Pb) of at least 13.4 ±1.7 (2σ)and aκ-value (232Th/238U) of ∼4.3. This μ-value is more than three times higher than any other documented Martian reservoir. These results indicate either the Martian mantle is significantly more heterogeneous than previously thought (μ-value of 1–14 vs. 1–5) and/or the monzonitic clasts formed by the melting of Martian crust with a μ-value of at least 13.4. Therefore, NWA 7533 may contain the first isotopic evidence for an enriched, differentiated crust on Mars.
|
|
| 8. |
- Thiessen, Fiona, et al.
(author)
-
Apollo 12 breccia 12013 : Impact-induced partial Pb loss in zircon and its implications for lunar geochronology
- 2018
-
In: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. - : Elsevier BV. - 0016-7037 .- 1872-9533. ; 230, s. 94-111
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Apollo 12 breccia 12013 is composed of two portions, one grey in colour, the other black. The grey portion of the breccia consists mainly of felsite thought to have formed during a single crystallisation event, while the black part is characterized by presence of lithic fragments of noritic rocks and individual plagioclase crystals. In this study, U-Pb analyses of Ca-phosphate and zircon grains were conducted in both portions of the breccia. The zircon grains within the grey portion yielded a large range of ages (4154 +/- 7 to 4308 +/- 6 Ma, 2 sigma) and show decreasing U and Th concentrations within the younger grains. Moreover, some grains exhibit recrystallisation features and potentially formation of neoblasts. The latter process requires high temperatures above 1600-1700 degrees C leading to the decomposition of the primary zircon grain and subsequent formation of new zircon occurring as neoblasts. As a result of the high temperatures, the U-Pb system of the remaining original zircon grains was most likely open for Pb diffusion causing partial resetting and the observed range of (20)(7)pb/Pb-206 ages. The event that led to the Pb loss in zircon could potentially be dated by the U-Pb system in Ca-phosphates, which have a weighted average (207)pb/ Pb-206 age across both lithologies of 3924 +/- 3 Ma (95% conf.). This age is identical within error to the combined average (20)(7)pb/Pb-206 age of 3926 +/- 2 Ma that was previously obtained from Ca-phosphates within Apollo 14 breccias, zircon grains in Apollo 12 impact melt breccias, and the lunar meteorite SaU 169. This age was interpreted to date the Imbrium impact. The zircon grains located within the black portion of the breccia yielded a similar range of ages (4123 +/- 13 to 4328 +/- 14 Ma, 2 sigma) to those in the grey portion. Given the brecciated nature of this part of the sample, the interpretation of these ages as representing igneous crystallisation or resetting by impact events remains ambiguous since there is no direct link to their source rocks via textural relationships or crystal chemistry. Similarly, the currently available zircon data set for all lunar samples may be distorted by partial Pb loss, resulting in meaningless and misleading age distribution patterns. Therefore, it is crucial to fully understand and recognize the processes and conditions that may lead to partial resetting of the U-Pb system in zircon in order to better constrain the magmatic and impact history of the Moon.
|
|
