O. Pravdivtseva^1,*, A. Meshik¹, C. M. Hohenberg¹, G. Kurat^2,†

¹McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences and Physics Department of Washington University, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
²Department of Lithospheric Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
^†Deceased

Using in situ laser analyses of a polished thin section from the IAB iron meteorite Campo del Cielo, we identified two silicate grains rich in radiogenic ^129*Xe, Cr-diopside, and oligoclase, excavated them from the metal, and irradiated them with thermal neutrons for I-Xe dating. The release profiles of ^129*Xe and ^128*Xe are consistent with these silicates being diopside and oligoclase, with activation energies, estimated using Arrhenius plots, of ∼201 and ∼171 kcal mole⁻¹, respectively. The 4556.4 ± 0.4 Ma absolute I-Xe age of the more refractory diopside isyounger than the 4558.0 ± 0.7 Ma I-Xe age of the less refractory oligoclase. We suggest that separate impact events at different locations and depths on a porous initial chondritic IAB parent body led to the removal of the melt and recrystallization of diopside and oligoclase at the times reflected by their respective I-Xe ages. The diopside and oligoclase grains were later brought into the studied inclusion by a larger scale catastrophic collision that caused breakup and reassembly of the debris, but did not reset the I-Xe ages dating the first events. The metal melt most probably was <1250 °C when it surrounded studied silicate grains. This reassembly could not have occurred earlier than the I-Xe closure in diopside at 4556.4 ± 0.4 Ma.

Reference
Pravdivtseva O, Meshik A, Hohenberg CM and Kurat G (in press) I-Xe ages of Campo del Cielo silicates as a record of the complex early history of the IAB parent body. Meteoritics & Planetary Science
[doi:10.1111/maps.12233]
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

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