^1,2Cyrena A. Goodrich, ³Noriko T. Kita, ⁴Qing-Zhu Yin, ⁴Matthew E. Sanborn, ⁴Curtis D. Williams, ³Daisuke Nakashima, ²Melissa D. Lane, ^1,5Shannon Boyle
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press) Link to Article [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2016.12.021]
¹Lunar and Planetary Institute, 3600 Bay Area Blvd, Houston, TX 77058, USA
²Planetary Science Institute, 1700 E. Ft. Lowell Drive, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
³WiscSIMS, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
⁴Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
⁵Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University, Busch Campus, 610 Taylor Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
Copyright Elsevier

Northwest Africa (NWA) 7325 is an ungrouped achondrite that has recently been recognized as a sample of ancient differentiated crust from either Mercury or a previously unknown asteroid. In this work we augment data from previous investigations on petrography and mineral compositions, mid-IR spectroscopy, and oxygen isotope compositions of NWA 7325, and add constraints from Cr and Ti isotope compositions on the provenance of its parent body. In addition, we identify and discuss notable similarities between NWA 7325 and clasts of a rare xenolithic lithology found in polymict ureilites.

NWA 7325 has a medium grained, protogranular to poikilitic texture, and consists of 10-15 vol.% Mg-rich olivine (Fo 98), 25-30 vol.% diopside (Wo 45, Mg# 98), 55-60 vol.% Ca-rich plagioclase (An 90), and trace Cr-rich sulfide and Fe,Ni metal. We interpret this meteorite to be a cumulate that crystallized at ⩾1200 °C and very low oxygen fugacity (similar to the most reduced ureilites) from a refractory, incompatible element-depleted melt. Modeling of trace elements in plagioclase suggests that this melt formed by fractional melting or multi-stage igneous evolution. A subsequent event (likely impact) resulted in plagioclase being substantially remelted, reacting with a small amount of pyroxene, and recrystallizing with a distinctive texture.

The bulk oxygen isotope composition of NWA 7325 plots in the range of ureilites on the CCAM line, and also on a mass-dependent fractionation line extended from acapulcoites. The ε54Cr and ε50Ti values of NWA 7325 exhibit deficits relative to terrestrial composition, as do ordinary chondrites and most achondrites. Its ε54Cr value is distinct from that of any analyzed ureilite, but is not resolved from that of acapulcoites (as represented by Acapulco).

In terms of all these properties, NWA 7325 is unlike any known achondrite. However, a rare population of clasts found in polymict ureilites (“the magnesian anorthitic lithology”) are strikingly similar to NWA 7325 in mineralogy and mineral compositions, oxygen isotope compositions, and internal textures in plagioclase. These clasts are probably xenolithic in polymict ureilites, and could be pieces of NWA 7325-like meteorites.

Using constraints from chromium, titanium and oxygen isotopes, we discuss two possible models for the provenance of the NWA 7325 parent body: 1) accretion in the inner solar system from a reservoir similar to that of acapulcoites in Δ17O, ε54Cr and ε50Ti; or 2) early (< 1 Ma after CAI formation) accretion in the outer solar system (beyond the snow line), before 54Cr and 50Ti anomalies were introduced to this region of the solar system. The mid-IR emission spectrum of NWA 7325 obtained in this work matches its modal mineralogy, and so can be compared with spectra of new meteorites or asteroids/planets to help identify similar materials and/or the parent body of NWA 7325

^1,2,5L.J. Hallis, ^1,2G.R. Huss, ²K. Nagashima, ^1,2G.J. Taylor, ³D. Stöffler, ⁴C.L. Smith, ⁵M.R. Lee
Geochimica et Cosmochimcia Acta (in Press) Link to Article [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2016.12.035]
¹NASA Astrobiology Institute, Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai’i, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822-1839, United States
²Hawai’i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, Pacific Ocean Science and Technology (POST) Building, University of Hawai’i, 1680 East-West Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, United States
³Museum of Natural History, Invalidenstrasse 43 Leibniz-Institut Für Evolutions-Und Biodiversitätsforschung, 10115 Berlin, Germany
⁴Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK
⁵School of Geographical and Earth Science, University of Glasgow, Gregory Building, Lillybank Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, Scotland, United Kingdom
Copyright Elsevier

The Tissint meteorite, a picritic shergottite, fell to Earth in Morocco on the 18th of July 2011, and is only the fifth Martian meteorite witnessed to fall. Hydrogen isotope ratios and water contents are variable within different minerals in Tissint. Ringwoodite and shock melt pockets contain elevated D/H ratios relative to terrestrial values (δD =761 to 4224 ‰). These high ratios in recrystallized phases indicate significant implantation of hydrogen from the D-rich Martian atmosphere during shock. In contrast, although olivine has detectable water abundances (230-485 ppm), it exhibits much lower D/H ratios (δD = +88 to -150 ‰), suggesting this water was not implanted from the Martian atmosphere. The minimal terrestrial weathering experienced by Tissint gives confidence that the olivine-hosted water has a Martian origin, but its high concentration indicates direct inheritance from the parental melt is improbable, especially given the low pressure of olivine crystallisation. Incorporation of a low δD crustal fluid, or deuteric alteration during crystallisation, could explain the relatively high water contents and low D/H ratios in Tissint olivine.