TY - JOUR
T1 - Mineralogy of interplanetary dust particles from the "olivine" infrared class
AU - Christoffersen, Roy
AU - Buseck, P R
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Drs. R.M. Walker and S. Sandford for suggesting the study of these samples, and for helpful discussions. Thanks also go to Drs. J.P. Bradley, D.E. Brownlee and K. Tomeoka for advice on many aspects of this study. Dr. M. Germani kindly aided with the SEM observations. The transmission electron microscopy was performed at the Facility for High Resolution Electron Microscopy at Arizona State University, which is funded by the NSF. This work was supported by NASA grant NAGW-143.
PY - 1986/5
Y1 - 1986/5
N2 - Analytical electron microscopy observations establish that olivine is abundant and the predominant silicate phase in three interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) from the "olivine" infrared spectral category. Two of the particles have microstructures resembling those of most non-hydrous chondritic IDPs, consisting of micron to sub-micron grains together with a matrix composed of amorphous carbonaceous material and sub-500 Å grains. In addition to olivine these particles respectively contain enstatite and magnetite, and pentlandite plus Ca-rich clinopyroxene. The third IDP consists mostly of olivine and pyrrhotite with little or no matrix material. Olivine grains in this particle contain prominent solar-flare ion tracks with densities corresponding to a space-exposure age between 103 to 105 years. Although the three particles have olivine-rich mineralogies in common, other aspects of their mineralogies and microstructures suggest that they experienced different formation histories. The differences between the particles indicate that the olivine infrared spectral category is a diverse collection of IDPs that probably incorporates several genetic groups.
AB - Analytical electron microscopy observations establish that olivine is abundant and the predominant silicate phase in three interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) from the "olivine" infrared spectral category. Two of the particles have microstructures resembling those of most non-hydrous chondritic IDPs, consisting of micron to sub-micron grains together with a matrix composed of amorphous carbonaceous material and sub-500 Å grains. In addition to olivine these particles respectively contain enstatite and magnetite, and pentlandite plus Ca-rich clinopyroxene. The third IDP consists mostly of olivine and pyrrhotite with little or no matrix material. Olivine grains in this particle contain prominent solar-flare ion tracks with densities corresponding to a space-exposure age between 103 to 105 years. Although the three particles have olivine-rich mineralogies in common, other aspects of their mineralogies and microstructures suggest that they experienced different formation histories. The differences between the particles indicate that the olivine infrared spectral category is a diverse collection of IDPs that probably incorporates several genetic groups.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0022926984&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0022926984&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/0012-821X(86)90172-X
DO - 10.1016/0012-821X(86)90172-X
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0022926984
SN - 0012-821X
VL - 78
SP - 53
EP - 66
JO - Earth and Planetary Science Letters
JF - Earth and Planetary Science Letters
IS - 1
ER -