Geology topics

P. Gillet

Publications and source records attributed to P. Gillet.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2006

Comet 81P/wild 2 under a microscope

The Stardust spacecraft collected thousands of particles from comet 81P/Wild 2 and returned them to Earth for laboratory study. The preliminary examination of these samples shows that the nonvolatile portion of the comet is an unequilibrated assortment of materials that have both presolar and solar system origin. The comet contains an abundance of silicate grains that are much larger than predictions of interstellar grain models, and many of these are high-temperature minerals that appear to have formed in the inner regions of the solar nebula. Their presence in a comet proves that the formation of the solar system included mixing on the grandest scales.

Science↗

USGS2006

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.

Science↗

USGS1991

On the entropy of glaucophane Na2Mg3Al2Si8O22(OH)2

The heat capacity of glaucophane from the Sesia-Lanza region of Italy having the approximate composition (Na1.93Ca0.05Fe0.02) (Mg2.60Fe0.41) (Al1.83Fe0.15Cr0.01) (Si7.92Al0.08)O22(OH)2 was measured by adiabatic calorimetry between 4.6 and 359.4 K. After correcting the Cp0data to values for ideal glaucophane, Na2Mg3Al2Si8O22(OH)2 the third-law entropy S2980-S00was calculated to be 541.2??3.0 J??mol-1??K-1. Our value for S2980-S00is 12.0 J??mol-1??K-1 (2.2%) smaller than the value of Likhoydov et al. (1982), 553.2??3.0, is within 6.2 J??mol-1??K-1 of the value estimated by Holland (1988), and agrees remarkably well with the value calculated by Gillet et al. (1989) from spectroscopic data, 539 J??mol-1??K-1. ?? 1991 Springer-Verlag.

Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology↗