¹Ewa Słaby, ²Monika Koch-Müller, ²Hans-Jürgen Förster, ²Richard Wirth, ²Dieter Rhede, ²Anja Schreiber, ³Ulrich Schade
¹Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Research Centre in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
²Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ, Telegrafenberg, Potsdam, Germany
³Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Elektronenspeicherring BESSY II, Berlin, Germany

We combined the focused ion beam sample preparation technique with polarized synchrotron-based FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) spectroscopy, laser-Raman spectroscopy, electron microprobe analysis (EMPA), and transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis to identify and quantify structurally bound OH, F, Cl, and CO3 groups in fluorapatite from the Northwest Africa 2975 (NWA 2975) shergottite. In this study, the first FTIR spectra of the OH-stretching region from a Martian apatite are presented that show characteristic OH-bands of a F-rich, hydroxyl-bearing apatite. Depending on the method of apatite-formula calculation and whether charge balance is assumed or not, the FTIR-based quantification of the incorporated OH, expressed as wt% H2O, is in variably good agreement with the H2O concentration calculated from electron microprobe data. EMP analyses yielded between 0.35 and 0.54 wt% H2O, and IR data yielded an average H2O content of 0.31 ± 0.03 wt%, consistent with the lower range determined from EMP analyses. The TEM observations implied that the volatiles budget of fluorapatite is magmatic. The water content and the relative volatile ratios calculated for the NWA 2975 magma are similar to those established for other enriched or intermediate shergottites. It is difficult to define the source of enrichment: either Martian wet mantle or crustal assimilation. Comparing the environment of parental magma generation for NWA 2975 with the terrestrial mantle in terms of water content, it displays a composition intermediate between enriched and depleted MORB.

Reference
Słaby E, Monika Koch-Müller, Förster H-J, Wirth R, Rhede D, Schreiber A, Schade U (2016) Determination of volatile concentrations in fluorapatite of Martian shergottite NWA 2975 by combining synchrotron FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, EMPA, and TEM, and inferences on the volatile budget of the apatite host-magma. Meteoritics & Planetary Sciences (in Press)
Link to Article [DOI: 10.1111/maps.12598]
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

¹Knut Metzler, ²Andreas Pack
¹Institut für Planetologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Münster, Germany
²Geowissenschaftliches Zentrum, Abteilung Isotopengeologie, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

Cluster chondrites are characterized by close-fit textures of deformed and indented chondrules, taken as evidence for hot chondrule accretion (Metzler 2012). We investigated seven cluster chondrite clasts from six brecciated LL3 chondrites and measured their bulk oxygen isotopic and chemical composition, including REE, Zr, and Hf. The same parameters were measured in situ on 93 chondrules and 4 interchondrule matrix areas. The CI-normalized REE patterns of the clasts are flat, showing LL-chondritic concentrations. The mean chemical compositions of chondrules in clasts and other LL chondrites are indistinguishable and we conclude that cluster chondrite chondrules are representative of the normal LL chondrule population. Type II chondrules are depleted in MgO, Al2O3 and refractory lithophiles (REE, Zr, Hf) by factors between 0.65 and 0.79 compared to type I chondrules. The chondrule REE patterns are basically flat with slight LREE < HREE fractionations. Many chondrules exhibit negative Eu anomalies while matrix shows a complementary pattern. Chondrules scatter along a correlation line with a slope of 0.63 in the oxygen 3-isotope diagram, interpreted as the result of O-isotope exchange between chondrule melts and 18O-rich nebular components. In one clast, a distinct anticorrelation between chondrule size and δ18O is found, which may indicate a more intense oxygen isotope exchange by smaller chondrules. In some clasts the δ18O values of type I chondrules are correlated with concentrations of SiO2 and MnO and anticorrelated with MgO, possibly due to the admixture of a SiO2- and MnO-rich component to chondrule melts during oxygen isotope exchange. Two chondrules with negative anomalies in Sm, Eu, and Yb were found and may relate their precursors to refractory material known from group III CAIs. Furthermore, three chondrules with strong LREE > HREE and Zr/Hf fractionations were detected, whose formation history remains to be explained.

Reference
Metzler K, Pack A (2016) Chemistry and oxygen isotopic composition of cluster chondrite clasts and their components in LL3 chondrites. Meteoritics & Planetary Sciences (in Press)
Link to Article [DOI: 10.1111/maps.12592]
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

R.Wieler et al. (>10)*
¹Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
*Find the extensive, full author and affiliation list on the publishers website

We present noble gas data for 16 shergottites, 2 nakhlites (NWA 5790, NWA 10153), and 1 angrite (NWA 7812). Noble gas exposure ages of the shergottites fall in the 1–6 Ma range found in previous studies. Three depleted olivine-phyric shergottites (Tissint, NWA 6162, NWA 7635) have exposure ages of ~1 Ma, in agreement with published data for similar specimens. The exposure age of NWA 10153 (~12.2 Ma) falls in the range of 9–13 Ma reported for other nakhlites. Our preferred age of ~7.3 Ma for NWA 5790 is lower than this range, and it is possible that NWA 5790 represents a distinct ejection event. A Tissint glass sample contains Xe from the Martian atmosphere. Several samples show a remarkably low (21Ne/22Ne)cos ratio < 0.80, as previously observed in a many shergottites and in various other rare achondrites. This was explained by solar cosmic ray-produced Ne (SCR Ne) in addition to the commonly found galactic cosmic ray-produced Ne, implying very low preatmospheric shielding and ablation loss. We revisit this by comparing measured (21Ne/22Ne)cos ratios with predictions by cosmogenic nuclide production models. Indeed, several shergottites, acalpulcoites/lodranites, angrites (including NWA 7812), and the Brachina-like meteorite LEW 88763 likely contain SCR Ne, as previously postulated for many of them. The SCR contribution may influence the calculation of exposure ages. One likely reason that SCR nuclides are predominantly detected in meteorites from rare classes is because they usually are analyzed for cosmogenic nuclides even if they had a very small (preatmospheric) mass and hence low ablation loss.

Reference
Wieler R et al. (2016) Noble gases in 18 Martian meteorites and angrite Northwest Africa 7812—Exposure ages, trapped gases, and a re-evaluation of the evidence for solar cosmic ray-produced neon in shergottites and other achondrites. Meteoritics & Planetary Sciences (in Press)
Link to Article [DOI: 10.1111/maps.12600]
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons