A transmission electron microscope study of Itokawa regolith grains

Analyses of two olivine-rich particles from asteroid 25143 Itokawa returned by the Hayabusa mission (RA-QD02-0125 and RA-QD02-0211) show evidence for space weathering processes that occurred in the Itokawa regolith. Submicrometer impact-derived crystalline and glassy grains are observed adhering to the surfaces of the particles, including albite, orthopyroxene, olivine, augite, pyrrhotite, troilite, melt splashes, and melt spherules. Both particles are surrounded by 50- to 100-nm-thick disordered rims that are nanocrystalline, not amorphous, and compositionally similar to the grain cores. A pyrrhotite grain attached to RA-QD02-0125 also shows a disordered rim that is sulfur-depleted with nanophase Fe metal grains decorating the outermost surface. The structurally disordered rims on the Hayabusa particles likely result from atomic displacement damage from solar wind ions given the similarity of the rim thickness compared to the implantation depth of solar wind ions. The outermost few nanometers of the disordered rims are more Si-rich and Mg-and Fe-depleted relative to the cores of the grains and likely represent a minor accumulation of impact-generated vapors or sputter deposits. Nanophase Fe metal particles are present in the rim on RA-QD02-0211 but were not detected in the rim on RA-QD02-0125. Solar flare particle tracks are observed in RA-QD02-0211 but were not observed in RA-QD02-0125, suggesting short surface exposure times for the particles, on the order of approximately 103 to 104 years. This result implies that the optical effects of space weathering develop far more rapidly than was previously recognized.