Fumarolic-like activity on carbonaceous chondrite parent body.

Comparative planetology studies are key for understanding the main processes driving planetary formation and evolution. None have been yet applied to pristine asteroids formed in the solar protoplanetary disk, mainly because of their comminution during their 4.5-billion-year collisional lifetime.

Hypervelocity impacts as a source of deceiving surface signatures on iron-rich asteroids.

Several arguments point to a larger proportion of metal-rich asteroids than that derived from spectral observations, as remnants of collisional disruptions of differentiated bodies. We show experimentally that this apparent deficit may result from the coating of metallic surfaces by silicate melts produced during impacts of hydrated or dry projectiles at typical asteroid impact speeds. Spectral analysis of steel and iron meteorite targets after impact shows a profoundly modified optical signature.

Chondrules as direct thermochemical sensors of solar protoplanetary disk gas.

Chondrules, millimeter-sized igneous spherules comprising the major component of most chondritic meteorites, formed during the first 4 million to 5 million years of the evolution of the solar protoplanetary disk and, therefore, can potentially offer important constraints on the conditions in the disk, provided that the processes that led to their formation can be understood. High-resolution cathodoluminescence (CL) survey of chondrules from various chondrite groups revealed changes of CL activator concentrations of magnesium-rich olivines. We show that these overlooked internal zoning structures provide evidence for high-temperature gas-assisted near-equilibrium epitaxial growth of olivines during chondrule formation.

Reduced and unstratified crust in CV chondrite parent body.

Early Solar System planetesimal thermal models predict the heating of the chondritic protolith and the preservation of a chondritic crust on differentiated parent bodies. Petrological and geochemical analyses of chondrites have suggested that secondary alteration phases formed at low temperatures (<300 °C) by fluid-rock interaction where reduced and oxidized Vigarano type Carbonaceous (CV) chondrites witness different physicochemical conditions. From a thermodynamical survey of Ca-Fe-rich secondary phases in CV3 chondrites including silica activity (aSiO), here we show that the classical distinction between reduced and oxidized chondrites is no longer valid and that their Ca-Fe-rich secondary phases formed in similar reduced conditions near the iron-magnetite redox buffer at low aSiO (log(aSiO) <-1) and moderate temperature (210-610 °C).

Early scattering of the solar protoplanetary disk recorded in meteoritic chondrules.

Meteoritic chondrules are submillimeter spherules representing the major constituent of nondifferentiated planetesimals formed in the solar protoplanetary disk. The link between the dynamics of the disk and the origin of chondrules remains enigmatic. Collisions between planetesimals formed at different heliocentric distances were frequent early in the evolution of the disk.

Thermal fatigue as the origin of regolith on small asteroids.

Space missions and thermal infrared observations have shown that small asteroids (kilometre-sized or smaller) are covered by a layer of centimetre-sized or smaller particles, which constitute the regolith. Regolith generation has traditionally been attributed to the fall back of impact ejecta and by the break-up of boulders by micrometeoroid impact. Laboratory experiments and impact models, however, show that crater ejecta velocities are typically greater than several tens of centimetres per second, which corresponds to the gravitational escape velocity of kilometre-sized asteroids.

Homogeneous distribution of 26Al in the solar system from the Mg isotopic composition of chondrules.

The timing of the formation of the first solids in the solar system remains poorly constrained. Micrometer-scale, high-precision magnesium (Mg) isotopic analyses demonstrate that Earth, refractory inclusions, and chondrules from primitive meteorites formed from a reservoir in which short-lived aluminum-26 (26Al) and Mg isotopes were homogeneously distributed at +/-10%. This level of homogeneity validates the use of 26Al as a precise chronometer for early solar system events.

High temperature behavior of electrostatic precipitator ash from municipal solid waste combustors.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) flue gas residues require further treatment prior to disposal or reuse, and vitrification is one of the main solidification-stabilization processes. This paper investigates the high temperature behavior of MSW flue gas residues, performed in laboratory experiments up to 1400 degrees C, and coupled with thermogravimetric analyses, X-ray diffraction, chemical and electron microprobe analyses. Melting temperatures of electrostatic precipitator (ESP) ash are in the range of 1202-1272 degrees C, whereas semi-dry scrubber residues melt between 1900 and 2300 degrees C.

Isotopic composition of Zn and Pb atmospheric depositions in an urban/Periurban area of northeastern France.

Epiphytic lichens, ambient PM-10, and bus air-filter aerosols collected in a city and the surrounding area were used to monitor urban atmospheric metal deposition in the Metz area, NE France. According to the measured Pb and Zn concentrations, high-enrichment factors (EF) were calculated for lichens collected in 2001 and 2003, suggesting an anthropogenic origin for those metals. Pb and Zn concentrations in lichens and other samples are correlated, probably indicative of the level of pollution recorded.

A 'dry' condensation origin for circumstellar carbonates.

The signature of carbonate minerals has long been suspected in the mid-infrared spectra of various astrophysical environments such as protostars. Abiogenic carbonates are considered as indicators of aqueous mineral alteration in the presence of CO2-rich liquid water. The recent claimed detection of calcite associated with amorphous silicates in two planetary nebulae and protostars devoid of planetary bodies questions the relevance of this indicator; but in the absence of an alternative mode of formation under circumstellar conditions, this detection remains controversial.

Lead isotopic composition of fly ash and flue gas residues from municipal solid waste combustors in France: implications for atmospheric lead source tracing.

Fly ash and flue gas residues from eight municipal solid waste combustors (MSWC) in France (1992--93 and 1998/ 2002) were analyzed for their Pb isotopic composition. Fly ashes are more representative of solid residual particles, whereas flue gas residues reflect mostly the composition of gas phases. Both sample types contain hundreds to thousands of micrograms of metals per gram.