¹C. M. O’D. Alexander, ²R. Bowden, ²M. L. Fogel,³K. T. Howard
¹DTM, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
²GL, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
³Kingsborough Community College of the City University of New York, Brooklyn, New York, USA

We report the bulk C abundances, and C and O isotopic compositions of carbonates in 64 CM chondrites, 14 CR chondrites, 2 CI chondrites, LEW 85332 (C2), Kaba (CV3), and Semarkona (LL3.0). For the unheated CMs, the total ranges of carbonate isotopic compositions are δ13C ≈ 25–75‰ and δ18O ≈ 15–35‰, and bulk carbonate C contents range from 0.03 to 0.60 wt%. There is no simple correlation between carbonate abundance and isotopic composition, or between either of these parameters and the extent of alteration. Unless accretion was very heterogeneous, the uncorrelated variations in extent of alteration and carbonate abundance suggests that there was a period of open system behavior in the CM parent body, probably prior to or at the start of aqueous alteration. Most of the ranges in CM carbonate isotopic compositions can be explained by their formation at different temperatures (0–130 °C) from a single fluid in which the carbonate O isotopes were controlled by equilibrium with water (δ18O ≈ 5‰) and the C isotopes were controlled by equilibrium with CO and/or CH4 (δ13C ≈ −33‰ or −20‰ for CO- or CH4-dominated systems, respectively). However, carbonate formation would have to have been inefficient, otherwise carbonate compositions would have resembled those of the starting fluid. A quite similar fluid composition (δ18O ≈ −5.5‰, and δ13C ≈ −31‰ or −17‰ for CO- or CH4-dominated systems, respectively) can explain the carbonate compositions of the CIs, although the formation temperatures would have been lower (~10–40 °C) and the relative abundances of calcite and dolomite may play a more important role in determining bulk carbonate compositions than in the CMs. The CR carbonates exhibit a similar range of O isotopes, but an almost bimodal distribution of C isotopes between more (δ13C ≈ 65–80‰) and less altered samples (δ13C ≈ 30–40‰). This bimodality can still be explained by precipitation from fluids with the same isotopic composition (δ18O ≈ −9.25‰, and δ13C ≈ −21‰ or −8‰ for CO- or CH4-dominated systems, respectively) if the less altered CRs had higher mole fractions of CO2 in their fluids. Semarkona and Kaba carbonates have some of the lightest C isotopic compositions of the meteorites studied here, probably because they formed at higher temperatures and/or from more CO2-rich fluids. The fluids responsible for the alteration of chondrites and from which the carbonates formed were almost certainly accreted as ices. By analogy with cometary ices, CO2 and/or CO would have dominated the trapped volatile species in the ices. The chondrites studied are too oxidized for CO-dominated fluids to have formed in their parent bodies. If CH4 was the dominant C species in the fluids during carbonate formation, it would have to have been generated in the parent bodies from CO and/or CO2 when oxidation of metal by water created high partial pressures of H2. The fact that the chondrite carbonate C/H2O mole ratios are of the order predicted for CO/CO2-H2O ices that experienced temperatures of >50–100 K suggests that the chondrites formed at radial distances of <4–15 AU.

Reference
Alexander CMO’D, Bowden R, Fogel ML, Howard KT (2015) Carbonate abundances and isotopic compositions in chondrites. Meteoritics&Planetary Society (in Press)
Link to Article [DOI: 10.1111/maps.12410]

Published by arrangement with John Wiley&Sons

¹Gian Paolo Sighinolfi, ^2,3Emanuela Sibilia, ¹Gabriele Contini,²Marco Martini
¹Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Geologiche, Università di Modena e Reggio E., Modena, Italy
²Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali, Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca, Milano, Italy
³INFN, Sezione di Milano Bicocca, Milano, Italy

Thermoluminescence (TL) dating has been used to determine the age of the meteorite impact crater at Gebel Kamil (Egyptian Sahara). Previous studies suggested that the 45 m diameter structure was produced by a fall in recent times (less than 5000 years ago) of an iron meteorite impactor into quartz-arenites and siltstones belonging to the Lower Cretaceous Gilf Kebir Formation. The impact caused the complete fragmentation of the impactor, and the formation of a variety of impactites (e.g., partially vitrified dark and light materials) present as ejecta within the crater and in the surrounding area. After a series of tests to evaluate the TL properties of different materials including shocked intra-crater target rocks and different types of ejecta, we selected a suite of light-colored ejecta that showed evidence of strong thermal shock effects (e.g., partial vitrification and the presence of high-temperature and -pressure silica phases). The abundance of quartz in the target rocks, including the vitrified impactites, allowed TL dating to be undertaken. The variability of radioactivity of the intracrateric target rocks and the lack of direct in situ dosimetric evaluations prevented precise dating; it was, however, possible to constrain the impact in the 2000 BC–500 AD range. If, as we believe, the radioactivity measured in the fallback deposits is a reliable estimate of the mean radioactivity of the site, the narrower range 1600–400 BC (at the 2σ confidence level) can be realistically proposed.

Reference
Sighinolfi GP, Sibilia E, Contini G, Martini M (2015) Thermoluminescence dating of the Kamil impact crater (Egypt). Meteoritics&Planetary Science (in Press)
Link to Article [DOI: 10.1111/maps.12417]

Published by arrangement with John Wiley&Sons