A history of violence: insights into post-accretionary heating in carbonaceous chondrites from volatile element abundances, Zn isotopes, and water contents

1Brandon Mahan, 1,2Frédéric Moynier, 2,3Pierre Beck, 1Emily A. Pringle, 1,2Julien Siebert
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2017.09.027]
1Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Université Paris Diderot, Université Sorbonne Paris Cité, CNRS UMR 7154, 1 rue Jussieu, 75238 Paris Cedex 05, France
2Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
3UJF-Grenoble 1, CNRS-INSU, Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), UMR 5274, Grenoble F-38041, France
Copyright Elsevier

Carbonaceous chondrites (CCs) may have been the carriers of water, volatile and moderately volatile elements to Earth. Investigating the abundances of these elements, their relative volatility, and isotopes of state-change tracer elements such as Zn, and linking these observations to water contents, provides vital information on the processes that govern the abundances and isotopic signatures of these species in CCs and other planetary bodies. Here we report Zn isotopic data for 28 CCs (20 CM, 6 CR, 1 C2-ung, and 1 CV3), as well as trace element data for Zn, In, Sn, Tl, Pb, and Bi in 16 samples (8 CM, 6 CR, 1 C2-ung, and 1 CV3), that display a range of elemental abundances from case-normative to intensely depleted. We use these data, water content data from literature and Zn isotopes to investigate volatile depletions and to discern between closed and open system heating. Trace element data have been used to construct relative volatility scales among the elements for the CM and CR chondrites. From least volatile to most, the scale in CM chondrites is Pb-Sn-Bi-In-Zn-Tl, and for CR chondrites it is Tl-Zn-Sn-Pb-Bi-In. These observations suggest that heated CM and CR chondrites underwent volatile loss under different conditions to one another and to that of the solar nebula, e.g. differing oxygen fugacities. Furthermore, the most water and volatile depleted samples are highly enriched in the heavy isotopes of Zn. Taken together, these lines of evidence strongly indicate that heated CM and CR chondrites incurred open system heating, stripping them of water and volatiles concomitantly, during post-accretionary shock impact(s).

A low-background γγ-coincidence spectrometer for radioisotope studies

1Andrew Tillett, 1,2John Dermigny, 2,3Mark Emamian, 1,6Yuri Tonin, 1Igal Bucay, 4,5Rachel L. Smith, 1Michael Darken, 1Corey Dearing, 1Mikaela Orbon, 1,2Christian Iliadis
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment 871, 66-71 Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2017.07.057]
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
2Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL), Durham, NC 27708, USA
3Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
4North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, 121 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27603, USA
5Department of Physics and Astronomy, Appalachian State University, 525 Rivers Street, Boone, NC 28608-2106, USA
6CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, Brasília, DF, 70.040-020, Brazil

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Compositional differences among Bright Spots on the Ceres surface

1,2E.Palomba et al. (>10)
Icarus (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2017.09.020]
1INAF-IAPS, via del Fosso del Cavaliere 100, I-00133 Rome, Italy
2Space Science Data Center-ASI, Via del Politecnico, snc, Edificio D, 00133 Rome, Italy
Copyright Elsevier

At the beginning of the Ceres investigation, the Dawn-NASA mission discovered a large bright spot (BS) in the Occator crater floor. Several other smaller bright spots were discovered during the following phases of the mission. In this paper, a complete survey for the detection of BS on the Ceres surface have been made by using the hyperspectral data acquired by Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIR). The hyperspectral images span the spectral range from 0.2 to 5 µm, by using two channel, the VIS channel with a spectral sampling of 1.8 nm and a IR channel with a spectral sampling of 9.8 nm. Finally a catalogue of 92 BS has been compiled and their compositional properties have been examined. In particular, five spectral parameters have been applied to perform the analysis: the photometrically corrected reflectance and four band depths, related to spectral absorptions at 2.7 µm (OH fundamental indicative of phyllosilicates), at 3.05 µm (due to ammoniated clays), at 3.4 and 4.0 µm (carbonate overtones). The 90% of BS are impact-related features (ejecta, crater rim, crater floor, crater wall). The two brightest BS, Cerealia and Vinalia Faculae, are located on the Occator crater floor. Most of BSs show features similar to the average Ceres surface, which has low reflectance and is composed of Mg-phyllosilicates and ammoniated clays, with a reduced abundance of Mgsingle bondCa carbonates. Cerealia and Vinalia Faculae are a peculiar BS family, with a high abundance of Na-carbonates and Al-rich phyllosilicates. Oxo and a companion bright spot represents a third category, depleted in phyllosilicates and with a high to moderate albedo. Carbonate composition ranges from Mg/Ca to Na components. Haulani, Ernutet, Kupalo, and other two BS’s represent another group, with intermediate properties between the typical BS and the Oxo family: they are moderately rich in carbonates and slightly depleted in Mg- and ammoniated phyllosilicates. The four families probably explain a single evolutionary path followed by the BS from the formation to their maturity: initially the very fresh bright spots would possess characteristics similar to Cerealia and Vinalia Faculae; with time, salts and OH volatilize and a light mixing with surrounding material would produce Oxo-like BS’s; additional strong mixing would form Haulani-like BS, which finally become a typical bright spots.

A high-precision 40Ar/39Ar age for the Nördlinger Ries impact crater, Germany, and implications for the accurate dating of terrestrial impact events

1,2,3Martin Schmieder, 3Trudi Kennedy, 3Fred Jourdan, 4,5Elmar Buchner, 6,7,8Wolf Uwe Reimold
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2017.09.036]
1Lunar and Planetary Institute, 3600 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, TX 77058, USA
2NASA–Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI)
3Western Australian Argon Isotope Facility, Department of Applied Geology and John de Laeter Centre for Isotope Research, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia
4HNU – Neu-Ulm University, Wileystraße 1, D-89231 Neu-Ulm, Germany
5Institut für Mineralogie und Kristallchemie, Universität Stuttgart, Azenbergstraße 18, D-70174 Stuttgart, Germany
6Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstrasse 43, D-10115 Berlin, Germany
7Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany
8Geochronology Laboratory, University of Brasília, Brasília, Brazil
Copyright Elsevier

40Ar/39Ar dating of specimens of moldavite, the formation of which is linked to the Ries impact in southern Germany, with a latest-generation ARGUS VI multi-collector mass spectrometer yielded three fully concordant plateau ages with a weighted mean age of 14.808 ± 0.021 Ma (± 0.038 Ma including all external uncertainties; 2σ; MSWD = 0.40, P = 0.67). This new best-estimate age for the Nördlinger Ries is in general agreement with previous 40Ar/39Ar results for moldavites, but constitutes a significantly improved precision with respect to the formation age of the distal Ries-produced tektites. Separates of impact glass from proximal Ries ejecta (suevite glass from three different surface outcrops) and partially melted feldspar particles from impact melt rock of the SUBO 18 Enkingen drill core failed to produce meaningful ages. These glasses show evidence for excess 40Ar introduction, which may have been incurred during interaction with hydrothermal fluids. Only partially reset 40Ar/39Ar could be determined for the feldspathic melt separates from the Enkingen core. The new 40Ar/39Ar results for the Ries impact structure constrain the duration of crater cooling, during the prevailing hydrothermal activity, to locally at least ∼60 kyr. With respect to the dating of terrestrial impact events, this paper briefly discusses a number of potential issues and effects that may be the cause for seemingly precise, but on a kyr-scale inaccurate, impact ages.

Nebula sulfidation and evidence for migration of “free-floating” refractory metal nuggets revealed by atom probe microscopy

1,2Luke Daly, 2Phil A. Bland, 3David W. Saxey, 2,3Steven M. Reddy, 2,3Denis Fougerouse, 3William D.A. Rickard, 2Lucy V. Forman
Geology 45, 847-850 Link to Article [DOI: https://doi.org/10.1130/G39075.1]
1School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
2Department of Applied Geology, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6102, Australia
3Geoscience Atom Probe Facility, Advanced Resource Characterisation Facility, John de Laeter Centre, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia

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Meteorite flux to Earth in the Early Cretaceous as reconstructed from sediment-dispersed extraterrestrial spinels

1,2Birger Schmitz, 2Philipp R. Heck, 3,4Walter Alvarez, 5Noriko T. Kita, 2Surya S. Rout,6Anders Cronholm, 5Céline Defouilloy, 6Ellinor Martin, 7,8Jan Smit, 6Fredrik Terfelt
Geology 45, 807-810 Link to Article [DOI: https://doi.org/10.1130/G39297.1]
1Astrogeobiology Laboratory, Department of Physics, Lund University, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
2Robert A. Pritzker Center for Meteoritics and Polar Studies, The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois 60605, USA
3Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
4Osservatorio Geologico di Coldigioco, Contrada Coldigioco 4, 62021 Apiro, Italy
5WiscSIMS, Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
6Astrogeobiology Laboratory, Department of Physics, Lund University, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
7Osservatorio Geologico di Coldigioco, Contrada Coldigioco 4, 62021 Apiro, Italy
8Department of Sedimentary Geology, Vrije Universiteit, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands

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Analysis of Q-type Near-Earth Asteroid Spectra with Modified Gaussian Models

1,2,3Wang Hao, 1,2Ma Yue-hua,1,2,4Zhao Hai-bin, 4,5LuXiao-ping
Chinese Astronomy and Astrophysics 41,419-429 Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chinastron.2017.08.009]
1Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008
2Key Laboratory of Planetary Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008
3University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bejing 100049
4Partner Laboratory of The Lunar and Planetary Science Laboratory, Macau University of Science and Technology and The Key Laboratory of Lunar and Deep Space Exploration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Macau 000853
5Faculty of Information Technology, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau 000853

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Castelvecchio and Castiglione del Lago: Two new Italian iron meteorites

1V. Moggi Cecchi, 2G. Pratesi, 3S. Caporali, 4C. D. K. Herd, 4G. Chen
The european Physics Journal Plus 132, 359 Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2017-11640-4]
1Museo di Storia Naturale Università degli Studi di Firenze Firenze Italy
2Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra Università degli Studi di Firenze Firenze Italy
3Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale Università degli Studi di Firenze Firenze Italy
4Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences University of Alberta Edmonton Canada

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Network analysis of mineralogical systems

1Shaunna M. Morrison et al. (>10)
American Mineralogist 102, 1588-1596 Link to Article [DOI
https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2017-6104CCBYNCND]
1Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, 5251 Broad Branch Road NW, Washington, D.C. 20015, U.S.A.
Copyright: The Mineralogical Society of America

A fundamental goal of mineralogy and petrology is the deep understanding of mineral phase relationships and the consequent spatial and temporal patterns of mineral coexistence in rocks, ore bodies, sediments, meteorites, and other natural polycrystalline materials. The multi-dimensional chemical complexity of such mineral assemblages has traditionally led to experimental and theoretical consideration of 2-, 3-, or n-component systems that represent simplified approximations of natural systems. Network analysis provides a dynamic, quantitative, and predictive visualization framework for employing “big data” to explore complex and otherwise hidden higher-dimensional patterns of diversity and distribution in such mineral systems. We introduce and explore applications of mineral network analysis, in which mineral species are represented by nodes, while coexistence of minerals is indicated by lines between nodes. This approach provides a dynamic visualization platform for higher-dimensional analysis of phase relationships, because topologies of equilibrium phase assemblages and pathways of mineral reaction series are embedded within the networks. Mineral networks also facilitate quantitative comparison of lithologies from different planets and moons, the analysis of coexistence patterns simultaneously among hundreds of mineral species and their localities, the exploration of varied paragenetic modes of mineral groups, and investigation of changing patterns of mineral occurrence through deep time. Mineral network analysis, furthermore, represents an effective visual approach to teaching and learning in mineralogy and petrology.

Chondrule heritage and thermal histories from trace element and oxygen isotope analyses of chondrules and amoeboid olivine aggregates

1Emmanuel Jacquet,2Yves Marrocchi
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Link to Article [DOI: 10.1111/maps.12985]
1Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, CNRS & Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, UMR 7590, Paris, France
2Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, CNRS, Université de Lorraine, UMR 7358, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

We report combined oxygen isotope and mineral-scale trace element analyses of amoeboid olivine aggregates (AOA) and chondrules in ungrouped carbonaceous chondrite, Northwest Africa 5958. The trace element geochemistry of olivine in AOA, for the first time measured by LA-ICP-MS, is consistent with a condensation origin, although the shallow slope of its rare earth element (REE) pattern is yet to be physically explained. Ferromagnesian silicates in type I chondrules resemble those in other carbonaceous chondrites both geochemically and isotopically, and we find a correlation between 16O enrichment and many incompatible elements in olivine. The variation in incompatible element concentrations may relate to varying amounts of olivine crystallization during a subisothermal stage of chondrule-forming events, the duration of which may be anticorrelated with the local solid/gas ratio if this was the determinant of oxygen isotopic ratios as proposed recently. While aqueous alteration has depleted many chondrule mesostases in REE, some chondrules show recognizable subdued group II-like patterns supporting the idea that the immediate precursors of chondrules were nebular condensates.