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Artificial Meteor Ablation Studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Maxwell B. Blanchard
Maxwell B. Blanchard*
Affiliation:
Ames Research Center, NASAMoffett Field, California

Abstract

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Artificial meteor ablation was performed on natural minerals, composed predominately of magnetite and hematite, using an arc-heated plasma stream of air. Analysis of the ablated debris indicates most was composed of two or more minerals. Wustite, a metastable mineral, was found to occur as a common product. The “magnetite” model, whose content was 80 percent magnetite, 14 percent hematite, 4 percent apatite, and 2 percent quartz, yielded ablated products consisting of over 12 different minerals. Magnetite occurred in 91 percent of all specimens examined, hematite in 16 percent, and wustite in 39 percent. The “hematite” model, whose content was 96 percent hematite and 3 percent quartz, yielded ablated products consisting of over 13 different minerals. Hematite occurred in 47 percent of all specimens examined, magnetite in 60 percent, and wustite in 28 percent. The more volatile elements (Si, P, and Cl) were depleted by a reduction of about 50 percent in the amounts present. Also, the relative abundance of Fe increased as a result of both volatile depletion (loss of Si, P, Cl, and Ca) and a reduction in its oxidation state. Hematite was converted to magnetite in the ablation zone along the model’s front face. Also, quartz and apatite minerals were converted to an Fe-rich glass consisting of varying amounts of Si, P, Cl, and Ca, depending upon the accessory minerals available at the time of melting. These glass phases occurred as unusual myrmekiticlike intergrowths, which are unique textural indicators of the environment through which the material has survived. The chemistry and mineralogy of these phases remains the only trace of the original minerals. This study has shown that artificially created ablation products from iron oxides exhibit unique properties that can be used for their identification. These properties depend on the composition of the original material and the environmental conditions of formation. In addition to the accepted elemental criteria, these properties are morphologic characteristics, textural parameters, and the existence of metastable minerals.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 13: Evolutionary and Physical Properties of Meteoroids , June 1971 , pp. 241 - 254
Copyright
Copyright © NASA 1971

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