https://meteoritegallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Evidence-for-aqueous-activity-on-comet-81PWild-2-from-sulﬁde-mineral-assemblages-in-Stardust-samples-and-CI-chondrites.pdf

Evidence for aqueous activity on comet 81P/Wild 2 from sulfide mineral assemblages in Stardust samples and CI chondrites

http://zolotov.faculty.asu.edu/publ/Zolotov-fluids-2012.pdf

Aqueous fluid composition in CI chondritic materials: Chemical equilibrium assessments in closed systems

– Transmission electron microscopy examination of 87 large fragments from 16 carrot-shaped and bulbous Stardust (SD) tracks was performed to study the range and diversity of materials present in comet Wild 2. Olivines and low-Ca pyroxenes represent the largest proportions of fragments observed; however, a wide range of minerals and rocks were found including probable ferromagnesian, Al-rich and Si-rich chondrule fragments, a refractory inclusion, possible matrix mineral/lithic clasts, and probable condensate minerals. These materials, combined with fine-grained components in the tracks, are analogous to components in unequilibrated chondrite meteorites and cluster interplanetary dust particles (IDPs). Two unusual lithologies in the bulbous tracks are only observed in chondritic porous IDPs and may have direct links to IDPs. The absence of phyllosilicates indicates that comet Wild 2 may be a “dry” comet that did not accrete or form significant amounts of hydrated phases. Some large mineral fragments in the SD tracks are analogous to large mineral IDPs. The large variations of the coarse-grained components within and between all 16 tracks show that comet Wild 2 is mineralogically diverse and unequilibrated on nearly all scales and must have accreted materials from diverse source regions that were widely dispersed throughout the solar nebula.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2012.01337.x

Comprehensive examination of large mineral and rock fragments in Stardust tracks: Mineralogy, analogous extraterrestrial materials, and source regions

Mineralogy and petrology of Stardust particles encased in the bulb of track 80: TEM investigation of the Wild 2 fine-grained material

The mineralogy of comet 81P/Wild 2 particles, collected in aerogel by the Stardust mission, has been determined using synchrotron Fe-K X-ray absorption spectroscopy with in situ transmission XRD and X-ray fluorescence, plus complementary microRaman analyses. Our investigation focuses on the terminal grains of eight Stardust tracks: C2112,4,170,0,0; C2045,2,176,0,0; C2045,3,177,0,0; C2045,4,178,0,0; C2065,4,187,0,0; C2098,4,188,0,0; C2119,4,189,0,0; and C2119,5,190,0,0. Three terminal grains have been identified as near pure magnetite Fe3O4. The presence of magnetite shows affinities between the Wild 2 mineral assemblage and carbonaceous chondrites, and probably resulted from hydrothermal alteration of the coexisting FeNi and ferromagnesian silicates in the cometary parent body. In order to further explore this hypothesis, powdered material from a CR2 meteorite (NWA 10256) was shot into the aerogel at 6.1 km s−1, using a light-gas gun, and keystones were then prepared in the same way as the Stardust keystones. Using similar analysis techniques to the eight Stardust tracks, a CR2 magnetite terminal grain establishes the likelihood of preserving magnetite during capture in silica aerogel.

Magnetite in Comet Wild 2: Evidence for parent body aqueous alteration

We have used synchrotron Fe-XANES, XRS, micro Raman, and SEM-TEM analyses of Stardust track 41 slice and track 121 terminal area slices to identify Fe oxide (magnetite-hematite and amorphous oxide). Fe-Ti oxide, and V-rich chromite (Fe-Cr-V-Ti-Mn oxide) grains ranging in size from 200 nm to similar to ~10 μm. They co-exist with relict FeNi metal. Both Fe-XANES and microRaman analyses suggest that the FeNi metal and magnetite(Fe2O3FeO) also contain some hematite (Fe2O3). The FeNi has been partially oxidized (probably during capture), but on the basis of our experimental work with a light-gas gun and microRaman analyses, we believe that some of the magnetite-hematite mixtures may have originated on Wild 2. The terminal samples from track 121 also contain traces of sulfide and Mg-rich silicate minerals. Our results show an unequilibrated mixture of reduced and oxidized Fe-bearing minerals in the Wild 2 samples in an analogous way to mineral assemblages seen in carbonaceous chondrites and interplanetary dust particles. The samples contain some evidence for terrestrial contamination, for example, occasional Zn-bearing grains and amorphous Fe oxide in track 121 for which evidence of a cometary origin is lacking.

Hitesh C. Changela

Papers

Iron oxides in comet 81P/Wild 2