The study of the mineral composition of primitive meteorites (chondrites) is important because they are relatively unaltered agglomerates of the oldest condensed material in the solar system. Because of this they possess a relatively undisturbed record of the chemical and physical processes occurring in our early solar system. We are developing and assessing a methodology for the characterization of mineral contents in chondrites by mid-infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTIR). Our initial work has utilized terrestrial analogs of meteoritic minerals to establish sample preparation, instrumental analysis, data handling, and computational procedures with the goal to quantify complex mixtures of minerals in chondrites. We have collected FTIR spectra for 15 minerals known to occur in chondrites. These results and the analysis of a suite of chondritic meteorites will be presented. Preliminary results indicate the method may provide an indicator of progressive aqueous alteration on the meteorite parent body.

Development of a methodology for the characterization of primitive meteorites by infrared spectroscopy

255th National Meeting (2018)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.