Reconstructing thermal and fluid alteration histories of planetary materials

重建行星材料的热和流体变化历史

• 批准号: ST/K000942/1
• 负责人: Martin Robert Lee
• 金额: $ 45.66万
• 依托单位: University of Glasgow
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2013 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FK000942%2F1
• 关键词: Reconstructing; thermal; fluid; alteration; histories

In this consortium scientists from three UK institutions have come together to explore the development of rocky bodies within our solar system, and particularly in relation to the presence and properties of the key ingredients for life, namely water and carbon-rich molecules.One focus of our work will be on asteroids, samples of which have come to Earth as meteorites. These objects formed very early in the history of the solar system and evolved quickly, probably driven by internal heat from the decay of radioactive chemical elements. We want to know where in the solar system some of these asteroids formed, how long it took them to grow and how quickly they cooled down. We would also like to understand how heating and cooling affected water and carbon-rich molecules that became incorporated into the asteroids as they grew. These questions will be answered by using isotope analysis to determining the ages of different types of minerals, and by studying changes to the structure of carbon-rich compounds with laser beam techniques. Results from this work will provide new understandings of the evolution of asteroids that can be used to help interpret samples of them that will soon be returned to Earth by robotic missions.We will also study meteorites from Mars. This planet is an intermediate stage in evolution between the asteroids, which 'died' as they lost their heat and liquid water thousands of millions of years ago, and the Earth that remains an active planet with internal heat, liquid water and complex carbon-rich molecules including life. The Martian meteorites that we will analyse formed about 1300 million years ago when the planet was still hot enough that parts of its outer surface could melt, and they preserve traces of liquid water that flowed through the rocks. By studying the minerals in these rocks and the chemical elements from which they are made, we will explore how crystals grew as the molten rock cooled, and will also determine when the water was present. Today the surface of Mars is very hostile to life, with extremes of temperature, little or no liquid water and intense irradiation by ultraviolet light. However, brief occurrences of water on the surface of Mars today, and past hot-spring sinter deposits, may contain evidence of life, yet their propensity to do so is poorly understood. As sending robotic geologists to Mars is very costly, we will discover whether these environments can harbor molecular signs of life by studying martian analogue sites in the mountains of Chile. Soils in these areas are very dry, their temperatures fluctuate over a wide range and they are bathed in ultraviolet light. We will try to find traces of past life in these soils, and we will explore molecular preservation further by simulating martian conditions in the laboratory. This new information will tell us where on Mars we should focus the search for traces of life during future robotic and manned missions.The results of this research will be made freely available to other scientists worldwide so that improved models of planetary evolution can be developed. These new data and models will then help to guide the future exploration of asteroids and Mars, including the exciting missions in the next few tens of years that will return samples to Earth. Our research will also be of interest to scientists who study the history of the Earth, its climate and its life, and to industry through the new analytical procedures and technologies that we will develop. As our work will explore new and exciting science topics, it will be of great interest to the public and will be communicated via science festivals, newspapers and social media.

在这个联盟的科学家中，来自英国三个机构的科学家们聚集在一起，探索了我们太阳系中岩石身体的发展，尤其是与生命关键成分的存在和特性有关，即水和富含碳的分子。我们的工作将在小行星上，其样品已作为陨石来到地球上。这些物体在太阳系历史上很早就形成并迅速发展，这可能是由于放射性化学元件的衰减而驱动的。我们想知道在太阳系中，其中一些小行星形成了一些，它们花了多长时间以及它们冷却的速度。我们还想了解加热和冷却如何影响水和富含碳的分子，这些分子随着它们生长而掺入小行星中。这些问题将通过使用同位素分析来确定不同类型的矿物质的年龄，并通过研究激光束技术的富碳化合物结构的变化来回答这些问题。这项工作的结果将提供对小行星演变的新理解，可用于解释它们的样本，这些样本将很快被机器人任务返回地球。我们还将研究火星的陨石。这个星球是小行星之间演变的中间阶段，当它们失去热量和液态水时，它们“死亡”数百万年前，而地球仍然是一个活跃的行星，具有内部热量，液体水和复杂碳富​​含碳包括生命在内的分子。我们将分析大约1.3亿年前的火星陨石，当时该行星仍然足够热，以至于其外表面的一部分可以融化，并保留了流过岩石的液态水的痕迹。通过研究这些岩石中的矿物质及其制造的化学元素，我们将探索晶体如何随着熔融岩石冷却而生长，还将确定何时存在水。如今，火星的表面对生命非常敌对，温度极端，液体水很少或没有紫外线的辐射。但是，当今火星表面的水短暂出现，过去的热刺烧结矿床可能包含生命的证据，但他们这样做的倾向却鲜为人知。由于将机器人地质学家派往火星非常昂贵，因此我们将通过研究智利山上的火星模拟地点来发现这些环境是否可以掩盖生命的分子迹象。这些区域的土壤非常干燥，其温度在较宽的范围内波动，并以紫外线沐浴。我们将尝试在这些土壤中找到前世的痕迹，我们将通过模拟实验室中的火星条件来进一步探索分子保存。这些新信息将告诉我们在火星上，我们应该在未来的机器人和载人任务期间关注生活痕迹的搜索。这项研究的结果将在全球其他科学家免费获得，以便可以开发出改进的行星演化模型。然后，这些新数据和模型将有助于指导对小行星和火星的未来探索，包括在接下来的几年中令人兴奋的任务，这些任务将使样本返回地球。我们的研究也将引起研究地球历史，其气候及其生命以及通过我们将要开发的新的分析程序和技术行业的科学家感兴趣的。随着我们的工作将探讨新的令人兴奋的科学主题，这将引起公众的极大兴趣，并将通过科学节，报纸和社交媒体进行传播。

项目成果

Sample return missions to minor bodies

返回小型机构的任务示例

• DOI: 10.1093/astrogeo/att082
• 发表时间: 2013
• 期刊: Astronomy & Geophysics
• 影响因子: 0.8
• 作者: Burchell M

Alkali-halogen metasomatism of the CM carbonaceous chondrites

CM碳质球粒陨石的碱卤交代作用

• DOI: 10.1111/maps.13405
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: Meteoritics & Planetary Science
• 影响因子: 2.2
• 作者: Lee M

Elephant Moraine 96029, a very mildly aqueously altered and heated CM carbonaceous chondrite: Implications for the drivers of parent body processing

大象冰碛 96029，一种非常轻微的水蚀和加热的 CM 碳质球粒陨石：对母体加工驱动因素的影响

• DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2016.05.008
• 发表时间: 2016
• 期刊: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
• 影响因子: 5
• 作者: Lee M

Replacement of glass in the Nakhla meteorite by berthierine: Implications for understanding the origins of aluminum-rich phyllosilicates on Mars

• DOI: 10.1111/maps.12687
• 发表时间: 2016-09-01
• 期刊: METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE
• 影响因子: 2.2
• 作者: Lee, Martin R.;Chatzitheodoridis, Elias
• 通讯作者: Chatzitheodoridis, Elias

Effects of shock and Martian alteration on Tissint hydrogen isotope ratios and water content

• DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2016.12.035
• 发表时间: 2017-03
• 期刊: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
• 影响因子: 5
• 作者: L. Hallis;G. Huss;K. Nagashima;G. J. Taylor;D. Stöffler;Caroline L. Smith;Martin R. Lee