Howardite, Eucrite And Diogenite Research Articles

Determining the Pyroxene Mineralogies of Vestoids

Bulk pyroxene compositions were calculated for a number of V-type asteroid spectra using formulae derived by Burbine et al. These formulae were derived by analyzing HED (howardite, eucrite, and diogenite) meteorites and calculate bulk Fs (mol%) and Wo (mol%) contents using derived band centers. Using HEDs with known bulk pyroxene compositions, the uncertainty in the predicted Fs contents was determined to be ±3 mol%, and the uncertainty in the predicted Wo contents was ±2 mol%. V-type asteroids tend to have interpreted pyroxene mineralogies consistent primarily with eucrites and howardites. We investigate why diogenitic mineralogies appear so rare among ∼5–10 km V-type asteroids but are much more commonly present among HED meteorites. One possibility is that diogenitic intrusions are extremely “thin” but widespread in Vesta’s eucritic crust. In this scenario, Vestoids (V-type asteroids thought to be derived from Vesta) would be expected to be solid fragments of Vesta. Another possibility is that Vesta’s upper crust has been significantly shattered and diogenitic material would be much less common than the eucritic material in the crust. Vestoids would then be expected to be rubble piles. The belief that most asteroid families were shattered at least twice would argue that Vesta’s crust is also shattered and that Vestoids are rubble piles.

Oxygen isotopes in HED meteorites and their constraints on parent asteroids

The howardite, eucrite and diogenite (HED) clan of meteorites are usually regarded as Vesta meteorites, but there is still serious controversy over whether Vesta is the only parent body for HEDs. Different numbers of HED parent asteroids have been proposed in previous studies of oxygen isotopes. The main controversy is whether the anomalous oxygen isotopic compositions in some HEDs are caused by factors such as terrestrial weathering, addition of exogenous material during brecciation, or a possible primary isotopic heterogeneity of Vesta. To readdress the questions of whether all HED meteorites are from the same parent body, or to constrain the possible number of multiple parent asteroids, the oxygen isotopic data of 166 HED meteorites from the literature are compiled and reviewed here. Among them, 146 HED meteorites have similar Δ17O values of −0.240 ± 0.020‰ (2σ), and the remaining 20 meteorites show oxygen isotopic anomalies (Δ17O values fall outside 3σ from the above mean). Fifteen HED meteorites have anomalous oxygen isotope compositions that cannot be accounted for by terrestrial weathering or the addition of exogenous material, while the oxygen isotope anomalies in the remaining 5 HEDs are caused by the above factors. Based on studies of a number of isotopic and trace element systems, HED meteorites should form from a magma ocean, thus their parent asteroid is highly likely to be homogeneous. This implies that the oxygen isotope variability of HEDs suggest multiple parent bodies for these meteorites, which is supported by arguments from astrophysical and other geochemical studies such as Zn and Cr. In summary, according to the Δ17O values and a number of other observations, we believe that HED meteorites most likely originate from at least 6 different basaltic asteroids.

Lithologic variation within bright material on Vesta revealed by linear spectral unmixing

Vesta’s surface is mostly composed of pyroxene-rich lithologies compatible with howardite, eucrite and diogenite (HED) meteorites (e.g., McCord et al. [1970] Science, 168, 1445–1447; Feierberg & Drake [1980] Science, 209, 805–807). Data provided by the Visible and Infrared (VIR) spectrometer, onboard the NASA Dawn spacecraft, revealed that all Vesta reflectance spectra show absorption bands at ∼0.9 and ∼1.9 µm, which are typical of iron-bearing pyroxenes (De Sanctis et al. [2012] Science, 336, 697–700). Other minerals may be present in spectrally significant concentrations; these include olivine and opaque phases like those found in carbonaceous chondrites. These additional components modify the dominant pyroxene absorptions. We apply linear spectral unmixing on bright material (BM) units of Vesta to identify HEDs and non-HED phases. We explore the limits of applicability of linear spectral unmixing, testing it on laboratory mixtures. We find that the linear method is applicable at the VIR pixel resolution and it is useful when the surface is composed of pyroxene-rich lithologies containing moderate quantities of carbonaceous chondrite, olivine, and plagioclase. We found three main groups of BM units: eucrite-rich, diogenite-rich, and olivine-rich. For the non-HED spectral endmember, we choose either olivine or a featureless component. Our work confirms that Vesta’s surface contains a high content of pyroxenes mixed with a lower concentration of other phases. In many cases, the non-HED endmember that gives the best fit is the featureless phase, which causes a reduction in the strength of both bands. The anticorrelation between albedo and featureless endmember indicates that this phase is associated with low-albedo, CC-like opaque material. Large amounts of olivine have been detected in Bellicia, Arruntia and BU14 BM units. Other sites present low olivine content (<30%) mostly with a high concentration of diogenite.

Near infrared spectroscopy of HED meteorites: Effects of viewing geometry and compositional variations

The howardite, eucrite and diogenite (HED) meteorites are genetically related and represent the most voluminous group of achondrites. They are the closest analog materials to Vesta and V-type asteroids. Many of these meteorites were the focus of intense petrologic and visible to near infrared spectral studies. As ground-based and orbital observations of basaltic asteroids have increased, an improved understanding of HEDs is needed. For this study, we investigated 24 HED samples, mainly new finds from Northwest Africa (NWA). Visible to near infrared (up to 2.5μm) spectral measurements under varying illumination and observation geometries were acquired for 4 samples. Phase reddening and bluing (i.e., increase and decrease in spectral slope) is observed for the visible slope as phase angle increase. Monotonic phase reddening can occur for the near infrared slope as phase angle increase. Non-systematic changes with phase angle are found for the Band Area Ratio parameter. At phase angles higher than ∼60°, the decrease of reflectance and decrease of pyroxene bands depth are undistinguishable from admixture of low albedo material to HED samples. To assess the precision of empirical equations relating spectral properties and composition, the pyroxenes, feldspar, and olivine chemistry of the samples was determined. Using previous calibrations, systematic overestimations of the ferrosilite (Fs) and wollastonite (Wo) contents are found, especially in the 15–40 Fs range. To overcome such discrepancies, a new set of empirical equations is proposed. For an application of the new calibration, we selected two compositional end-member areas on Vesta on the basis of their iron content. For the iron-poor terrain we found an average pyroxene composition of Fs30Wo5 and for the iron-rich terrain an average of Fs47Wo14.

Constraining the cratering chronology of Vesta

Vesta has a complex cratering history, with ancient terrains as well as recent large impacts that have led to regional resurfacing. Crater counts can help constrain the relative ages of different units on Vesta׳s surface, but converting those crater counts to absolute ages requires a chronology function. We present a cratering chronology based on the best current models for the dynamical evolution of asteroid belt, and calibrate it to Vesta using the record of large craters on its surface. While uncertainties remain, our chronology function is broadly consistent with an ancient surface of Vesta as well as other constraints such as the bombardment history of the rest of the inner Solar System and the Ar–Ar age distribution of howardite, eucrite and diogenite (HED) meteorites from Vesta.

Olivine in an unexpected location on Vesta’s surface

Olivine is a major component of the mantle of differentiated bodies, including Earth. Howardite, eucrite and diogenite (HED) meteorites represent regolith, basaltic-crust, lower-crust and possibly ultramafic-mantle samples of asteroid Vesta, which is the lone surviving, large, differentiated, basaltic rocky protoplanet in the Solar System. Only a few of these meteorites, the orthopyroxene-rich diogenites, contain olivine, typically with a concentration of less than 25 per cent by volume. Olivine was tentatively identified on Vesta, on the basis of spectral and colour data, but other observations did not confirm its presence. Here we report that olivine is indeed present locally on Vesta's surface but that, unexpectedly, it has not been found within the deep, south-pole basins, which are thought to be excavated mantle rocks. Instead, it occurs as near-surface materials in the northern hemisphere. Unlike the meteorites, the olivine-rich (more than 50 per cent by volume) material is not associated with diogenite but seems to be mixed with howardite, the most common surface material. Olivine is exposed in crater walls and in ejecta scattered diffusely over a broad area. The size of the olivine exposures and the absence of associated diogenite favour a mantle source, but the exposures are located far from the deep impact basins. The amount and distribution of observed olivine-rich material suggest a complex evolutionary history for Vesta.

Mineralogical characterization of some V-type asteroids, in support of the NASA Dawn mission★

We present new reflectance spectra of 12 V-type asteroids obtained at the 3.6 m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) covering the spectral range 0.7 to 2.5 μm. This spectral range, encompassing the 1 and 2 μm, pyroxene features, allows a precise mineralogical characterization of the asteroids. The spectra of these asteroids are examined and compared to spectra for the Howardite, Eucrite and Diogenite (HED) meteorites, of which Vesta is believed to be the parent body. The observed objects were selected from different dynamical populations with the aim to verify if there exist spectral parameters that can shed light on the origin of the objects. A reassessment of data previously published has also been performed using a new methodology. We derive spectral parameters from NIR spectra to infer mineralogical information of the observed asteroids. The V-type asteroids here discussed show mainly orthopyroxene mineralogy although some of them seem to have a mineralogical composition containing cations that are smaller than Mg cations. Most of the observed Vestoids show a low abundance of Ca (<10 per cent Wo). This result implies that no one of the Vestoids studied consists of just eucritic material, but they must additionally have a diogenitic component. However, we must remember that the ground-based data are subject to larger errors than the laboratory data used as reference spectra for interpretation. Finally, we note that the intermediate belt asteroid (21238) 1995WV7 has spectral parameters quite different from the observed V-type objects of the inner belt, so it could be a basaltic asteroid not related to Vesta. This mineralogical analysis of asteroids related to Vesta is done in support of NASA’s Dawn mission, which will enter into orbit around Vesta in the summer of 2011. This work extends the scientific context of the mission to include processes contributing to the nature of smaller V-type asteroids that may be related to Vesta.

Cosmic‐ray exposure ages of diogenites and the recent collisional history of the howardite, eucrite and diogenite parent body/bodies

Abstract— We determined the cosmic‐ray exposure age of 20 diogenites from measured cosmogenic noble gas isotopes and calculated production rates of 3He, 21Ne and 38Ar. The production rates were calculated on the basis of the measured chemical composition and the cosmogenic 22Ne/21Ne ratio of each sample. The shielding conditions of each sample were also checked on the basis of the measured 10Be and 26AI concentrations. The exposure ages range from 6 to 50 Ma but do not form a continuous distribution: ten ages cluster at 21–25 Ma and four at 35–42 Ma. The two diogenite clusters coincide with the 22 Ma and 38 Ma peaks in the exposure age distribution of eucrites and howardites. After the selection from literature data of 32 eucrites and 11 howardites with reliable ages, we find a total of 23 howardite, eucrite and diogenite (HED) group meteorites at 20–25 Ma and 10 at 35–42 Ma. The shape of the two peaks is consistent with single impact events, and random number statistics show that they are statistically significant at the 99% level. Altogether, this provides strong evidence for two major impact events 22 Ma and 39 Ma ago. Although these two events can explain more than half of all HED exposure ages, it takes at least five impact events to explain all ages &lt;50 Ma. An impact frequency of one per 10 Ma corresponds to projectiles of at least 2–4 km in diameter for Vesta and of 60–300 m for the 100× smaller Vesta‐derived “vestoids.” Based on the HED exposure‐age distribution, the size distribution of the main‐belt asteroids and the difference in size between Vesta and the kilometer size vestoids, we favor Vesta as the major source of HED meteorites, although some of the meteorites may have been ejected from the vestoids rather than directly from Vesta.

The metamorphic history of eucrites and eucrite‐related meteorites and the case for late metamorphism

Abstract— We report induced thermoluminescence (TL) data for separates from three howardite, eucrite and diogenite (HED) meteorites and the Vaca Muerta mesosiderite. The results of thermal modeling of the surface of their parent body are also described. The TL sensitivities for matrix samples from the LEW 85300, 302 and 303 paired eucrites and the Bholghati howardite are lower than the TL sensitivities for the clasts, which is consistent with regolith working of the matrix in fairly mature regoliths. Within an isochemical series of HED meteorites, TL sensitivity reflects metamorphic intensity, but clast‐to‐clast variations in the TL sensitivities of the Vaca Muerta mesosiderite and clasts in the EET 87509, 513 and 531 paired howardite primarily reflect differences in mineralogy and petrology. Thermoluminescence peak temperatures indicate that all the components from the LEW 85300, 302 and 303 paired eucrites experienced a reheating event involving temperatures &gt;800 °C, which is thought to have been due to impact heating, and therefore that the event was concurrent with or postdated brecciation. The Vaca Muerta clasts are essentially unmetamorphosed, but the induced TL data indicate that the remaining howardite, eucrite, dioenite and mesosiderite (HEDM) meteorites experienced metamorphism to a variety of intensities but involving temperatures &lt;800 °C. Laboratory heating experiments show that temperatures &gt;800 °C cause a change in TL peak temperature. Feldspars from a variety of terrestrial and extraterrestrial sources show this behavior, and x‐ray diffraction and kinetic studies suggest that it is indirectly related to Al, Si disordering.Cooling rates are not consistent with autometamorphism following the initial igneous event or with heating by subsequent eruptions of lava onto the surface of the HED parent body. Instead, our thermal models suggest that the metamorphism occurred within a regolith ejecta blanket of up to a few kilometers thick, with different levels of metamorphism corresponding to different thicknesses of blanket, between essentially 0 and ∼2 km, rather than different burial depths in a regolith of uniform thickness. We argue that metamorphism occurred 3.9 Ga ago and was associated with the resetting of the Ar‐Ar system for the HED meteorites.

Vesta fragments from v6 and 3:1 resonances: Implications for V‐type near‐Earth asteroids and howardite, eucrite and diogenite meteorites

Abstract— A large body of evidence, including the presence of a dynamical family associated with 4 Vesta, suggests that this asteroid might be the ultimate source of both the V‐type near‐Earth asteroids (NEAs) and howardite, eucrite and diogenite (HED) meteorites. Dynamical routes from Vesta to the inner regions of the solar system are provided by both the 3:1 mean‐motion resonance with Jupiter and the V6, secular resonance. For this reason, numerical integrations of the orbits of fictitious Vesta fragments injected in both of these resonances have been performed. At the same time, the orbital evolution of the known V‐type NEAs has been investigated. The results indicate that the dynamical half lifetimes of Vesta fragments injected in both the 3:1 and the V6, resonances are rather short ('2 Ma). The present location of the seven known V‐type NEAs is better explained by orbital evolutions starting from the v6 secular resonance. The most important result of the present investigation, however, is that we now face what we call the “Vesta paradox.” Roughly speaking, the paradox consists of the fact that the present V‐type NEAs appear to be too dynamically young to have originated in the event that produced the family, but they are too big to be plausible second‐generation fragments from the family members. The cosmic‐ray exposure (CRE) age distribution of HED meteorites also raises a puzzle, since we would expect an overabundance of meteorites with short CRE ages. We propose different scenarios to explain these paradoxes.

Petrogenetic models for magmatism on the eucrite parent body: Evidence from orthopyroxene in diogenites

Abstract— Diogenites are recognized as a major constituent of the howardite, eucrite and diogenite (HED) meteorite group. Recently, several papers (Mittlefehldt, 1994; Fowler et al, 1994, 1995) have identified trace‐element systematics in diogenites that appeared to mimic simple magmatic processes that involved large degrees of crystallization (up to 95% orthopyroxene) of basalt with extremely high normative hypersthene. Such a crystallization scenario linking all the diogenites is highly unlikely. The purpose of this study is to explore other possible models relating the diogenites.Computational major‐element melting models of a variety of different potential bulk compositions for the eucrite parent body (EPB) mantle indicate that these compositions show a similar sequence in residuum mineral assemblage with increasing degrees of partial melting. Numerous bulk compositions would produce melts with Mg# appropriate for diogenitic parent magmas at low to moderate degrees of partial melting (15% to 30%). These calculations also show that melts with similar Mg# and variable incompatible element concentrations may be produced during small to moderate degrees of EPB mantle melting.The trace‐element characteristic of the orthopyroxene in diogenites does not support a model for large amounts of fractional crystallization of a single “hypersthene normative” basaltic magma following either small‐scale or large‐scale EPB mantle melting. Small degrees of fractional crystallization of a series of distinct basaltic magmas are much more likely. Only two melting models that we considered hold any promise for producing different batches of “diogenitic magmas.” The first model involves the fractional melting of a homogeneous source that produces parental magmas to diogenites with an extensive range of incompatible elements and limited variations in Mg#. There are several requirements for this model to work. The first requirement of this model is that the Dorthopyroxene/melt must change during melting or crystallization to compress the range of incompatible elements in the calculated diogenitic magmas. The second prerequisite is that either some of the calculated diogenitic magmas are parental to eucrites or the Mg# in diogenitic magmas are influenced by slight changes in oxygen fugacity during partial melting. The second model involves batch melting of a source that reflects accretional heterogeneities capable of generating diogenitic magmas with the calculated Mg# and incompatible element contents. Both of these models require small to moderate degrees of partial melting that may limit the efficiency of core separation.