Shock effects in feldspars: An overview

ABSTRACT Feldspars are the dominant mineral in the crust of most terrestrial planetary bodies, including Earth, Earth’s moon, and Mars, as well as in asteroids, and thus in meteorites. These bodies have experienced large numbers of hypervelocity impact events, and so it is important to have a robust understanding of the effects of shock waves exerted on feldspars. However, due to their optical complexity and susceptibility to weathering, feldspars are underutilized as shock barometers and indicators of hypervelocity impact. Here, we provide an overview of the work done on shocked feldspars so far, in an effort to better frame the current strengths and weaknesses of different techniques, and to highlight some gaps in the literature.

Foreshocks of the terrestrial planets: Simulations of kinetic effects

<p>Planetary foreshocks and magnetosheaths are regions which include many small-scale kinetic processes. Therefore, terrestrial planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars provide interesting laboratories to investigate how the kinetic effects depend on the properties of the solar wind and on the properties of the planet.</p><p>The kinetic effects can be investigated with a 3D hybrid model where ions are modelled as particles accelerated by the Lorentz force. Recent studies based on our parallel hybrid model have shown that the simulation has an adequate spatial resolution to investigate, in detail, the ion 3D velocity distributions and the properties of the ULF waves at the foreshocks of Mercury, Venus and Mars.  </p><div> <p>In this presentation, we focus on the simulated 3D ion velocity distributions at various sites around terrestrial planetary bodies and discuss their role near the planets, especially at the foreshocks. We also introduce methods to automatically analyze basic properties of the ion velocity distributions in the simulation.</p> </div>

Noble Gas Thermochronology of Extraterrestrial Materials

Rocks from extraterrestrial bodies in the Solar System are influenced by thermal processes occurring within planetary interiors and on their surfaces. These range from the extremely hot and brief, in the case of impact events, to the comparatively cool and protracted, in the case of solar irradiation of rocks residing in regoliths for millions to billions of years. Noble gas thermochronology applied to meteorites and extraterrestrial materials returned by space missions enables us to decipher the histories of these materials and thereby understand fundamental aspects of the evolution of terrestrial planetary bodies, including the Moon, Mars, and asteroids.

Mid-infrared spectroscopy of alkali feldspar samples for space application

Feldspars are major components of terrestrial planetary surfaces. For future space application and the setup of a comprehensive reference database, Na- and K-rich alkali feldspars, NaAlSi3O8 – KAlSi3O8, have been investigated by infrared reflectance spectroscopy. We related the feldspar spectra to the chemical composition and state of Al,Si order/disorder. The infrared measurements were analyzed with respect to band shifts and peak shapes using the autocorrelation function. Natural samples served as starting materials. Some samples were treated by the alkali exchange method to produce pure end-members, which were then heated to generate various states of Al,Si disorder. X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods served to determine the Al,Si distribution. Our autocorrelation allowed to differentiate between the compositional and the order/disorder influences seen in the spectra in the wavelength range between 7 μm up to 14 μm (1429 cm− 1 to 714 cm− 1). Space missions often analyze the surfaces of planetary bodies using remote sensing. Therefore, our results are essential to characterize and distinguish alkali feldspars on the surfaces of terrestrial planetary bodies like Mercury.

MAPPING OF INNER AND OUTER CELESTIAL BODIES USING NEW GLOBAL AND LOCAL TOPOGRAPHIC DATA DERIVED FROM PHOTOGRAMMETRIC IMAGE PROCESSING

New estimation of fundamental geodetic parameters and global and local topography of planets and satellites provide basic coordinate systems for mapping as well as opportunities for studies of processes on their surfaces. The main targets of our study are Europa, Ganymede, Calisto and Io (satellites of Jupiter), Enceladus (a satellite of Saturn), terrestrial planetary bodies, including Mercury, the Moon and Phobos, one of the Martian satellites. In particular, based on new global shape models derived from three-dimensional control point networks and processing of high-resolution stereo images, we have carried out studies of topography and morphology. As a visual representation of the results, various planetary maps with different scale and thematic direction were created. For example, for Phobos we have produced a new atlas with 43 maps, as well as various wall maps (different from the maps in the atlas by their format and design): basemap, topography and geomorphological maps. In addition, we compiled geomorphologic maps of Ganymede on local level, and a global hypsometric Enceladus map. Mercury’s topography was represented as a hypsometric globe for the first time. Mapping of the Moon was carried out using new images with super resolution (0.5-1 m/pixel) for activity regions of the first Soviet planetary rovers (Lunokhod-1 and -2). New results of planetary mapping have been demonstrated to the scientific community at planetary map exhibitions (Planetary Maps Exhibitions, 2015), organized by MExLab team in frame of the International Map Year, which is celebrated in 2015-2016. Cartographic products have multipurpose applications: for example, the Mercury globe is popular for teaching and public outreach, the maps like those for the Moon and Phobos provide cartographic support for Solar system exploration.

MAPPING OF INNER AND OUTER CELESTIAL BODIES USING NEW GLOBAL AND LOCAL TOPOGRAPHIC DATA DERIVED FROM PHOTOGRAMMETRIC IMAGE PROCESSING

New estimation of fundamental geodetic parameters and global and local topography of planets and satellites provide basic coordinate systems for mapping as well as opportunities for studies of processes on their surfaces. The main targets of our study are Europa, Ganymede, Calisto and Io (satellites of Jupiter), Enceladus (a satellite of Saturn), terrestrial planetary bodies, including Mercury, the Moon and Phobos, one of the Martian satellites. In particular, based on new global shape models derived from three-dimensional control point networks and processing of high-resolution stereo images, we have carried out studies of topography and morphology. As a visual representation of the results, various planetary maps with different scale and thematic direction were created. For example, for Phobos we have produced a new atlas with 43 maps, as well as various wall maps (different from the maps in the atlas by their format and design): basemap, topography and geomorphological maps. In addition, we compiled geomorphologic maps of Ganymede on local level, and a global hypsometric Enceladus map. Mercury’s topography was represented as a hypsometric globe for the first time. Mapping of the Moon was carried out using new images with super resolution (0.5-1 m/pixel) for activity regions of the first Soviet planetary rovers (Lunokhod-1 and -2). New results of planetary mapping have been demonstrated to the scientific community at planetary map exhibitions (Planetary Maps Exhibitions, 2015), organized by MExLab team in frame of the International Map Year, which is celebrated in 2015-2016. Cartographic products have multipurpose applications: for example, the Mercury globe is popular for teaching and public outreach, the maps like those for the Moon and Phobos provide cartographic support for Solar system exploration.

Scaling properties of planetary calderas and terrestrial volcanic eruptions

Volcanism plays an important role in transporting internal heat of planetary bodies to their surface. Therefore, volcanoes are a manifestation of the planet's past and present internal dynamics. Volcanic eruptions as well as caldera forming processes are the direct manifestation of complex interactions between the rising magma and the surrounding host rock in the crust of terrestrial planetary bodies. Attempts have been made to compare volcanic landforms throughout the solar system. Different stochastic models have been proposed to describe the temporal sequences of eruptions on individual or groups of volcanoes. However, comprehensive understanding of the physical mechanisms responsible for volcano formation and eruption and more specifically caldera formation remains elusive. In this work, we propose a scaling law to quantify the distribution of caldera sizes on Earth, Mars, Venus, and Io, as well as the distribution of calderas on Earth depending on their surrounding crustal properties. We also apply the same scaling analysis to the distribution of interevent times between eruptions for volcanoes that have the largest eruptive history as well as groups of volcanoes on Earth. We find that when rescaled with their respective sample averages, the distributions considered show a similar functional form. This result implies that similar processes are responsible for caldera formation throughout the solar system and for different crustal settings on Earth. This result emphasizes the importance of comparative planetology to understand planetary volcanism. Similarly, the processes responsible for volcanic eruptions are independent of the type of volcanism or geographical location.