Ion irradiation of carbonaceous chondrites as a simulation of space weathering on C-complex asteroids
C. LANTZ, R. Brunetto, M.A. Barucci, C. Bachelet, D. Baklouti, J. Bourçois, E. Dartois, J. Duprat, P. Duret, C. Engrand, M. Godard, D. Ledu, O. Mivumbi, and S. Fornasier
EPSC Abstracts
Vol. 10, EPSC2015-138, 2015
European Planetary Science Congress 2015
“We are investigating the effects of space weathering
on primitive asteroids using ion irradiation on their
meteoritic analogs. To do so, we exposed several
carbonaceous chondrites (CV Allende, COs Lancé
and Frontier Mountain 95002, CM Mighei, CI Alais,
and ungrouped Tagish Lake) to 40 keV He + ions as a
simulation of solar wind irradiation using fluences up
to 6.10 16 ions/cm 2 (implantation platform IRMA at
CSNSM Orsay). As a test for our new experimental
setup, we also studied samples of olivine and
diopside. We confirm the reddening and darkening
trends on S-type objects, but carbonaceous chondrites
present a continuum of behaviors after ion irradiation
as a function of the initial albedo and carbon content:
from red to blue and from dark to bright. “
