¹C. Jäger, ¹T. Sabri, ²E. Wendler, ³Th. Henning
The Astrophysical Journal 831, 66 Link to Article [http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/831/1/66]
¹Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Laboratory Astrophysics and Cluster Physics Group, Institute of Solid State Physics, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Helmholtzweg 3, D-07743 Jena, Germany
²Institute of Solid State Physics, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Helmholtzweg 3, D-07743 Jena, Germany
³Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany

Ion-induced processing of dust grains in the interstellar medium and in protoplanetary and planetary disks plays an important role in the entire dust cycle. We have studied the ion-induced processing of amorphous MgFeSiO4 and Mg2SiO4 grains by 10 and 20 keV protons and 90 keV Ar+ ions. The Ar+ ions were used to compare the significance of the light protons with that of heavier, but chemically inert projectiles. The bombardment was performed in a two-beam irradiation chamber for in situ ion-implantation at temperatures of 15 and 300 K and Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy to monitor the alteration of the silicate composition under ion irradiation. A depletion of oxygen from the silicate structure by selective sputtering of oxygen from the surface of the grains was observed in both samples. The silicate particles kept their amorphous structure, but the loss of oxygen caused the reduction of ferrous (Fe2+) ions and the formation of iron inclusions in the MgFeSiO4 grains. A few Si inclusions were produced in the iron-free magnesium silicate sample pointing to a much less efficient reduction of Si4+ and formation of metallic Si inclusions. Consequently, ion-induced processing of magnesium-iron silicates can produce grains that are very similar to the glassy grains with embedded metals and sulfides frequently observed in interplanetary dust particles and meteorites. The metallic iron inclusions are strong absorbers in the NIR range and therefore a ubiquitous requirement to increase the temperature of silicate dust grains in IR-dominated astrophysical environments such as circumstellar shells or protoplanetary disks.

¹John M. Brewer, ¹Debra A. Fischer
The Astrophysical Journal 831, 20 Link to Article [http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/831/1/20]
¹Department of Astronomy, Yale University, 260 Whitney Avenue, New Haven, CT 06511, USA

The carbon-to-oxygen ratio in a protoplanetary disk can have a dramatic influence on the compositions of any terrestrial planets formed. In regions of high C/O, planets form primarily from carbonates, and in regions of low C/O, the ratio of magnesium to silicon determines the types of silicates that dominate the compositions. We present C/O and Mg/Si ratios for 852 F, G, and K dwarfs in the solar neighborhood. We find that the frequency of carbon-rich dwarfs in the solar neighborhood is $\lt 0.13 \% $ and that 156 known planet hosts in the sample follow a similar distribution as all of the stars as a whole. The cosmic distribution of Mg/Si for these same stars is broader than the C/O distribution and peaks near 1.0, with $\sim 60 \% $ of systems having $1\,\leqslant $ Mg/Si $\lt \,2$, leading to rocky planet compositions similar to the Earth. This leaves 40% of systems that can have planets that are silicate-rich and that may have very different compositions than our own.

¹S. Fogerty, ¹, W. Forrest, ¹D. M. Watson, ²B. A. Sargent, ³I. Koch
The Astrophysical Journal 830, 71 Link to Article [http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/830/2/71]
¹Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
²Center for Imaging Science and Laboratory for Multiwavelength Astrophysics, Rochester Institute of Technology, 54 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623, USA
³Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA

The composition of silicate dust in the diffuse interstellar medium and in protoplanetary disks around young stars informs our understanding of the processing and evolution of the dust grains leading up to planet formation. An analysis of the well-known 9.7 μm feature indicates that small amorphous silicate grains represent a significant fraction of interstellar dust and are also major components of protoplanetary disks. However, this feature is typically modeled assuming amorphous silicate dust of olivine and pyroxene stoichiometries. Here, we analyze interstellar dust with models of silicate dust that include non-stoichiometric amorphous silicate grains. Modeling the optical depth along lines of sight toward the extinguished objects Cyg OB2 No. 12 and ζ Ophiuchi, we find evidence for interstellar amorphous silicate dust with stoichiometry intermediate between olivine and pyroxene, which we simply refer to as “polivene.” Finally, we compare these results to models of silicate emission from the Trapezium and protoplanetary disks in Taurus.

^1,2Mathieu Roskosz, ^2,3Boris Laurent, ²Hugues Leroux, ¹Laurent Remusat
The Astrophysical Journal 832, 55 Link to Article [http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/832/1/55]
¹IMPMC, CNRS UMR 7590, Sorbonne Universités, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, IRD, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CP 52, 57 rue Cuvier, Paris F-75231, France
²Unité Matériaux et Transformations, Université Lille 1, CNRS UMR 8207, Bâtiment C6, F-59655 Villeneuve d’Ascq, France
³Present address: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St. Andrews, Irvine Building, KY16 9AL, Fife, Scotland, UK

The origin of hydrogen in chondritic components is poorly understood. Their isotopic composition is heavier than the solar nebula gas. In addition, in most meteorites, hydrous silicates are found to be lighter than the coexisting organic matter. Ionizing irradiation recently emerged as an efficient hydrogen fractionating process in organics, but its effect on H-bearing silicates remains essentially unknown. We report the evolution of the D/H of hydrous silicates experimentally irradiated by electrons. Thin films of amorphous silica, amorphous “serpentine,” and pellets of crystalline muscovite were irradiated at 4 and 30 keV. For all samples, irradiation leads to a large hydrogen loss correlated with a moderate deuterium enrichment of the solid residue. The entire data set can be described by a Rayleigh distillation. The calculated fractionation factor is consistent with a kinetically controlled fractionation during the loss of hydrogen. Furthermore, for a given ionizing condition, the deuteration of the silicate residues is much lower than the deuteration measured on irradiated organic macromolecules. These results provide firm evidence of the limitations of ionizing irradiation as a driving mechanism for D-enrichment of silicate materials. The isotopic composition of the silicate dust cannot rise from a protosolar to a chondritic signature during solar irradiations. More importantly, these results imply that irradiation of the disk naturally induces a strong decoupling of the isotopic signatures of coexisting organics and silicates. This decoupling is consistent with the systematic difference observed between the heavy organic matter and the lighter water typically associated with minerals in the matrix of most carbonaceous chondrites.

¹James M.D. Day, ¹Christopher A. Corder, ²Pierre Cartigny, ³Andrew M. Steele, ²Nelly Assayag, ³Douglas Rumble III, ⁴Lawrence A. Taylor
Geochmica et Cosmochmica Acta (in Press) Link to Article [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2016.11.026]
¹Geosciences Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0244, USA
²Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Univ. Paris Diderot, UMR 7154 CNRS, 1 rue Jussieu, 75238 Paris, France
³Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20015, USA
⁴Planetary Geosciences Institute, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
Copyright Elsevier

Ureilite meteorites are partially melted asteroidal-peridotite residues, or more rarely, cumulates that can contain greater than three weight percent carbon. Here we describe an exceptional C-rich lithology, composed of 34 modal% large (up to 0.8 mm long) crystalline graphite grains, in the Antarctic ureilite meteorite Miller Range (MIL) 091004. This C-rich lithology is embedded within a silicate region composed dominantly of granular olivine with lesser quantities of low-Ca pyroxene, and minor FeNi metal, high-Ca pyroxene, spinel, schreibersite and troilite. Petrological evidence indicates that the graphite was added after formation of the silicate region and melt depletion. Associated with graphite is localized reduction of host olivine (Fo88-89) to nearly pure forsterite (Fo99), which is associated with FeNi metal grains containing up to 11 wt.% Si. The main silicate region is typical of ureilite composition, with highly siderophile element (HSE) abundances ∼0.3 × chondrite, 187Os/188Os of 0.1260 to 0.1262 and Δ17O of -0.81 ±0.16‰. Mineral trace-element analyses reveal that the rare earth elements (REE) and the HSE are controlled by pyroxene and FeNi metal phases in the meteorite, respectively. Modelling of bulk-rock REE and HSE abundances indicates that the main silicate region experienced ∼6% silicate and >50% sulfide melt extraction, which is at the lower end of partial melt removal estimated for ureilites. Miller Range 091004 demonstrates heterogeneous distribution of carbon at centimeter scales and a limited range in Mg/(Mg+Fe) compositions of silicate grain cores, despite significant quantities of carbon. These observations demonstrate that silicate rim reduction was a rapid disequilibrium process, and came after silicate and sulfide melt removal in MIL 091004. The petrography and mineral chemistry of MIL 091004 is permissive of the graphite representing late-stage C-rich melt that pervaded silicates, or carbon that acted as a lubricant during anatexis and impact disruption in the parent body. Positive correlation of Pt/Os ratios with olivine core compositions, but a wide range of oxygen isotope compositions, indicates that ureilites formed from a compositionally heterogeneous parent body that experienced variable sulfide and metal melt-loss that is most pronounced in relatively oxidized ureilites with Δ17O between -1.5 and ∼0‰