Intermediate Infrared Spectroscopy of Pyroxene: Determination of Ca‐Mg‐Fe Composition in the 4–8 Micron Wavelength Range

Abstract Although pyroxene has been detected remotely across the Solar System, limited information is available from infrared remote sensing about the Mg‐Fe composition of pyroxene, and distinguishing between augite (20 < CaSiO3 < 45) and diopside‐hedenbergite (CaSiO3 > 45) remains challenging. The characteristics of pyroxene in the intermediate infrared range (4–8 μm), meanwhile, have not been documented. Using reflectance spectra of 72 samples ranging across the pyroxene quadrilateral, we investigate the effect of variations in Mg# (Mg/[Mg + Fe] × 100) and Ca‐content on the positions of strong and well‐defined spectral bands at ∼5.1 and ∼5.3 μm in high‐Ca pyroxene and ∼5.2 in low‐Ca pyroxene. We find that the 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3 μm bands move to shorter wavelengths as Mg# increases, whereas Ca‐content does not significantly affect the positions of these bands, enabling the determination of pyroxene Mg# directly from band positions alone. We also find that the ∼5.1 μm band is significantly more distinctive in diopside‐hedenbergite and the ∼5.3 μm band significantly more so in augite. Therefore, the 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3 μm spectral bands enable discrimination among diopside‐hedenbergite, low‐Ca pyroxene, and augite. Additionally, the 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3 μm bands enable direct determination of Mg# of diopside‐hedenbergite, low‐Ca pyroxene, and augite within ±23, ±10, and ±29 mol% Mg‐Fe, respectively.