¹Lydie Bonal, ¹Eric Quirico, ¹Laurène Flandinet, ²Gilles Montagnac
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press) Link to Article [doi:10.1016/j.gca.2016.06.017]
¹Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique de Grenoble – Observatoire des Sciences de l’Univers de Grenoble, Bât. D de Physique, 38041 Grenoble France
²Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon Terre, Planètes, Environnement – ENS Lyon – Lyon France
Copyright Elsevier

This paper is focused on the characterization of the thermal history of 151 CV, CO and Unequilibrated Ordinary Chondrites (UOCs) from the NASA Antarctic meteorite collection, using an approach based on the structure of the included polyaromatic carbonaceous matter determined by Raman spectroscopy. 114 out of these 151 chondrites provided Raman spectra of carbonaceous matter and allowing to assign a petrologic type, which mostly reflects the peak temperature experienced by the rock on the parent body. A thorough review of literature shows however that it is not possible to deduce a peak temperature because accurate calibration is not available. Twenty three new weakly metamorphosed chondrites have been identified: MIL 07671 (CV3.1); DOM 08006 (CO3.0); DOM 03238, MIL 05024, MIL 05104, MIL 07193 (CO3.1); TIL 82408, LAR 06279 (LL3.05-3.1); EET 90628 (L3.0); GRO 06054, QUE 97008 (L3.05), ALHA 77176, EET 90066, LAR 04380, MET 96515, MIL 05050 (L3.1); ALHA 78133, EET 87735, EET 90909, LEW 87208, PRE 95401 (L3.05-3.1); MCY 05218 (H3.05-3.1) and MET 00506 (H3.1). This study confirms that the width of the D band (FWHMD) and the ratio of the peak intensity of the D and G bands (ID/IG) are the most adapted tracers of the extent of thermal metamorphism in type 3 chondrites. It also unambiguously shows, thanks to the large number of samples, that the width of the G band (FWHMG) does not correlate with the maturity of polyaromatic carbonaceous matter. This parameter is nevertheless very valuable because it shows that Raman spectra of CV chondrites preserve memory of either the metamorphic conditions (possibly oxidation controlled by aqueous alteration) or the nature of the organic precursor. Oxidation memory is our preferred interpretation, however an extensive petrologic characterization of this CV series is required to get firm conclusions. Pre-graphitic carbonaceous matter is reported in seven chondrites and is even the only carbonaceous material detected in the chondrites ALHA 78119 and DAV 92302. This pre-graphitic carbonaceous matter cannot be formed through radiogenic thermal metamorphism without metal catalysis. Shock metamorphism is another possible process for accounting its formation, but it appears less plausible.

^1,2José C. Aponte, ^1,2Hannah L. McLain, ¹Jason P. Dworkin, ¹Jamie E. Elsila
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press) Link to Article [doi:10.1016/j.gca.2016.06.018]
¹Solar System Exploration Division, Code 691, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
²Department of Chemistry, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064, USA
Copyright Elsevier

Meteoritic water-soluble organic compounds provide a unique record of the processes that occurred during the formation of the solar system and the chemistry preceding the origins of life on Earth. We have investigated the molecular distribution, compound-specific δ13C isotopic ratios and enantiomeric compositions of aliphatic monoamines present in the hot acid-water extracts of the carbonaceous chondrites LAP 02342 (CR2), GRA 95229 (CR2), LON 94101 (CM2), LEW 90500 (CM2), and ALH 83100 (CM1/2). Analyses of the concentration of monoamines in these meteorites revealed: a) the CR2 chondrites studied here contain higher concentrations of monoamines relative to the analyzed CM2 chondrites; b) the concentration of monoamines decreases with increasing carbon number; and c) isopropylamine is the most abundant monoamine in these CR2 chondrites, while methylamine is the most abundant amine species in these CM2 and CM1/2 chondrites. The δ13C values of monoamines in CR2 chondrite do not correlate with the number of carbon atoms; however, in CM2 and CM1/2 chondrites, the 13C enrichment decreases with increasing monoamine carbon number. The δ13C values of methylamine in CR2 chondrites ranged from –1 to +10‰, while in CM2 and CM1/2 chondrites the δ13C values of methylamine ranged from +41 to +59‰. We also observed racemic compositions of sec-butylamine, 3-methyl-2-butylamine, and sec-pentylamine in the studied carbonaceous chondrites. Additionally, we compared the abundance and δ13C isotopic composition of monoamines to those of their structurally related amino acids. We found that monoamines are less abundant than amino acids in CR2 chondrites, with the opposite being true in CM2 and CM1/2 chondrites. We used these collective data to evaluate different primordial synthetic pathways for monoamines in carbonaceous chondrites and to understand the potential common origins these molecules may share with meteoritic amino acids.