Authors
E Ammannito, MC DeSanctis, M Ciarniello, A Frigeri, FG Carrozzo, J-Ph Combe, BL Ehlmann, S Marchi, HY McSween, A Raponi, MJ Toplis, F Tosi, JC Castillo-Rogez, F Capaccioni, MT Capria, S Fonte, M Giardino, Ralf Jaumann, A Longobardo, SP Joy, G Magni, Thomas B McCord, LA McFadden, E Palomba, CM Pieters, CA Polanskey, MD Rayman, CA Raymond, PM Schenk, F Zambon, CT Russell
Publication date
2016/9/2
Journal
Science
Volume
353
Issue
6303
Pages
aaf4279
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Description
INTRODUCTION
The surface of the dwarf planet Ceres is known to host phyllosilicate minerals, but their distribution and origin have not previously been determined. Phyllosilicates are hydrated silicates, and their presence on the surface of Ceres is intriguing given that their structure evolves through an aqueous alteration process. In addition, some phyllosilicates are known to bear NH4, which places a constraint on the pH and redox conditions during the evolution of Ceres. We studied the distribution of phyllosilicates across the planet’s surface to better understand the evolutionary pathway of Ceres.
RATIONALE
Using the data acquired by the mapping spectrometer (VIR) onboard the Dawn spacecraft, we mapped the spatial distribution of different minerals on Ceres on the basis of their diagnostic absorption features in visible and infrared spectra. We studied the phyllosilicates through their OH-stretch fundamental …
Scholar articles
E Ammannito, MC DeSanctis, M Ciarniello, A Frigeri… - Science, 2016