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We use data collected by the Dawn Gamma-Ray and Neutron Detector (GRaND) at Vesta to map compositions corresponding to nearly pure igneous lithologies in the howardite, eucrite, diogenite (HED) meteorite clan (samples likely from Vesta). At the ∼300-km spatial scale of GRaND measurements, basaltic eucrite occurs on only 3% of the surface, whereas cumulate eucrite and orthopyroxenitic diogenite are not detected. The basaltic eucrite region is generally coincident with an area of the surface with thick regolith, elevated H, and moderate crater density, and may represent the best compositional sample of primordial vestan crust. We observe an absence of pure orthopyroxenitic diogenite terrains in the Rheasilvia basin and its ejecta, an observation corroborated by VIR (0.1%), which suggests the south-polar crust was a polymict mixture of igneous lithologies (howardite) at the time of the Rheasilvia impact, or was a thick basaltic eucrite crust with heterogeneously distributed orthopyroxenitic diogenite plutons. The most dominant igneous composition detected (11% of the surface) corresponds to one of the least-abundant igneous lithologies in the HED meteorite collection, the Yamato Type B diogenites (plagioclase-bearing pyroxenites). The distribution of Type B diogenite is spatially correlated with post-Rheasilvia craters in the north-polar region that are in close proximity to the Rheasilvia basin antipode. This suggests that north-polar Type B plutonism may have been associated with the Rheasilvia impact event. We propose that this was either through 1) uplift of pre-existing plutons at the antipode through focusing of Rheasilvia impact stress, or 2) Rheasilvia impact antipodal crustal melting, creating magmas that underwent fractionation to produce Type B plutons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chloride-bearing deposits on Mars that are recognizable in orbital infrared data are thought to date to the late Noachian period ~3.6 Gyr ago, during the last stages of surface water that persisted long enough over large regions to have emplaced aqueously formed minerals detectable from orbit. We conducted an intensive regional search for older, buried and exhumed chloride-rich deposits and found none resolvable from orbit, placing constraints on the upper age limit for this type of deposit. • CRISM data enable a search for outcrops of chlorides that predate known occurrences. • A detailed search was conducted in a region of early to mid-Noachian geologic units. • No chloride occurrences were found, supporting a late Noachian age of large deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report measurements of the flux of fast neutrons at Mercury from 20ºS to the north pole. On the basis of neutron transport simulations and remotely sensed elemental compositions, cosmic-ray-induced fast neutrons are shown to provide a measure of average atomic mass, < A >, a result consistent with earlier studies of the Moon and Vesta. The dynamic range of fast neutron flux at Mercury is 3%, which is smaller than the fast-neutron dynamic ranges of 30% and 6% at the Moon and Vesta, respectively. Fast-neutron data delineate compositional terranes on Mercury that are complementary to those identified with X-ray, gamma-ray, and slow-neutron data. Fast neutron measurements confirm the presence of a region with high < A >, relative to the mean for the planet, that coincides with the previously identified high-Mg region and reveal the existence of at least two additional compositional terranes: a low-< A > region within the northern smooth plains and a high-< A > region near the equator centered near 90ºE longitude. Comparison of the fast-neutron map with elemental composition maps show that variations predicted from the combined element maps are not consistent with the measured variations in fast-neutron flux. This lack of consistency could be due to incomplete coverage for some elements or uncertainties in the interpretations of compositional and neutron data. Currently available data and analyses do not provide sufficient constraints to resolve these differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: NASA’s Dawn spacecraft observations of Asteroid (4) Vesta reveal a surface with the highest albedo and color variation of any asteroid we have observed so far. Terrains rich in low albedo dark material (DM) have been identified using Dawn Framing Camera (FC) 0.75μm filter images in several geologic settings: associated with impact craters (in the ejecta blanket material and/or on the crater walls and rims); as flow-like deposits or rays commonly associated with topographic highs; and as dark spots (likely secondary impacts) nearby impact craters. This DM could be a relic of ancient volcanic activity or exogenic in origin. We report that the majority of the spectra of DM are similar to carbonaceous chondrite meteorites mixed with materials indigenous to Vesta. Using high-resolution seven color images we compared DM color properties (albedo, band depth) with laboratory measurements of possible analog materials. Band depth and albedo of DM are identical to those of carbonaceous chondrite xenolith-rich howardite Mt. Pratt (PRA) 04401. Laboratory mixtures of Murchison CM2 carbonaceous chondrite and basaltic eucrite Millbillillie also show band depth and albedo affinity to DM. Modeling of carbonaceous chondrite abundance in DM (1–6vol.%) is consistent with howardite meteorites. We find no evidence for large-scale volcanism (exposed dikes/pyroclastic falls) as the source of DM. Our modeling efforts using impact crater scaling laws and numerical models of ejecta reaccretion suggest the delivery and emplacement of this DM on Vesta during the formation of the ∼400km Veneneia basin by a low-velocity (<2km/s) carbonaceous impactor. This discovery is important because it strengthens the long-held idea that primitive bodies are the source of carbon and probably volatiles in the early Solar System. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]