AMPHIBOLE AND HERCYNITE SPINEL IN SHERGOTTY AND ZAGAMI: MAGMATIC WATER, DEPTH OF CRYSTALLIZATION, AND METASOMATISM

High-Temperature Mineral Phases Generated in Natural Clinkers by Spontaneous Combustion of Coal

The aim of this study is to analyze natural clinkers (= calcined clays by coal combustion) from a lower Cretaceous coal outcrop in Ariño (Teruel, NE Spain) in order to describe mineral and textural transformations produced during the spontaneous combustion of coal. To achieve this aim, samples were analyzed using X-ray diffraction and optical and electron microscopy. Spontaneous combustion resulted in the melting of the surrounding clays, with the generation of an Al–Si-rich vitreous phase. Subsequently, high-temperature phases crystallized from this vitreous phase. These new minerals are interesting due to their similarity with those formed during ceramic processes, used in the manufacture of stoneware and ceramic tiles, as well as in refractory ceramics, and with natural events such as metamorphic and igneous processes. The studied natural clinkers are composed of vitreous phase mullite, hematite, hercynite, cristobalite, quartz, pyroxenes, cordierite, gypsum, pyrite, and calcium oxides. A trend from hematite to hercynite composition indicates compositional variations at sample scale, which evidence d-spacing differences in hercynite and may be related to the Al and Fe content in hercynite depending on its texture. The mullite shows higher Si/Al ratio (1.21) than the theoretical composition (0.35), indicating that this mullite is more Si-rich. Three pyroxene-type compositions (diopside-type, ferrosilite-type, and a Ca–Al-rich pyroxene) were found. Both the mullite and the pyroxenes are nonstoichiometric.

Water on Mars: Clues from Deuterium/Hydrogen and Water Contents of Hydrous Phases in SNC Meteorites

Ion microprobe studies of hydrous amphibole, biotite, and apatite in shergottite-nakhlite-chassignite (SNC) meteorites, probable igneous rocks from Mars, indicate high deuterium/hydrogen (D/H) ratios relative to terrestrial values. The amphiboles contain roughly one-tentn as much water as expected, suggesting that SNC magmas were less hydrous than previously proposed. The high but variable D/H values of these minerals are best explained by postcrystallization D enrichment of initially D-poor phases by martian crustal fluids with near atmospheric D/H (about five times the terrestrial value). These igneous phases do not directly reflect the D/H ratios of martian "magmatic" water but provide evidence for a D-enriched martian crustal water reservoir.

Outgassed Water on Mars: Constraints from Melt Inclusions in SNC Meteorites

The SNC (shergottite-nakhlite-chassignite) meteorites, thought to be igneous rocks from Mars, contain melt inclusions trapped at depth in early-formed crystals. Determination of the pre-eruptive water contents of SNC parental magmas from calculations of the solidification histories of these amphibole-bearing inclusions indicates that martian magmas commonly contained 1.4 percent water by weight. When combined with an estimate of the volume of igneous materials on Mars, this information suggests that the total amount of water outgassed since 3.9 billion years ago corresponds to global depths on the order of 200 meters. This value is significantly higher than previous geochemical estimates but lower than estimates based on erosion by floods. These results imply a wetter Mars interior than has been previously thought and support suggestions of significant outgassing before formation of a stable crust or heterogeneous accretion of a veneer of cometary matter.

Water in SNC meteorites: evidence for a martian hydrosphere

The Shergotty-Nakhla-Chassigny (SNC) meteorites, purportedly of martian origin, contain 0.04 to 0.4 percent water by weight. Oxygen isotopic analysis can be used to determine whether this water is extraterrestrial or terrestrial. Such analysis reveals that a portion of the water is extraterrestrial and furthermore was not in oxygen isotopic equilibrium with the host rock. Lack of equilibrium between water and host rock implies that the lithosphere and hydrosphere of the SNC parent body formed two distinct oxygen isotopic reservoirs. If Mars was the parent body, the maintenance of two distinct reservoirs may result from the absence of plate tectonics on the planet.