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Microscopic iron metal on glass and minerals - A tool for studying regolith maturityA novel method of producing mixtures of glass or minerals with iron metal is presented. A portion of the Fe(2+) in basaltic glass and minerals can be reduced to metal in a few hours at 1100 C and an oxygen fugacity well below the iron-wustite buffer. Part of the iron metals forms rounded submicrometer blebs on the surfaces and in some cases within the grains. A concentration of such blebs equivalent to 20-30 percent of a grain's surface area can totally dominate the reflectance spectra of basaltic glass, pyroxene, and olivine. The production of optically opaque iron metal blebs, combined with the decline in Fe(2+), affects the glass and mineral reflectance spectra in three ways: by lowering the overall reflectivity, reducing the spectral contrast of absorption features, and producing a continuum with a general rise in reflectivity toward longer wavelengths.
Document ID
19940033932
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Allen, C. C.
(Lockheed Engineering & Sciences Co. Houston, TX, United States)
Morris, R. V.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Lauer, H. V., Jr.
(Lockheed Engineering & Sciences Co. Houston, TX, United States)
Mckay, D. S.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
August 1, 1993
Publication Information
Publication: Icarus
Volume: 104
Issue: 2
ISSN: 0019-1035
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Accession Number
94A10587
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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