Contamination Sketch (IMAGE)

Southwest Research Institute

Contamination Sketch

Caption

SwRI scientists constructed a possible schematic path for the evolution of Ceres' upper crust. The figure shows the presence of carbonaceous chondrite-like materials (black) mixed with products of aqueous alteration such as phyllosilicates, carbonates and magnetite (green) and organics (orange). Shaded blue regions indicate water, and blue lines represent conduits for water migration. Organics may have formed in place during aqueous alteration or could have been concentrated by fluids ascending to the upper crust, resulting in the inferred higher-than-chondritic carbon concentration on Ceres' surface. Over time, the surface gets homogenized by mixing due to collisions and other processes.

Credit

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

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