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We have carried out a SEM‐EPMA‐TEM study to determine the textures and compositions of relict primary iron sulfides and their alteration products in a suite of moderately to heavily altered CM1 carbonaceous chondrites. We observed four textural groups of altered primary iron sulfides: (1) pentlandite+phyllosilicate (2P) grains, characterized by pentlandite with submicron lenses of phyllosilicates; (2) pyrrhotite+pentlandite+magnetite (PPM) grains, characterized by pyrrhotite–pentlandite exsolution textures with magnetite veining and secondary pentlandite; (3) pentlandite+serpentine (PS) grains, characterized by relict pentlandite exsolution, serpentine, and secondary pentlandite; and (4) pyrrhotite+pentlandite+magnetite+serpentine (PPMS) grains, characterized by features of both the PPM and PS grains. We have determined that all four groups were initially primary iron sulfides, which formed from crystallization of immiscible sulfide melts within silicate chondrules in the solar nebula. The fact that such different alteration products could result from the same precursor sulfides within even the same meteorite sample further underscores the complexity of the aqueous alteration environment for the CM chondrites. The different alteration reactions for each textural group place constraints on the mechanisms and conditions of alteration with evidence for acidic environments, oxidizing environments, and changing fluid compositions (Ni‐bearing and Si‐Mg‐bearing).

The leitmotifs of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent-induced complications range from acute kidney injury, symptoms associated with gadolinium exposure (SAGE)/gadolinium deposition disease, potentially fatal gadolinium encephalopathy, and irreversible systemic fibrosis. Gadolinium is the active ingredient of these contrast agents, a non-physiologic lanthanide metal. The mechanisms of MRI contrast agent-induced diseases are unknown. Mice were treated with a MRI contrast agent. Human kidney tissues from contrast-naïve and MRI contrast agent-treated patients were obtained and analyzed. Kidneys (human and mouse) were assessed with transmission electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy with X-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy. MRI contrast agent treatment resulted in unilamellar vesicles and mitochondriopathy in renal epithelium. Electron-dense intracellular precipitates and the outer rim of lipid droplets were rich in gadolinium and phosphorus. We conclude that MRI contrast agents are not physiologically inert. The long-term safety of these synthetic metal–ligand complexes, especially with repeated use, should be studied further.

Secondary minerals in martian nakhlites provide a powerful tool for investigating the nature, composition, and duration of aqueous activity in the martian crust. Northwest Africa (NWA) 998 crystallized early from the nakhlite magmatic source and has evidence of minimal signatures of the late hydrothermal alteration event that altered the nakhlites. Using FIB‐TEM techniques to study a cumulus apatite grain in NWA 998, we report the first evidence of a submicron‐scale vein consisting of fluorapatite and an SiO₂‐rich phase. Fluorapatite grew epitaxially on the walls of an opened cleavage plane of host F‐bearing chlorapatite and the SiO₂‐rich phase filled the center of the vein. The presence of nanoporosity and nanometer‐scale amorphous material and the sharp interface between the vein and the host apatite indicate the vein represents a coupled dissolution–reprecipitation process that generated apatite of a different composition that was more stable with the fluid. Using experimental data and diffusion coefficients of Cl in apatite from the literature, we conclude that the vein was caused by a low temperature (~300°C), slightly acidic, F‐, Si‐rich, aqueous fluid that acted as a closed system. Based on the characteristics of the vein (formation by rapid injection of fluid) and the fluid (composition, temperature, pH), and the lack of terrestrial weathering products in our SEM and TEM images, we infer that the vein is pre‐terrestrial in origin. Our observations support the hypothesis that the heat source triggering a hydrothermal system was a low‐shock velocity impact and rule out a magmatic origin. Finally, the vein could have formed from a late‐stage fluid different from that reported in other nakhlites, but formation during the same magmatic event by, for example, a less evolved fluid might also be plausible.

Olefin oligomerization by γ‐Al₂O₃has recently been reported, and it was suggested that Lewis acid sites are catalytic. The goal of this study is to determine the number of active sites per gram of alumina to confirm that Lewis acid sites are indeed catalytic. Addition of an inorganic Sr oxide base resulted in a linear decrease in the propylene oligomerization conversion at loadings up to 0.3 wt %; while, there is a >95 % loss in conversion above 1 wt % Sr. Additionally, there was a linear decrease in the intensity of the Lewis acid peaks of absorbed pyridine in the IR spectra with an increase in Sr loading, which correlates with the loss in propylene conversion, suggesting that Lewis acid sites are catalytic. Characterization of the Sr structure by XAS and STEM indicates that single Sr²⁺ions are bound to the γ‐Al₂O₃surface and poison one catalytic site per Sr ion. The maximum loading needed to poison all catalytic sites, assuming uniform surface coverage, was ∼0.4 wt % Sr, giving an acid site density of ∼0.2 sites per nm²of γ‐Al₂O₃, or approximately 3 % of the alumina surface.