POSEIDON · Petrographic and vOlatile SignaturEs of prImitive and Differentiated achONdrites
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2020-09-01 → 2023-01-29
- EU contribution
- €171,473
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
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Results in brief
Petrographic and vOlatile SignaturEs of prImitive and Differentiated achONdrites
Project POSEIDON aims to determine the petrographic and volatile history of primitive and differentiated achondrites, through analyses of the water abundance and its hydrogen isotopic composition in nominally anhydrous minerals (NAMs), using a combination of three techniques, namely transmission infrared spectroscopy, reflectance spectroscopy and nano secondary ion mass spectrometry. Primitive and differentiated achondrites, which volatile inventory is not yet fully understood, were among the first planetesimals to form and thus are key witnesses for the origin of water and other volatiles in the inner Solar System. Moreover, NAMs, and in particular pyroxenes, are major constituents, early formed, of almost all achondrites and thus are likely to be more faithful recorders of the volatile history of their parent body. The leading goal of POSEIDON is thus to estimate bulk-parent body volatile abundances and isotopic composition of achondrites in order to develop a robust understanding of the distribution and source(s) of water in the inner Solar System.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The “Petrographic and vOlatile SignaturEs of prImitive and Differentiated achONdrites” proposal aims to determine the water content and its hydrogen isotopic composition in nominally anhydrous minerals (NAMs), from a range of achondrite meteorites, using a combination of three techniques, namely transmission infrared spectroscopy, reflectance spectroscopy and nano secondary ion mass spectrometry. The leading goal is to estimate bulk-parent body volatile abundances of achondrites, which were among the first planetesimals formed in the Solar System, to develop a robust understanding of the distribution and source(s) of water in the inner Solar System. This project also aims at developing reflectance spectroscopy as a possible tool for direct/indirect estimation of water content by cross-calibration of multi-techniques. Four tasks have been elaborated to perform this proposal: 1) petrographic characterization of achondrites, 2) transmission and reflectance spectroscopy of achondrites, 3) secondary ion mass spectrometry of achondrites, 4) dissemination of results. The proposed study will be the first comprehensive study of its kind, combining a new approach using multi-techniques methodology for measuring volatile abundances and isotopic composition in NAMs, exploiting recent improvements in analytical techniques, developing new protocols for reflectance spectroscopy, and studying a range of planetary materials never studied before. The results from our work would make timely key contributions towards the ongoing debate of ‘wet’ vs. ‘dry’ scenario for accretion of volatiles in the inner Solar System as well as implications for the timing of water accretion into planetesimals, which is essential for developing dynamical models of Solar System formation. As such, this study is vital to comprehend the early stages of our Solar System evolution but also to understand other planetary systems in terms of habitability, as water is a key component for the emergence of life.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- ISTITUTO NAZIONALE DI ASTROFISICA · ROMACoordinatorItaly
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union