Olivine-rich asteroids in the main asteroid belt

International audienceOlivine-dominated asteroids, classified as A-types with near-infrared spectral measurements are largely thought to be the mantle remnants of disrupted differentiated small bodies. These A-type asteroids hold clues to asteroid differentiation and to the collisional history of those differentiated bodies. Preliminary studies of the abundance and distribution of A-type asteroids were performed by Carvano et al. (2010) and DeMeo & Carry (2013, 2014) using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). To confidently identify these olivine-dominated A-type asteroids, however, near-infrared spectral measurements are needed to identify the distinct broad and deep 1-micron olivine absorption feature. Using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Moving Object Catalog to select A-type asteroid candidates, we have performed a near-infrared spectral survey of over 70 asteroids with SpeX on the IRTF. We present the abundance and distribution of A-type asteroids throughout the main asteroid belt and compare these results with similar surveys for basalt-rich V-type asteroids (e.g. Moskovitz et al. 2008). This work is supported by NASA under grant number NNX12AL26G issued through the Planetary Astronomy Program