Carbonaceous phases characterized in two individual STARDUST particles: FTIR and Raman Spectra of Febo and Ada

We present the results of a molecular spectroscopic investigation of the carbonaceous phases of two Stardust (SD) particles called Febo (8 um) and Ada (12 um) extracted from tracks # 57 and 26, respectively. Both of these particles were previously investigated with TEM, C-XANES and nanoSIMS. Febo is composed of a large pyrrhotite grain, an enstatite and olivine grains, and a large volume of fine-grained material (with chondritic composition) in which C-rich phases (< 200 nm) were found. Ada is composed of multiple nodules of fayalite that are each surrounded by rims of crystalline SiO₂ (tridymite). Small C-rich phases were found at the periphery of this particle (TEM). The carbon-rich areas of both particles also contain O and N (XANES) and are enriched in D and ¹⁵N (nanoSIMS). In the present study we focused on the investigation of the C-rich areas in both particles by analyzing microtomed sections using FTIR and Raman spectroscopies, in order to gain further insight about the molecular make-up of these carbonaceous organic materials.

@InProceedings\{WMBJB08,
  author       = "Wopenka, Brigitte and Matrajt, Graciela and Bajt, Sasa and Joswiak, D. and Brownlee, D.",
  title        = "Carbonaceous phases characterized in two individual STARDUST particles: FTIR and Raman Spectra of Febo and Ada",
  booktitle    = "Lunar and Planetary Science",
  volume       = "39",
  pages        = "1827",
  year         = "2008",
  note         = "1.4.3",
  url          = "http://infrared.als.lbl.gov/Publications/2008/WMBJB08"
}