A note on cement in asteroids

TL;DR

This paper reports the formation of cement mineral tobermorite in meteorite experiments and suggests cement nanoparticles may explain specific spectral features observed in meteorites and asteroids.

Contribution

It introduces the formation of tobermorite in meteorite analogs and links cement nanoparticles to spectral features of asteroids.

Findings

Tobermorite formed in hydrothermal experiments on CAIs.

Unidentified 14-micron bands observed in meteorites and asteroids.

Cement nanoparticles may explain spectral features at 14 microns.

Abstract

Cement mineral tobermorite was formed in hydrothermal experiments on alternation of calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. Unidentified bands at 14 microns were measured for CAIs and the matrix of the Allende meteorite sample, as well as for Hektor and Agamemnon asteroids. The presence of cement nanoparticles may explain the feature at 14 microns.