Conditions and extent of volatile loss from the Moon during formation of the Procellarum basin

Rocks from the lunar interior are depleted in moderately volatile elements (MVEs) compared to terrestrial rocks. Most MVEs are also enriched in their heavier isotopes compared to those in terrestrial rocks. Such elemental depletion and heavy isotope enrichments have been attributed to liquid–vapor exchange and vapor loss from the protolunar disk, incomplete accretion of MVEs during condensation of the Moon, and degassing of MVEs during lunar magma ocean crystallization. New Monte Carlo simulation results suggest that the lunar MVE depletion is consistent with evaporative loss at 1,670 ± 129 K and an oxygen fugacity +2.3 ± 2.1 log units above the fayalite-magnetite-quartz buffer. Here, we propose that these chemical and isotopic features could have resulted from the formation of the putative Procellarum basin early in the Moon’s history, during which nearside magma ocean melts would have been exposed at the surface, allowing equilibration with any primitive atmosphere together with MVE loss and isotopic fractionation.

Influence of galactic arm scale dynamics on the molecular composition of the cold and dense ISM III. Elemental depletion and shortcomings of the current physico-chemical models

ABSTRACT We present a study of the elemental depletion in the interstellar medium. We combined the results of a Galactic model describing the gas physical conditions during the formation of dense cores with a full-gas-grain chemical model. During the transition between diffuse and dense medium, the reservoirs of elements, initially atomic in the gas, are gradually depleted on dust grains (with a phase of neutralization for those which are ions). This process becomes efficient when the density is larger than 100 cm−3. If the dense material goes back into diffuse conditions, these elements are brought back in the gas phase because of photo-dissociations of the molecules on the ices, followed by thermal desorption from the grains. Nothing remains on the grains for densities below 10 cm−3 or in the gas phase in a molecular form. One exception is chlorine, which is efficiently converted at low density. Our current gas–grain chemical model is not able to reproduce the depletion of atoms observed in the diffuse medium except for Cl, which gas abundance follows the observed one in medium with densities smaller than 10 cm−3. This is an indication that crucial processes (involving maybe chemisorption and/or ice irradiation profoundly modifying the nature of the ices) are missing.

Laboratory experiments on cosmic dust and ices

The existence of cosmic dust is attested by the interstellar extinction and polarization, IR emission and absorption spectra, and elemental depletion patterns. Dust grains are efficiently processed or even destroyed in shocks, molecular clouds, or protoplanetary disks. A considerable amount of dust has to be re-formed in the ISM. In various astrophysical environments, dust grains are covered by molecular ices and therefore contribute or catalytically influence the chemical reactions in these layers. Laboratory experiments are desperately required to understand the evolution of grains and grain/ice mixtures in molecular clouds and early planetary disks. This review considers recent progress in laboratory approaches to dust/ice experiments.

Modeling sulfur depletion in interstellar clouds

Context. The elemental depletion of interstellar sulfur from the gas phase has been a recurring challenge for astrochemical models. Observations show that sulfur remains relatively non-depleted with respect to its cosmic value throughout the diffuse and translucent stages of an interstellar molecular cloud, but its atomic and molecular gas-phase constituents cannot account for this cosmic value toward lines of sight containing higher-density environments. Aims. We have attempted to address this issue by modeling the evolution of an interstellar cloud from its pristine state as a diffuse atomic cloud to a molecular environment of much higher density, using a gas-grain astrochemical code and an enhanced sulfur reaction network. Methods. A common gas-grain astrochemical reaction network has been systematically updated and greatly extended based on previous literature and previous sulfur models, with a focus on the grain chemistry and processes. A simple astrochemical model was used to benchmark the resulting network updates, and the results of the model were compared to typical astronomical observations sourced from the literature. Results. Our new gas-grain astrochemical model is able to reproduce the elemental depletion of sulfur, whereby sulfur can be depleted from the gas-phase by two orders of magnitude, and that this process may occur under dark cloud conditions if the cloud has a chemical age of at least 106 years. The resulting mix of sulfur-bearing species on the grain ranges across all the most common chemical elements (H/C/N/O), not dissimilar to the molecules observed in cometary environments. Notably, this mixture is not dominated simply by H2S, unlike all other current astrochemical models. Conclusions. Despite our relatively simple physical model, most of the known gas-phase S-bearing molecular abundances are accurately reproduced under dense conditions, however they are not expected to be the primary molecular sinks of sulfur. Our model predicts that most of the “missing” sulfur is in the form of organo-sulfur species that are trapped on grains.

Micromechanical Modeling of Precipitation Hardened NiTiHf

Actuation response of NiTiHf high temperature SMAs can be enhanced by means of suitable heat treatment on the material through precipitation hardening. Heat treatments can be chosen carefully to improve the performance of the NiTiHf SMAs in order to meet the requirements of targeted applications to design more robust and efficient high temperature solid-state actuator systems. The present work aims to develop a novel approach to model and predict the behavior of heat-treated NiTiHf SMAs. The predictions of the thermomechanical response of NiTiHf SMAs are based on Representative Volume Elements (RVEs). The precipitated NiTiHf SMA is modeled as a composite consist of of thermo-elastic non-transforming precipitates and a polycrystalline SMA matrix. The structural effect of precipitates and the effect of Hf-concentration gradient resulted from Hf depletion during precipitation are included. The composition distribution resulting from the elemental depletion and the transformation temperature distributions in the SMA matrix are related. In the present work, these relations are developed from experimental measurements on several NiTiHf compositions. Thermo-mechanical responses of Ni50.3Ti29.7Hf20heat-treated at 500°C for 48h at different loading conditions are predicted and the correlations with experimental results demonstrate the validity of the proposed framework.