[meteorite-list] Water in space

[tracy latimer]

Exactly!  Consider the case of copper carbonate.  In its hydrated form, it 
is a pretty blue crystal; we used to use it in our swimming hole in low 
amounts to kill off algae and weeds.  In its anhydrous form, it's a greenish 
powder.  Don't eat either one; bad.   I'm not akamai enough to guess what 
hydrates might be present in meteorites, but I'm pretty sure this is what is 
meant by water being present in meteorites, chemically bound into various 
minerals, which may be released by heating or chemical reaction.

Tracy Latimer

>From: "Chris Peterson" <clp at alumni.caltech.edu>

>
>It depends on what form the water is in. In the case of meteorites, surely 
>it is in various hydrates. It is far easier to dry out a meteorite in the 
>vacuum of space than it is on the Earth, wouldn't you agree? So if the 
>bonding of water in the hydrates is strong enough to prevent the former, 
>certainly it is strong enough to prevent the latter, also. That kind of 
>water storage is quite different from the sponge effect you observed, which 
>is probably simple capturing of liquid by capillary action in a porous 
>structure. Storage in hydrates is likely to be quite stable; storage as 
>liquid is not.
>
>Chris