A dehydrated space-weathered skin cloaking the hydrated interior of Ryugu.

Without a protective atmosphere, space-exposed surfaces of airless Solar System bodies gradually experience an alteration in composition, structure and optical properties through a collective process called space weathering. The return of samples from near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu by Hayabusa2 provides the first opportunity for laboratory study of space-weathering signatures on the most abundant type of inner solar system body: a C-type asteroid, composed of materials largely unchanged since the formation of the Solar System. Weathered Ryugu grains show areas of surface amorphization and partial melting of phyllosilicates, in which reduction from Fe3+ to Fe2+ and dehydration developed. Space weathering probably contributed to dehydration by dehydroxylation of Ryugu surface phyllosilicates that had already lost interlayer water molecules and to weakening of the 2.7 µm hydroxyl (-OH) band in reflectance spectra. For C-type asteroids in general, this indicates that a weak 2.7 µm band can signify space-weathering-induced surface dehydration, rather than bulk volatile loss.

In Situ Fe and S isotope analyses in pyrite from the 3.2 Ga Mendon Formation (Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa): Evidence for early microbial iron reduction.

On the basis of phylogenetic studies and laboratory cultures, it has been proposed that the ability of microbes to metabolize iron has emerged prior to the Archaea/Bacteria split. However, no unambiguous geochemical data supporting this claim have been put forward in rocks older than 2.7-2.5 giga years (Gyr). In the present work, we report in situ Fe and S isotope composition of pyrite from 3.28- to 3.26-Gyr-old cherts from the upper Mendon Formation, South Africa. We identified three populations of microscopic pyrites showing a wide range of Fe isotope compositions, which cluster around two δ56 Fe values of -1.8‰ and +1‰. These three pyrite groups can also be distinguished based on the pyrite crystallinity and the S isotope mass-independent signatures. One pyrite group displays poorly crystallized pyrite minerals with positive Δ33 S values > +3‰, while the other groups display more variable and closer to 0‰ Δ33 S values with recrystallized pyrite rims. It is worth to note that all the pyrite groups display positive Δ33 S values in the pyrite core and similar trace element compositions. We therefore suggest that two of the pyrite groups have experienced late fluid circulations that have led to partial recrystallization and dilution of S isotope mass-independent signature but not modification of the Fe isotope record. Considering the mineralogy and geochemistry of the pyrites and associated organic material, we conclude that this iron isotope systematic derives from microbial respiration of iron oxides during early diagenesis. Our data extend the geological record of dissimilatory iron reduction (DIR) back more than 560 million years (Myr) and confirm that micro-organisms closely related to the last common ancestor had the ability to reduce Fe(III).

Structure refinement using precession electron diffraction tomography and dynamical diffraction: tests on experimental data.

The recently published method for the structure refinement from three-dimensional precession electron diffraction data using dynamical diffraction theory [Palatinus et al. (2015). Acta Cryst. A71, 235-244] has been applied to a set of experimental data sets from five different samples - Ni2Si, PrVO3, kaolinite, orthopyroxene and mayenite. The data were measured on different instruments and with variable precession angles. For each sample a reliable reference structure was available. A large series of tests revealed that the method provides structure models with an average error in atomic positions typically between 0.01 and 0.02 Å. The obtained structure models are significantly more accurate than models obtained by refinement using kinematical approximation for the calculation of model intensities. The method also allows a reliable determination of site occupancies and determination of absolute structure. Based on the extensive tests, an optimal set of the parameters for the method is proposed.

Monoclinic superstructure in orthorhombic Ce10W22O81 from transmission electron microscopy.

A complex rare-earth tungstate structure, present in a two-phased powder, was solved by electron diffraction, precession and high-resolution electron microscopy. The orthorhombic space group Pbnm and the atomic positions deduced from X-ray diffraction experiments were confirmed for Ce10W22O81. A C2/c monoclinic superstructure, with cell parameters a = 7.8, b = 36.1, c = 22.2 Šand ß = 100.2°, was shown and attributed to a partial oxidation of Ce(3+) leading to interstitial oxygen ions.

Structure refinement from precession electron diffraction data.

Electron diffraction is a unique tool for analysing the crystal structures of very small crystals. In particular, precession electron diffraction has been shown to be a useful method for ab initio structure solution. In this work it is demonstrated that precession electron diffraction data can also be successfully used for structure refinement, if the dynamical theory of diffraction is used for the calculation of diffracted intensities. The method is demonstrated on data from three materials - silicon, orthopyroxene (Mg,Fe)(2)Si(2)O(6) and gallium-indium tin oxide (Ga,In)(4)Sn(2)O(10). In particular, it is shown that atomic occupancies of mixed crystallographic sites can be refined to an accuracy approaching X-ray or neutron diffraction methods. In comparison with conventional electron diffraction data, the refinement against precession diffraction data yields significantly lower figures of merit, higher accuracy of refined parameters, much broader radii of convergence, especially for the thickness and orientation of the sample, and significantly reduced correlations between the structure parameters. The full dynamical refinement is compared with refinement using kinematical and two-beam approximations, and is shown to be superior to the latter two.

Mineralogy and petrology of comet 81P/Wild 2 nucleus samples.

The bulk of the comet 81P/Wild 2 (hereafter Wild 2) samples returned to Earth by the Stardust spacecraft appear to be weakly constructed mixtures of nanometer-scale grains, with occasional much larger (over 1 micrometer) ferromagnesian silicates, Fe-Ni sulfides, Fe-Ni metal, and accessory phases. The very wide range of olivine and low-Ca pyroxene compositions in comet Wild 2 requires a wide range of formation conditions, probably reflecting very different formation locations in the protoplanetary disk. The restricted compositional ranges of Fe-Ni sulfides, the wide range for silicates, and the absence of hydrous phases indicate that comet Wild 2 experienced little or no aqueous alteration. Less abundant Wild 2 materials include a refractory particle, whose presence appears to require radial transport in the early protoplanetary disk.