Modal mineralogy of the surface of Vesta: Evidence for ubiquitous olivine and identification of meteorite analogue

The observations of the surface of 4 Vesta by the Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIR) onboard the Dawn spacecraft reveals that its composition is dominated by pyroxenes with olivine in very localized spots. To derive new constraints on the surface composition of the asteroid, we apply a scattering model to VIR reflectance spectra. The model is first calibrated by performing a non-linear deconvolution of laboratory spectra of mineral mixtures and howardite, eucrite, diogenite (HED) meteorites. Abundance estimates of minerals are accurate to within 15-25% for the analyzed samples, while the estimated particle sizes are within the intervals of actual sizes. Grain size effects complicate spectral deconvolution and estimation of modal abundances of samples (both HED and mineral mixtures) that contain olivine. The magnesium-rich olivine detection threshold is 10-20% for large grain sizes (100s μm) and several 10s% for small grain sizes (<50 μm). Major expected minerals (low-calcium pyroxenes, high-calcium pyroxenes, plagioclase and olivine) can provide satisfactory fits of VIR spectra with excellent residuals ⩽1%. Terrains with the strongest low-calcium pyroxene signatures are well representative of diogenites. The best fits of any unit are obtained by including Fo70 olivine at an abundance level of 10-20%, with an uncertainty of ∼10%. Olivine is therefore likely to be ubiquitous over the whole surface of Vesta. Olivine is coarser grained (a few hundred μm) than other minerals such as orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene (grain sizes typically smaller than 100 μm). Both the grain size variance and the modal mineralogy are consistent with the lithologic size and mineral distributions of howardites containing olivine phenocryst-bearing melt. These howardites are the best petrologic analogues of Vesta. Such a surface assemblage could be the result of successive melting and mixing processes due to impacts. The compositional view confirms that Vesta underwent major homogenization processes, resulting in a relatively uniform modal mineralogy and explaining the lack of specific olivine enrichment in the Rheasilvia ejecta.