The metal-rich CH carbonaceous chondrites contain abundant xenolithic clasts originating from different regions of the Solar System. In the CH3 chondrite Acfer 182, we identified two phosphide spherules (one 95-mu m in diameter and the other 50 mu m x 60 mu m) of schreibersite ((Fe,Ni)3P) and barringerite ((Fe,Ni)2P) with kamacite eutectic structures. These objects are likely to have formed during an impact between planetesimals during the debris-disk phase of the protoplanetary disk before being incorporated into the CH chondrite parent body. In the same sample we identified a 130 mu m x 60 mu m heideite grain (iron-titanium sulfide: (Fe,Cr)1.15(Ti,Fe)2S4) with exsolution lamellae of calcium-rich titanium oxide. Thin veins of shock-induced kamacite cross-cut the oxide lamellae, suggesting that it was ejected into the protoplanetary debris disk during an impact event before eventually being accreted by the CH chondrite parent body. This assemblage is distinct from heideite grains found in enstatite chondrites, aubrites, and the Kaidun meteorite. We propose that this object originated from a highly-reduced planetesimal in the inner Solar System that may have been similar to proto-Mercury.

Filamentary enstatite crystals, formed by gas–solid condensation in the solar nebula, are found in chondritic porous interplanetary dust particles of probable cometary origin. We measured the oxygen isotopic composition of four filamentary enstatite grains, two whiskers (1.8 μm and 2.3 μm in length) and two ribbons (3.4 μm and 6.1 μm in length), from the giant cluster interplanetary dust particle U2-20 GCP using NanoSIMS ion imaging. These grains represent both the 16O-rich solar (δ17,18O ≈-70‰) and 16O-poor planetary (δ17,18O ≈0‰) isotope reservoirs. Our measurements provide evidence for very early vaporization of dust-poor and dust-rich regions of the solar nebula, followed by condensation and outward transport of crystalline dust to the comet-forming region very far from the Sun. Similar processes are likely responsible for the crystalline silicates observed in the outer regions of protoplanetary disks elsewhere in the Galaxy.

Filamentary enstatite crystals, formed by gas-solid condensation in the solar nebula, are found in chondritic porous interplanetary dust particles of probable cometary origin. We measured the oxygen isotopic composition of four filamentary enstatite grains from the giant cluster interplanetary dust particle U2-20 GCP. These grains sample both the 16O-rich solar (∆17O ≈ −30 ‰) and 16O-poor planetary (∆17O ≈ 0 ‰) isotope reservoirs. Our measurements provide evidence for very early vaporization of dust-poor and dust-rich regions of the solar nebula, followed by condensation and outward transport of crystalline dust to the comet-forming region very far from the Sun. Similar processes are likely responsible for the crystalline silicates observed in the outer regions of protoplanetary disks elsewhere in the Galaxy.

Space weathering processes induce changes to the physical, chemical, and optical properties of space‐exposed soil grains. For the Moon, space weathering causes reddening, darkening, and diminished contrast in reflectance spectra over visible and near‐infrared wavelengths. The physical and chemical changes responsible for these optical effects occur on scales below the diffraction limit of traditional far‐field spectroscopic techniques. Recently developed super‐resolution spectroscopic techniques provide an opportunity to understand better the optical effects of space weathering on the sub‐micrometer length scale. This paper uses synchrotron infrared nanospectroscopy to examine depth‐profile samples from two mature lunar soils in the mid‐infrared, 1,500 –700 cm −1 (6.7–14.3 μm). Our findings are broadly consistent with prior bulk observations and theoretical models of space weathered spectra of lunar materials. These results provide a direct spatial link between the physical/chemical changes in space‐exposed grain surfaces and spectral changes of space weathered bodies.

Space weathering processes induce changes to the physical, chemical, and optical properties of space-exposed soil grains. For the Moon, space weathering causes reddening, darkening, and diminished contrast in reflectance spectra over visible and near-infrared wavelengths. The physical and chemical changes responsible for these optical effects occur on scales below the diffraction limit of traditional far-field spectroscopic techniques. Recently developed super-resolution spectroscopic techniques provide an opportunity to understand better the optical effects of space weathering on the sub-micrometer length scale. This paper uses synchrotron infrared nanospectroscopy to examine depth-profile samples from two mature lunar soils in the mid-infrared, 1500–700 cm-1 (6.7–14.3 μm). Our findings are broadly consistent with prior bulk observations and theoretical models of space weathered spectra of lunar materials. These results provide a direct spatial link between the physical/chemical changes in space-exposed grain surfaces and spectral changes of space-weathered bodies.

Filamentary enstatite crystals are found in interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) of likely cometary origin but are very rare or absent in meteorites. Crystallographic characteristics of filamentary enstatites indicate that they condensed directly from vapor. We measured the O isotopic composition of an enstatite ribbon from a giant cluster IDP to be δ 18 O = 25 ± 55, δ 17 O = − 19 ± 129, ∆ 17 O = − 32 ± 134 (2σ errors), which is inconsistent at the 2σ level with the composition of the Sun inferred from the Genesis solar wind measurements. The particle's O isotopic composition, consistent with the terrestrial composition, implies that it condensed from a gas of nonsolar O isotopic composition, possibly as a result of vaporization of disk region enriched in 16 O‐depleted solids. The relative scarcity of filamentary enstatite in asteroids compared to comets implies either that this crystal condensed from dust vaporized in situ in the outer solar system where comets formed or it condensed in the inner solar system and was subsequently transported outward to the comet‐forming region.

CLASE K. L. Utt, R. C. Ogliore, B. L. Jolliff, H. A. Bechtel, J. J. Gillis-Davis. Department of Physics, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA, Advanced Light Source Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA (Correspondence: k.l.utt@wustl.edu)

CONDENSATION FROM O–POOR GAS IN THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM R. C. Ogliore, J. B. Lewis, K. L. Utt, K. Nagashima, A. N. Krot, D. J. Joswiak, D. E. Brownlee. Department of Physics, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA, Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA, Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

We present in this article a pseudopotential (PP) database for DFT calculations in the context of the SIESTA code [1], [2], [3]. Comprehensive optimized PPs in two formats (psf files and input files for ATM program) are provided for 20 chemical elements for LDA and GGA exchange-correlation potentials. Our data represents a validated database of PPs for SIESTA DFT calculations. Extensive transferability tests guarantee the usefulness of these PPs.

Black phosphorus is a monatomic semiconducting layered material that degrades exothermically in the presence of light and ambient contaminants. Its degradation dynamics remain largely unknown. Even before degradation, local-probe studies indicate non-negligible local curvature-through a nonconstant height distribution-due to the unavoidable presence of intrinsic defects. We establish that these intrinsic defects are photo-oxidation sites because they lower the chemisorption barrier of ideal black phosphorus (>10 eV and out of visible-range light excitations) right into the visible and ultraviolet range (1.6 to 6.8 eV), thus enabling photoinduced oxidation and dissociation of oxygen dimers. A full characterization of the material's shape and of its electronic properties at the early stages of the oxidation process is presented as well. This study thus provides fundamental insights into the degradation dynamics of this novel layered material.

Lattice kirigami, ultralight metamaterials, polydisperse aggregates, ceramic nanolattices, and 2D atomic materials share an inherent structural discreteness, and their material properties evolve with their shape. To exemplify the intimate relation among material properties and the local geometry, we explore the properties of phosphorene-a new 2D atomic material-in a conical structure, and document a decrease of the semiconducting gap that is directly linked to its nonplanar shape. This geometrical effect occurs regardless of phosphorene allotrope considered, and it provides a unique optical vehicle to single out local structural defects on this 2D material. We also classify other 2D atomic materials in terms of their crystalline unit cells, and propose means to obtain the local geometry directly from their diverse 2D structures while bypassing common descriptions of shape that are based from a parametric continuum.