Determination of volatile concentrations in fluorapatite of Martian shergottite NWA 2975 by combining synchrotron FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, EMPA, and TEM, and inferences on the volatile budget of the apatite host-magma.
Słaby, E., Koch-Müller, M., Förster, H.-J., Wirth, R., Rhede, D., Schreiber, A. and Schade, U.
Meteoritics & Planetary Science
doi: 10.1111/maps.12598
Article first published online: 25 JAN 2016
“We combined the focused ion beam sample preparation technique with polarized synchrotron-based FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) spectroscopy, laser-Raman spectroscopy, electron microprobe analysis (EMPA), and transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis to identify and quantify structurally bound OH, F, Cl, and CO3 groups in fluorapatite from the Northwest Africa 2975 (NWA 2975) shergottite. In this study, the first FTIR spectra of the OH-stretching region from a Martian apatite are presented that show characteristic OH-bands of a F-rich, hydroxyl-bearing apatite. Depending on the method of apatite-formula calculation and whether charge balance is assumed or not, the FTIR-based quantification of the incorporated OH, expressed as wt% H2O, is in variably good agreement with the H2O concentration calculated from electron microprobe data. EMP analyses yielded between 0.35 and 0.54 wt% H2O, and IR data yielded an average H2O content of 0.31 ± 0.03 wt%, consistent with the lower range determined from EMP analyses. The TEM observations implied that the volatiles budget of fluorapatite is magmatic. The water content and the relative volatile ratios calculated for the NWA 2975 magma are similar to those established for other enriched or intermediate shergottites. It is difficult to define the source of enrichment: either Martian wet mantle or crustal assimilation. Comparing the environment of parental magma generation for NWA 2975 with the terrestrial mantle in terms of water content, it displays a composition intermediate between enriched and depleted MORB.”
