This book introduces the unusual shock-related mineralogical features of the shocked Suizhou L6 (S5) meteorite. The olivine and pyroxene in Suizhou display a mosaic shock feature, while most of plagioclase grains have transformed to glassy maskelynite. A few of the shock-induced melt veins in the meteorite are the simplest, straightest and thinnest ones among all shock-vein-bearing meteorites, and contain the most abundant high-pressure mineral species. Among the 11 identified species, tuite, xieite, and the post-spinel CF-phase of chromite are new minerals. The meteorite experienced a peak shock pressure up to 24 GPa and temperatures of up to 1000° C. Locally developed shock veins were formed at the same pressure, but at an elevated temperature of about 2000° C that was produced by localized shear-friction stress. The rapid cooling of the extremely thin shock veins is the main reason why 11 shock-induced high-pressure mineral phases could be preserved in them so well. This book offers a helpful guide for meteoritics researchers and mineralogists and invaluable resource for specialists working in high-pressure and high-temperature mineralophysics.

This book investigates the mineralogy and shock effects of Yanzhuang chondrite, using modern micro-mineralogical experimental techniques, including SEM, TEM, EPMA, Raman microprobe spectroscopy, instrumental neutron activation analysis, X-ray micro-diffraction analysis, micro-PIXE analysis and laser ablation ICP-MS. The micro-structural and micro-morphological characteristics as well as chemical composition of minerals were studied in details. Based on the studies in the shock effects of rocks and minerals, and the detailed study in the shock-produced melt, the book concludes that Yanzhuang chondrite is the most heavily shocked ordinary H group chondrite ever found and that it contains the most abundant shock induced melt among all known shock-melt-bearing chondritic meteorites.

Water Worlds in the Solar System: In Search of Habitable Environments and Life is a comprehensive reference on the formation, availability, habitability potential, and astrobiological implications of water in the Solar System. The book provides understanding of the importance of water on Earth to elucidate potential water and biosignature sources on other bodies in the Solar System. It covers processes involved in the formation of Earth and its Moon, genesis of water on those bodies, events on early Earth, and other processes that are applicable to celestial bodies in the Solar System, directly correlating data available on water on other bodies to over 15 Earth analogue sites. This book forms a comprehensive overview on water in the Solar System, from formation to biosignature and habitability considerations. It is ideal for academics, researchers and students working in the field of planetary science, extraterrestrial water research and habitability potential. - Presents a comprehensive reference on water in the Solar System, developing readers' understanding of the importance and occurrence of water on Earth and beyond, all from an oceanographer's perspective - Contrasts terrestrial analogues in relation to their roles in understanding and exploring ocean worlds and habitability - Includes numerous figures, illustrations, tables and videos to help readers better understand concepts covered

This book describes the discovery of quasicrystals (icosahedral and decagonal) in an extraterrestrial rock from the Koryak Mountains of Far Eastern Russia. After a decade-long search for a natural quasicrystal, this discovery opened a new avenue in mineralogy and crystallography that could lead to further discoveries in geoscience, astronomy, condensed matter physics, and materials engineering. For the first time, minerals have been discovered that violate the symmetry restrictions of conventional crystallography. The natural occurrence of such crystals was unexpected, involving previously unknown processes. The fact that the quasicrystals were found in a meteorite formed in the earliest moments of the solar system means these processes have been active for over 4.5 billion years and have influenced the composition of the first objects to condense around the Sun. Finding quasicrystals formed in these extreme environments also informed the longstanding debate concerning the stability and robustness of quasicrystals. Recent shock experiments lend support to the hypothesis that the extraterrestrial quasicrystals formed as a result of hypervelocity impacts between objects in the early Solar system, and that they are probably less rare in the Milky Way.

Meteorites are fascinating cosmic visitors. Using accessible language, this book documents the history of mineralogy and meteorite research, summarizes the mineralogical characteristics of the myriad varieties of meteorites, and explains the mineralogical characteristics of Solar System bodies visited by spacecraft. Some of these bodies contain minerals that do not occur naturally on Earth or in meteorites. The book explains how to recognize different phases under the microscope and in back-scattered electron images. It summarizes the major ways in which meteoritic minerals form – from condensation in the expanding atmospheres of dying stars to crystallization in deep-seated magmas, from flash-melting in the solar nebula to weathering in the terrestrial environment. Containing spectacular back-scattered electron images, colour photographs of meteorite minerals, and with an accompanying online list of meteorite minerals, this book provides a useful resource for meteorite researchers, terrestrial mineralogists, cosmochemists and planetary scientists, as well as graduate students in these fields

This volume celebrates mineral sciences and what are considered the most important progresses and breakthroughs in this discipline. Authoritative authors, who, in most cases, are the direct discoverers recount the steps of their research, which represent landmark developments of mineralogy and mineralogical crystallography.

A comprehensive summary of the mineralogy of all meteorite groups and the origin of their minerals.

This volume is a compilation of the research presented at the International Asteroid Day workshop which was celebrated at Barcelona on June 30th, 2015. The proceedings discuss the beginning of a new era in the study and exploration of the solar system’s minor bodies. International Asteroid Day commemorates the Tunguska event of June 30th, 1908. The workshop’s goal was to promote the importance of dealing proactively with impact hazards from space. Multidisciplinary experts contributed to this discussion by describing the nature of comets and asteroids along with their offspring, meteoroids. New missions to return material samples of asteroids back to Earth such as Osiris-REx and Hayabusa 2, as well as projects like AIM and DART which will test impact deflection techniques for Potentially Hazardous Asteroids encounters were also covered. The proceedings include both an outreach level to popularize impact hazards and a scientific character which covers the latest knowledge on these topics, as well as offering proposals of promising new techniques that will help gain new insights of the properties of these challenging bodies by studying meteoroids and meteorites. Asteroids, comets, meteoroids and meteorites are introduced with descriptions of their nature, origin, and solar system pathways.

Impact cratering is an important geological process on all solid planetary bodies, and, in the case of Earth, may have had major climatic and biological effects. Most terrestrial impact craters have been erased or modified beyond recognition. However, major impacts throw ejecta over large areas of the Earth's surface. Recognition of these impact ejecta layers can help fill in the gaps in the terrestrial cratering record and at the same time provide direct correlation between major impacts and other geological events, such as climatic changes and mass extinctions. This book provides the first summary of known distal impact ejecta layers

They range in size from microscopic particles to masses of many tons. The geologic diversity of asteroids and other rocky bodies of the solar system are displayed in the enormous variety of textures and mineralogies observed in meteorites. The composition, chemistry, and mineralogy of primitive meteorites collectively provide evidence for a wide variety of chemical and physical processes. This book synthesizes our current understanding of the early solar system, summarizing information about processes that occurred before its formation. It will be valuable as a textbook for graduate education in planetary science and as a reference for meteoriticists and researchers in allied fields worldwide.