Weathering of stony meteorites in Antarctica

Weathering produces undesirable physical, chemical, and isotopic changes that might disturb the records of cosmochemical evolution that are sought in meteorites. Meteorites are physically disintegrated by crack propagation phenomena, including ice riving and secondary mineral riving, and are probably abraded by wind that is laden with ice crystals or dust particles. Chemical weathering proceeds by oxidation, hydration, carbonation, and solution and produces a variety of secondary minerals and mineraloids. Differential weathering under freezing conditions is discussed, as well as, the mineralogy of weathering products. Furthermore, the use of Antarctic alteration of meteorites could be used as an excellent analog for weathering on Mars or on cometary bodies

Non-equilibrium freezing of water-ice in sandy basaltic regoliths and implications for fluidized debris flows on Mars

Many geomorphic features on Mars were attributed to Earth-analogous, cold-climate processes involving movement of water or ice lubricated debris. Clearly, knowledge of the behavior of water in regolith materials under Martian conditions is essential to understanding the postulated geomorphic processes. Experiments were performed with sand-sized samples of natural basaltic regoliths in order to further elucidate how water/regolith interactions depend upon grain size and mineralogy. The data reveal important contrasts with data for clay-mineral substrates and suggest that the microphysics of water/mineral interactions might affect Martian geomorphic processes in ways that are not fully appreciated. Sand and silt sized fractions of two soils from the summit of Mauna Kea were used as Mars-analogous regolith materials. Temperatures were measured for water/ice phase transitions as wet slurries of individual soil fractions which were cooled or heated at controlled rates under a carbon dioxide atmosphere. Freezing and melting of ice was studied as a function of water/soil mass ratio, soil particle size, and thermal-cycle rate. Comparison tests were done under the same conditions with U.S. Geological Survey standard rock powders

Antarctic Meteorite Newsletter, volume 9, no. 2

Preliminary description and classifications of meteorites that were completed since publication of the February issue are contained. Most large (greater than 150 g) specimens (regardless of petrologic type) and all pebble sized (less than 150 g) specimens of special petrologic type are represented by separate descriptions. However, specimens of nonspecial petrologic type are listed only as single line entries. For convenience, new specimens are also recast by petrologic type. Each macroscopic description summarizes features that were visible to the eye at the time the meteorite was first examined. Classification is based on microscopic petrography and resonnaissance-level electron-probe microanalysis. The pairing list was updated

Mineralogical sinks for biogenic elements on Mars

The efficacy of biochemical reactions on Mars should depend not only on concentrations of the biogenic elements H, C, N, O, and S but also on the forms (compounds and water-souble ions) that are available to those elements. It is possible that mineralogical reactions could act to lock biogenic elements into relatively inaccessible inorganic forms or, alternatively, to shelter sensitive organic compounds from chemically hostile environments. Recognition of these competing pathways is essential in planning sampling mission and in situ experiments directed toward assessing the biological potential of Mars

Martian weathering products as tracers of climate change and atmosphere/hydrosphere evolution on Mars

Primary objectives for exploration of Mars include determination of: (1) the distribution, abundance, and sources and sinks of volatile materials, and (2) the interaction of surface materials with the atmosphere. Both objectives fall within the purview of planetary surface weathering studies and require documented samples of weathered materials, including rock surfaces, soils, and sediments. Major issues to be addressed in selecting and studying Martian samples in this context are summarized