A journey from the solar nebula to planetary bodies: cycling of heat, water and organics

从太阳星云到行星体的旅程：热、水和有机物的循环

基本信息

批准号：
ST/N000846/1
负责人：
Martin Robert Lee
金额：
$ 48.63万
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：
2016
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2016 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ST%2FN000846%2F1
关键词：
journey solar nebula planetary bodies

项目摘要

In this research programme, planetary scientists and engineers from the University of Glasgow and the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre have joined forces to answer important questions concerning the origin and evolution of asteroids, the Moon and Mars. The emphasis of our work is on understanding the thermal histories of these planetary bodies over a range of time and distance scales, and how water and carbon-rich molecules have been transported within and between them.One part of the consortium will explore the formation and subsequent history of asteroids. Our focus is on primitive asteroids, which have changed little since they formed 4500 million years ago within a cloud of dust and gas called the solar nebula. These bodies are far smaller than the planets, but are scientifically very important because they contain water and carbon-rich molecules, both of which are essential to life. We want to understand the full range of materials that went to form these asteroids, and where in the solar nebular they came from. Although they are very primitive, most of these asteroids have been changed by chemical reactions that were driven by liquid water, itself generated by the melting of ice. We will ask whether the heat needed to melt this ice was produced by the decay of radioactive elements, or by collisions with other asteroids. The answer to this question has important implications for understanding how asteroids of all types evolved, and what we may find when samples of primitive asteroids are collected and returned to Earth. Pieces of primitive asteroids also fall to Earth as meteorites, and bring with them some of their primordial water, along with molecules that are rich in carbon. Many scientists think that much of the water on Earth today was obtained from outer space, and consortium researchers would like to test this idea. In order to understand the nature and volume of water and carbon that would have been delivered by meteorites, we first need to develop reliable ways to distinguish extraterrestrial carbon and water from the carbon and water that has been added to the meteorite after it fell to Earth. We plan to do this by identifying 'fingerprints' of terrestrial water and carbon so that they can be subtracted from the extraterrestrial components. One of the main ways in which this carbon was delivered to Earth during its earliest times was by large meteorites colliding with the surface of our planet at high velocities. Thus we also wish to understand the extent to which the extraterrestrial carbon was preserved or transformed during these energetic impact events.The formation and early thermal history of the moon is another area of interest for the consortium. In particular, we will ask when its rocky crust was formed, and use its impact history to determine meteorite flux throughout the inner solar system. To answer these questions we will analyse meteorites and samples collected by the Apollo and Luna missions to determine the amounts of chemical elements including argon and lead that these rocks contain. Information on the temperature of surface and sub-surface regions of Mars can help us to understand processes including the interaction of the planet's crust with liquid water. In order to be able to explore these processes using information on the thermal properties of martian rocks that will soon to be obtained by the NASA InSight lander, we will undertake a laboratory study of the effects of heating and cooling on a simulated martian surface. Hot water reaching the surface of Mars from its interior may once have created environments that were suitable for life to develop, and minerals formed by this water could have preserved the traces of any microorganisms that were present. We will assess the possibility that such springs could have preserved traces of past martian life by examining a unique high-altitude hot spring system on Earth.

在这项研究计划中，来自格拉斯哥大学和苏格兰大学环境研究中心的行星科学家和工程师联手回答有关小行星、月球和火星的起源和演化的重要问题。我们工作的重点是了解这些行星体在一定时间和距离尺度上的热历史，以及水和富含碳的分子如何在它们内部和之间传输。该联盟的一部分将探索这些行星体的形成和分布。小行星的后续历史。我们的重点是原始小行星，自从 45 亿年前在称为太阳星云的尘埃和气体云中形成以来，它们几乎没有变化。这些天体比行星小得多，但在科学上非常重要，因为它们含有水和富含碳的分子，这两者都是生命所必需的。我们想要了解形成这些小行星的全部材料，以及它们来自太阳星云的何处。尽管它们非常原始，但大多数小行星已经被液态水驱动的化学反应所改变，而液态水本身是由冰融化产生的。我们将询问融化这些冰所需的热量是否是由放射性元素的衰变产生的，或者是由与其他小行星的碰撞产生的。这个问题的答案对于理解所有类型的小行星如何演化，以及当收集原始小行星样本并将其带回地球时我们可能会发现什么具有重要意义。原始小行星的碎片也会以陨石的形式落到地球上，并带来一些原始水以及富含碳的分子。许多科学家认为，当今地球上的大部分水都是从外太空获得的，联盟研究人员希望验证这一想法。为了了解陨石所带来的水和碳的性质和数量，我们首先需要开发可靠的方法来区分地外碳和水与陨石坠落到地球后添加到其中的碳和水。我们计划通过识别陆地水和碳的“指纹”来做到这一点，以便可以从地外成分中减去它们。在最早的时期，这些碳被输送到地球的主要方式之一是大型陨石与地球表面高速碰撞。因此，我们还希望了解在这些高能撞击事件中地外碳的保存或转变程度。月球的形成和早期热历史是该联盟感兴趣的另一个领域。特别是，我们将询问其岩石地壳何时形成，并利用其撞击历史来确定整个内太阳系的陨石通量。为了回答这些问题，我们将分析阿波罗和月球任务收集的陨石和样本，以确定这些岩石中含有的化学元素（包括氩和铅）的含量。有关火星表面和次表面区域温度的信息可以帮助我们了解包括火星地壳与液态水相互作用在内的过程。为了能够利用美国宇航局洞察号着陆器即将获得的火星岩石热特性信息来探索这些过程，我们将进行一项实验室研究，研究加热和冷却对模拟火星表面的影响。从火星内部到达火星表面的热水可能曾经创造了适合生命发育的环境，而这种水形成的矿物质可能保留了任何存在的微生物的痕迹。我们将通过检查地球上独特的高海拔温泉系统来评估此类温泉保留过去火星生命痕迹的可能性。

项目成果

期刊论文数量（10）

专著数量（0）

科研奖励数量（0）

会议论文数量（0）

专利数量（0）

Constraints on the Emplacement of Martian Nakhlite Igneous Rocks and Their Source Volcano From Advanced Micro-Petrofabric Analysis

先进微岩组分析对火星 Nakhlite 火成岩及其源火山就位的限制

DOI：
10.1029/2021je007080
发表时间：
2022
期刊：
Planets
影响因子：
0
作者：
Griffin S
通讯作者：
Griffin S

Can the Magmatic Conditions of the Martian Nakhlites be Discerned via Investigation of Clinopyroxene and Olivine Intracrystalline Misorientations?

DOI：
10.1029/2021je007082
发表时间：
2022-04
期刊：
Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
影响因子：
0
作者：
S. Griffin;L. Daly;S. Piazolo;L. Forman;B. E. Cohen;Martin R Lee;P. Trimby;R. Baumgartner;G. Benedix;B. Hoefnagels
通讯作者：
S. Griffin;L. Daly;S. Piazolo;L. Forman;B. E. Cohen;Martin R Lee;P. Trimby;R. Baumgartner;G. Benedix;B. Hoefnagels

Did the R-chondrite Parent Body Experience Onion-shell Cooling?

R球粒陨石母体是否经历过洋葱壳冷却？