ИСТИНА

Previously, we have reported on reflectance spectral measurements of arbitrary selected terrestrial serpentine and chlorite samples which may be con-sidered as analogues of hydrated solid celestial bodies [1]. Then, we performed electron microprobe, Mössbauer and X-ray investigations of the samples and made a previous correlation analysis of the results for Mg-serpentine samples. We discovered a considerable magni-tude (up to ~25% in relative intensity) of an absorption band centered at 440 nm in reflectance spectra of lizardites and chrysotiles. It was found a strong correlation of the equivalent width of the absorption band in reflectance spectra of the samples with octahedral total Fe3+. We suppose that a 440-nm- absorption band in reflectance spectra of solid celestial bodies may be used as an indicator of Fe3+ and, hence, hydrated and/or oxidized states of their matter. References: [1] Busarev V.V. et al. (2004) 40th Vernadsky - Brown Microsimposium on Compar. Plantology, Moscow, Abstract #15.