Publication Date:
2019-06-28
Description:
An enigma of Venusian mineralogy is the suggestion that Fe(3+)-bearing minerals exist under the reducing conditions of the Venusian atmosphere. Analysis of the spectrophotometric data from the Venera 13 and 14 missions, combined with the laboratory reflectance spectral measurements of oxidized basalts at elevated temperatures, led to the suggestion that metastable hematite might exist on Venus. Heating experiments at 475 C when f(sub O2) approximately 10(exp -24) demonstrated that the hematite to magnetite conversion is rapid indicating metastable hematite is not present on Venus. In addition to hematite, several other ferric oxide and silicate minerals have been proposed to occur on Venus, including laihunite or ferrifayalite, Fe(3+)-bearing tephroite, oxyamphiboles, and oxybiotites. Heating experiments performed on these Fe(3+)-bearing minerals under temperature-f(sub O2) conditions existing on Venus suggest that only oxyamphiboles and oxybiotites may be stable on the surface of Venus.
Keywords:
LUNAR AND PLANETARY EXPLORATION
Type:
Lunar and Planetary Inst., Twenty-Fourth Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Part 3: N-Z; p 1369-1370
Format:
text
