Laboratory simulations of space weathering and impact heating: the TEM studies.

Abstract

Space weathering processes darken and redden sur-faces of airless planetary bodies. Using synthetic analogue samples we plan to simulate the effects of micrometeorite impacts and solar wind interaction on surfaces of Mercury and other airless solar sys-tem bodies in laboratory and analyze their effects on the VNIR and TIR spectra, followed by nano-scale analyses of the samples. As a test for our proposed analytical techniques we characterized three types of glasses prepared by heating the martian soil ana-logue JSC Mars-1 in a resistance furnace (F & S-glasses) and by pulse laser irradiation (L-glasses) [1, 2]. All three glasses show different spectral proper-ties depending on the method of preparation. Here we present the results of our TEM studies, which allowed us to explain the observed optical differ-ences between the samples. In particular, we de-tected α-Fe nano-inclusions in the L-glasses. [1] Basilevsky et al. (2000) Geochem. International 38, Suppl. 3, S390-S403. [2] Moroz, L. V., et al., Icarus (in review).