Semimetal sulfide solutions and martian meteorite magmas
Abstract
In this study, we apply thermochemical models of rock- and ore-forming minerals to the energetics of semimetal (As-Sb-Bi) mixing in sulfides and sulfosalts, and to the petrogenesis of martian meteorites in order to constrain the physico-chemical nature of their source, the martian mantle. Our results indicate that semimetal mixing in sulfide and sulfosalt solid solutions is distinctly nonideal, and this nonideality of mixing causes them to exhibit distinctive patterns in semimetal ratios in ore deposits characterized by preponderances of endmember compositions. We also demonstrate that martian meteorite magmas cannot be related to previous estimates of the martian mantle by simple igneous processes, and that a significantly Fe-depleted and reduced martian mantle is required to produce the meteorites. In this study, we provide an estimate of the martian mantle that is consistent with estimates of the martian meteorite magmas.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Tharp, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Geochemistry
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