Geology
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Item DETERMINATION OF SIDEROPHILE ELEMENT CHARACTERISTICS THROUGHOUT LUNAR HISTORY: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE LUNAR MAGMA OCEAN AND LATE HEAVY BOMBARDMENT(2014) Sharp, Miriam; Walker, Richard J; Geology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Examining the chemical behavior of highly siderophile elements (HSE) in impact events and during planetary differentiation can illuminate geologic processes that have affected the Moon. This dissertation addresses impactor compositions during the putative late heavy bombardment and the chemical composition of the evolving lunar magma ocean at both the times of core segregation and crust formation. Concentrations of the HSE Re, Os, Ir, Ru, Pt, and Pd and 187Os/188Os isotopic compositions are reported for seven Apollo 17 and four Apollo 16 impact melt rocks. Most Apollo 17 samples examined here as in prior studies are characterized by very similar HSE signatures, consistent with a common impactor that had suprachondritic Ru/Ir, Pd/Ir, and Re/Os. In contrast to the Apollo 17 signature, the Apollo 16 impact melts have a wider range of Ru/Ir, Pd/Ir, and Re/Os. This compositional range might be the result of sampling at least three impactor signatures at this site. Experimentally determined plagioclase-melt partition coefficients are also presented. These partition coefficients are used to estimate the concentrations of Sr, Hf, Ga, W, Mo, Ru, Pd, Au, Ni, and Co in a crystallizing lunar magma ocean at the point of plagioclase flotation. Plagioclase-melt derived concentrations for Sr, Ga, Ru, Pd, Au, Ni, and Co are also consistent with prior estimates. Estimates for Hf, W, and Mo, however, are higher. These elements may have concentrated in the residual liquid during fractional crystallization, due to their incompatibility. Experimentally determined metal-silicate partition coefficients are used to constrain the concentrations of W, Mo, Ru, Pd, Au, Ni, and Co in the lunar magma ocean at the time of core formation. The resulting lunar mantle estimates are generally consistent with previous estimates for the concentration of these elements in the lunar mantle. Together, these new results are used to present a compositional timeline for the Moon between the crystallization of the lunar magma ocean and the late heavy bombardment.Item Metals in Arc Magmas: The Role of Cu-Rich Sulfide Phases(2011) Mengason, Michael James; Candela, Philip A; Piccoli, Philip M; Geology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Based on experiments performed on hydrous andesitic melts at 1000°C, 150 MPa, fO2 from the Co-CoO to Ni-NiO buffer, and log fS2 equal to -0.5 to -1.5 (bar), greater than 32 ± 4 ppm copper (all uncertainties = 1 sigma, standard deviation of the mean) in the silicate melt favors the formation of a Cu-Fe sulfide liquid (CFSL) relative to pyrrhotite at sulfide saturation. This concentration is well within the range encountered in intrusive and extrusive rocks suggesting that saturation by sulfide liquids is a common occurrence in magmatic arc systems consistent with observations in naturally occurring andesites. Nernst-type partition coefficients determined from these experiments highlight the importance of accurately modeling the composition of the sulfide phase present during partial melting or fractional crystallization: Dpyrrhotite/melt = 1320 ± 220 for Cu, 1.73 ± 0.37 for Mo, 90 ± 19 for Ag, and 500 ± 87 for Au, whereas DCFSL/melt = 7,800 ± 1,400 for Cu, 0.45 ± 0.14 for Mo, 6,800 ± 1,300 for Ag, and 84,000 ± 19,000 for Au. Data from these experiments support a direct correlation between the solubility of gold and the concentration of sulfur in the silicate melt at low fO2, as well as a dependence of the solubility of gold on fS20.25 in pyrrhotite and CFSL. As a part of this research, pyrrhotite of variable copper concentration was equilibrated at 1000°C in sealed evacuated silica tubes to determine a method that allows the equation of Toulmin and Barton (1964) to be used to calculate fS2 for Cu-bearing pyrrhotite. This method is consistent for pyrrhotite with up to 6 wt % Cu by using N=2*[(XCu+XFe)/(1.5XCu+XFe+XS)]. These data suggest that separation of CFSL from the magma along with crystalline phases during fractional crystallization can reduce the likelihood of magmatic hydrothermal ore formation. For example, modeling 30 % Rayleigh fractional crystallization (F=1.0 to F=0.7), with 0.1% sulfide among the separating phases, and an initial 65 ppm Cu in the silicate melt, would result in the sequestration of up to 50% of the initial Ag, 60 % Cu, and > 99 % Au.