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Space Weathering Effects in Troilite by Simulated Solar‐Wind Hydrogen and Helium Ion Irradiation

Space weathering is a key process in the interpretation of airless planetary surfaces. As we engage new missions to planetary objects with potentially novel surfaces such as 16 Psyche, there is renewed interest in expanding our knowledge of space weathering effects to a wider variety of analog mater...

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Autores principales: Christoph, J. M., Minesinger, G. M., Bu, C., Dukes, C. A., Elkins‐Tanton, L. T.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9287097/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35865507
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2021JE006916
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author Christoph, J. M.
Minesinger, G. M.
Bu, C.
Dukes, C. A.
Elkins‐Tanton, L. T.
author_facet Christoph, J. M.
Minesinger, G. M.
Bu, C.
Dukes, C. A.
Elkins‐Tanton, L. T.
author_sort Christoph, J. M.
collection PubMed
description Space weathering is a key process in the interpretation of airless planetary surfaces. As we engage new missions to planetary objects with potentially novel surfaces such as 16 Psyche, there is renewed interest in expanding our knowledge of space weathering effects to a wider variety of analog materials, including the physical/chemical effects of solar‐wind ions on planetary regoliths. We have experimentally simulated the effects of solar ions on two polished thick sections of meteoritic troilite (FeS) via irradiation with 1 keV hydrogen (H(+)) and 4 keV helium (He(+)), to investigate effects resulting from different ion species. We detected depletion of sulfur over the course of each irradiation using in situ X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Sulfur depletion rates were surprisingly similar for H(+) and He(+), interpreted as a function of subsurface ion‐activated diffusion. By comparing XPS‐derived elemental abundances with SDTrimSP computer simulations, we further quantified sulfur diffusion, sputtering yield, and altered‐layer composition with respect to incident‐ion fluence, and accounted for the influence of surface oxidation due to atmospheric sample storage. Using scanning electron microscopy, we detected an increase in nanoscale surface roughness resulting from the irradiation, which we quantified using atomic force microscopy. Based on these results, we estimate that an exposure time of order 10(3) Earth‐years is required for troilite on Psyche to reach equilibrium sulfur depletion within the first atomic layer.
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spelling pubmed-92870972022-07-19 Space Weathering Effects in Troilite by Simulated Solar‐Wind Hydrogen and Helium Ion Irradiation Christoph, J. M. Minesinger, G. M. Bu, C. Dukes, C. A. Elkins‐Tanton, L. T. J Geophys Res Planets Research Article Space weathering is a key process in the interpretation of airless planetary surfaces. As we engage new missions to planetary objects with potentially novel surfaces such as 16 Psyche, there is renewed interest in expanding our knowledge of space weathering effects to a wider variety of analog materials, including the physical/chemical effects of solar‐wind ions on planetary regoliths. We have experimentally simulated the effects of solar ions on two polished thick sections of meteoritic troilite (FeS) via irradiation with 1 keV hydrogen (H(+)) and 4 keV helium (He(+)), to investigate effects resulting from different ion species. We detected depletion of sulfur over the course of each irradiation using in situ X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Sulfur depletion rates were surprisingly similar for H(+) and He(+), interpreted as a function of subsurface ion‐activated diffusion. By comparing XPS‐derived elemental abundances with SDTrimSP computer simulations, we further quantified sulfur diffusion, sputtering yield, and altered‐layer composition with respect to incident‐ion fluence, and accounted for the influence of surface oxidation due to atmospheric sample storage. Using scanning electron microscopy, we detected an increase in nanoscale surface roughness resulting from the irradiation, which we quantified using atomic force microscopy. Based on these results, we estimate that an exposure time of order 10(3) Earth‐years is required for troilite on Psyche to reach equilibrium sulfur depletion within the first atomic layer. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2022-05-17 2022-05 /pmc/articles/PMC9287097/ /pubmed/35865507 http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2021JE006916 Text en © 2022 The Authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
spellingShingle Research Article
Christoph, J. M.
Minesinger, G. M.
Bu, C.
Dukes, C. A.
Elkins‐Tanton, L. T.
Space Weathering Effects in Troilite by Simulated Solar‐Wind Hydrogen and Helium Ion Irradiation
title Space Weathering Effects in Troilite by Simulated Solar‐Wind Hydrogen and Helium Ion Irradiation
title_full Space Weathering Effects in Troilite by Simulated Solar‐Wind Hydrogen and Helium Ion Irradiation
title_fullStr Space Weathering Effects in Troilite by Simulated Solar‐Wind Hydrogen and Helium Ion Irradiation
title_full_unstemmed Space Weathering Effects in Troilite by Simulated Solar‐Wind Hydrogen and Helium Ion Irradiation
title_short Space Weathering Effects in Troilite by Simulated Solar‐Wind Hydrogen and Helium Ion Irradiation
title_sort space weathering effects in troilite by simulated solar‐wind hydrogen and helium ion irradiation
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9287097/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35865507
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2021JE006916
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