229 research outputs found
Intra-chondrite Elemental Variations of Fine-grained Matrices in Carbonaceous Chondrites.
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H2O contents and hydrogen isotopic composition of apatite crystals from L, LL5-6 ordinary chondrites.
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Variations of Chemical Composition of Matrices among Carbonaceous Chondrites.
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Fe-rich olivine in brecciated eucrite Northwest Africa 2339: petrography and mineralogy.
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Analysis of Direct Samples of Early Solar System Aqueous Fluids
Over the past three decades we have become increasingly aware of the fundamental importance of water, and aqueous alteration, on primitive solar-system bodies. Some carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites have been altered by interactions with liquid water within the first 10 million years after formation of their parent asteroids. Millimeter to centimeter-sized aggregates of purple halite containing aqueous fluid inclusions were found in the matrix of two freshly-fallen brecciated H chondrite falls, Monahans (1998, hereafter simply "Monahans") (H5) and Zag (H3-6) (Zolensky et al., 1999; Whitby et al., 2000; Bogard et al., 2001) In order to understand origin and evolution of the aqueous fluids inside these inclusions we much measure the actual fluid composition, and also learn the O and H isotopic composition of the water. It has taken a decade for laboratory analytical techniques to catch up to these particular nanomole-sized aqueous samples. We have recently been successful in (1) measuring the isotopic composition of H and O in the water in a few fluid inclusions from the Zag and Monahans halite, (2) mineralogical characterization of the solid mineral phases associated with the aqueous fluids within the halite, and (3) the first minor element analyses of the fluid itself. A Cameca ims-1270 equipped with a cryo-sample-stage of Hokkaido University was specially prepared for the O and H isotopic measurements. The cryo-sample-stage (Techno. I. S. Corp.) was cooled down to c.a. -190 C using liquid nitrogen at which the aqueous fluid in inclusions was frozen. We excavated the salt crystal surfaces to expose the frozen fluids using a 15 keV Cs+ beam and measured negative secondary ions. The secondary ions from deep craters of approximately 10 m in depth emitted stably but the intensities changed gradually during measurement cycles because of shifting states of charge compensation, resulting in rather poor reproducibility of multiple measurements of standard fluid inclusions of +/- 90 0/00(2 sigma) for delta D, and +/- 29 0/00 (2 sigma) for delta O-18. On the other hand, the reproducibility of Delta O-17 is plus or minus 8 /00 (2 sigma ) because the observed variations of isotope ratios follow a mass dependent fractionation law. Variations of delta D of the aqueous fluids range over sog,a 330(90; 2 sigma ) to +1200(90) 0/00 for Monahans and delta 300(96) 0/00 to +90(98)0/00 for Zag. Delta O-17 of aqueous fluids range over delta 16(22) 0/00 to +18(10) 0/00 for Monahans and +3(10) 0/00 to +27(11) 0/00 for Zag. These variations are larger than the reproducibility of standard analyses and suggest that isotope equilibria were under way in the fluids before trapping into halite. The mean values of delta D and Delta O-17 are +290 0/00 and +9 0/00, respectively. The mean values and the variations of these fluids are different from the representative values of ordinary chondrites, verifying our working hypothesis that the fluid inclusion-bearing halites were not indigenous to the H chondrite parent-asteroid but rather represent exogenous material delivered onto the asteroid from a separate cryovolcanically-active body. This initial isotopic work has demonstrated the feasibility of the measurements, but also revealed sample processing and analytical shortcomings that are now being addressed. Examination of solid mineral inclusions within Monahans and Zag halite grains by confocal Raman spectroscopy at the Carnegie Geophysical Laboratory has revealed them to be metal, magnetite, forsteritic olivine (Fo.98), macromolecular carbon (MMC), pyroxenes, feldspar with Raman spectral affinity to anorthoclase and, probably, fine-grained lepidocrocite (FeO(OH)). In addition, one inclusion features aliphatic material with Raman spectral features consistent with a mixture of short-chain aliphatic compounds. We have initiated analyses of the bulk composition of the fluids within the inclusions in Zag and Monahans halites at Virginia Tech by LA ICPMS using angilent 7500ce quadrupole ICPMS and a Lambda Physik GeoLas 193 nm excimer laser ablation system. Preliminary results reveal that the inclusion aqueous fluids contain highly charged cations of Ca, Mg and Fe. The minerals and compounds discovered thus far within Monahans/Zag halites are indicative of an originating body at least partly composed of unequilibrated anhydrous materials (high Fo olivine, pyroxenes, feldspars, possibly the metal) which were subjected to aqueous alteration (the halite parent brine) and containing a light organic component (the short-chain aliphatic compounds). This material was ejected from the originating body with little or no disruption, as evidenced with the presence of fluid inclusions. An actively geysering body similar to modern Enceladus (Postberg et al., 2011) may be a reasonable analogue in this respect. Also, the originating body should have been within close proximity to the H chondrite parent in order to generate the number of halite grains seen in Monahans and Zag. Other candidates for Monahans/Zag halite parent bodie(s) may include a young Ceres with its possible liquid ocean, or Main Belt comets
C1 compounds as auxiliary substrate for engineered Pseudomonas putida S12
The solvent-tolerant bacterium Pseudomonas putida S12 was engineered to efficiently utilize the C1 compounds methanol and formaldehyde as auxiliary substrate. The hps and phi genes of Bacillus brevis, encoding two key steps of the ribulose monophosphate (RuMP) pathway, were introduced to construct a pathway for the metabolism of the toxic methanol oxidation intermediate formaldehyde. This approach resulted in a remarkably increased biomass yield on the primary substrate glucose when cultured in C-limited chemostats fed with a mixture of glucose and formaldehyde. With increasing relative formaldehyde feed concentrations, the biomass yield increased from 35% (C-mol biomass/C-mol glucose) without formaldehyde to 91% at 60% relative formaldehyde concentration. The RuMP-pathway expressing strain was also capable of growing to higher relative formaldehyde concentrations than the control strain. The presence of an endogenous methanol oxidizing enzyme activity in P. putida S12 allowed the replacement of formaldehyde with the less toxic methanol, resulting in an 84% (C-mol/C-mol) biomass yield. Thus, by introducing two enzymes of the RuMP pathway, co-utilization of the cheap and renewable substrate methanol was achieved, making an important contribution to the efficient use of P. putida S12 as a bioconversion platform host
XANES and Mg isotopic analyses of spinels in Ca-Al-rich inclusions: Evidence for formation under oxidizing conditions
Ti valence measurements in MgAl_2O_4 spinel from calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) by X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy show that many spinels have predominantly tetravalent Ti, regardless of host phases. The average spinel in Allende type B1 inclusion TS34 has 87% Ti^(+4). Most spinels in fluffy type A (FTA) inclusions also have high Ti valence. In contrast, the rims of some spinels in TS34 and spinel grain cores in two Vigarano type B inclusions have larger amounts of trivalent titanium. Spinels from TS34 have approximately equal amounts of divalent and trivalent vanadium. Based on experiments conducted on CAI-like compositions over a range of redox conditions, both clinopyroxene and spinel should be Ti^(+3)-rich if they equilibrated with CAI liquids under near-solar oxygen fugacities. In igneous inclusions, the seeming paradox of high-valence spinels coexisting with low-valence clinopyroxene can be explained either by transient oxidizing conditions accompanying low-pressure evaporation or by equilibration of spinel with relict Ti^(+4)-rich phases (e.g., perovskite) prior to or during melting. Ion probe analyses of large spinel grains in TS34 show that they are enriched in heavy Mg, with an average Ξ^(25)Mg of 4.25 Β± 0.028β°, consistent with formation of the spinel from an evaporating liquid. Ξ^(25)Mg shows small, but significant, variation, both within individual spinels and between spinel and adjacent melilite hosts. The Ξ^(25)Mg data are most simply explained by the low-pressure evaporation model, but this model has difficulty explaining the high Ti^(+4) concentrations in spinel
Yeast Methylotrophy and Autophagy in a Methanol-Oscillating Environment on Growing Arabidopsis thaliana Leaves
The yeast Candida boidinii capable of growth on methanol proliferates and survives on the leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana. The local methanol concentration at the phyllosphere of growing A. thaliana exhibited daily periodicity, and yeast cells responded by altering both the expression of methanol-inducible genes and peroxisome proliferation. Even under these dynamically changing environmental conditions, yeast cells proliferated 3 to 4 times in 11 days. Among the C1-metabolic enzymes, enzymes in the methanol assimilation pathway, but not formaldehyde dissimilation or anti-oxidizing enzymes, were necessary for yeast proliferation at the phyllosphere. Furthermore, both peroxisome assembly and pexophagy, a selective autophagy pathway that degrades peroxisomes, were necessary for phyllospheric proliferation. Thus, the present study sheds light on the life cycle and physiology of yeast in the natural environment at both the molecular and cellular levels
Hydrovolcanic Astromaterials in the Lab
Zag and Monahans (1998) are H chondrite regolith breccias that contain 4.5 GY old halite crystals which in turn contain abundant inclusions of aqueous fluids, solids and organics. We have previously proposed that these halites originated on a hydrovolcanically-active C class asteroid, probably Ceres, or a trans-neptunian object (TNO - or P- or D-class asteroid) injected into the inner solar system during giant planet migration. We have begun a detailed analysis of organics and other solids trapped within the halite, which we hypothesize sample the mantle of the halite parent object, and are examining a halite-bearing C1 chondrite clast also found in Zag, which is similar to the solids in the halite. These investigations will reveal the water-rock interactions on the hydrovolcanically-active parent world
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OXYGEN ISOTOPIC COMPOSITIONS OF THE ALLENDE TYPE C CAIs: EVIDENCE FOR ISOTOPIC EXCHANGE DURING NEBULAR MELTING AND ASTEROIDAL THERMAL METAMORPHISM
Based on the mineralogy and petrography, coarse-grained, igneous, anorthite-rich (Type C) calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) in the CV3 carbonaceous chondrite Allende have been recently divided into three groups: (i) CAIs with melilite and Al,Ti-diopside of massive and lacy textures (coarse grains with numerous rounded inclusions of anorthite) in a fine-grained anorthite groundmass (6-1-72, 100, 160), (ii) CAI CG5 with massive melilite, Al,Ti-diopside and anorthite, and (iii) CAIs associated with chondrule material: either containing chondrule fragments in their peripheries (ABC, TS26) or surrounded by chondrule-like, igneous rims (93) (Krot et al., 2007a,b). Here, we report in situ oxygen isotopic measurements of primary (melilite, spinel, Al,Ti-diopside, anorthite) and secondary (grossular, monticellite, forsterite) minerals in these CAIs. Spinel ({Delta}{sup 17}O = -25{per_thousand} to -20{per_thousand}), massive and lacy Al,Ti-diopside ({Delta}{sup 17}O = -20{per_thousand} to -5{per_thousand}) and fine-grained anorthite ({Delta}{sup 17}O = -15{per_thousand} to -2{per_thousand}) in 100, 160 and 6-1-72 are {sup 16}O-enriched relative spinel and coarse-grained Al,Ti-diopside and anorthite in ABC, 93 and TS26 ({Delta}{sup 17}O ranges from -20{per_thousand} to -15{per_thousand}, from -15{per_thousand} to -5{per_thousand}, and from -5{per_thousand} to 0{per_thousand}, respectively). In 6-1-72, massive and lacy Al,Ti-diopside grains are {sup 16}O-depleted ({Delta}{sup 17}O {approx} -13{per_thousand}) relative to spinel ({Delta}{sup 17}O = -23{per_thousand}). Melilite is the most {sup 16}O-depleted mineral in all Allende Type C CAIs. In CAI 100, melilite and secondary grossular, monticellite and forsterite (minerals replacing melilite) are similarly {sup 16}O-depleted, whereas grossular in CAI 160 is {sup 16}O-enriched ({Delta}{sup 17}O = -10{per_thousand} to -6{per_thousand}) relative to melilite ({Delta}{sup 17}O = -5{per_thousand} to -3{per_thousand}). We infer that CAIs 100, 160 and CG5 experienced melting in an {sup 16}O-rich ({Delta}{sup 17}O < -20{per_thousand}) nebular gas in the CAI-forming region. The Type C and Type-B-like portions of CAI 6-1-72 experienced melting in an {sup 16}O-depleted ({Delta}{sup 17}O {ge} -13{per_thousand}) nebular gas. CAIs ABC, TS26 and 93 experienced isotopic exchange during re-melting in the presence of an {sup 16}O-poor ({Delta}{sup 17}O {ge} -10{per_thousand}) nebular gas in the chondrule-forming region(s). Subsequently, Allende Type C CAIs experienced post-crystallization isotopic exchange with an {sup 16}O-poor reservoir that affected largely melilite and anorthite. Because pseudomorphic replacement of lacy melilite by grossular, monticellite and forsterite occurred during thermal metamorphism, some oxygen isotopic exchange of melilite and anorthite must have continued after formation of these secondary minerals. We suggest that some or all oxygen isotopic exchange in melilite and anorthite occurred during fluid-assisted thermal metamorphism on the CV parent asteroid. Similar processes may have also affected melilite and anorthite of CAIs in metamorphosed CO chondrites
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