^1,2,3Imene Kerraouch et al. (>10)
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13620]
¹Institut für Planetologie, University of Münster, Wilhelm‐Klemm Str. 10, Münster, D‐48149 Germany
²Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, 77058 USA
³Department of Geology, University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene (USTHB), Bab Ezzouar, 16111 Algeria
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

On April 23, 2019, a meteorite fall occurred in Aguas Zarcas, Costa Rica. According to the Meteoritical Bulletin, Aguas Zarcas is a brecciated CM2 chondrite dominated by two lithologies. Our X‐ray computed tomography (XCT) results show many different lithologies. In this paper, we describe the petrographic and mineralogical investigation of five different lithologies of the Aguas Zarcas meteorite. The bulk oxygen isotope compositions of some lithologies were also measured. The Aguas Zarcas meteorite is a breccia at all scales. From two small fragments, we have noted five main lithologies, including (1) Met‐1: a metal‐rich lithology; (2) Met‐2: a second metal‐rich lithology which is distinct from Met‐1; (3) a brecciated CM lithology with clasts of different petrologic subtypes; (4) a C1/2 lithology; and (5) a C1 lithology. The Met‐1 lithology is a new and unique carbonaceous chondrite which bears similarities to CR and CM chondrite groups, but is distinct from both based on oxygen isotope data. Met‐2 also represents a new type of carbonaceous chondrite, but it is more similar to the CM chondrite group, albeit with a very high abundance of metal. We have noted some similarities between the Met‐1 and Met‐2 lithologies and will explore possible genetic relationships. We have also identified a brecciated CM lithology with two primary components: a chondrule‐poor lithology and a chondrule‐rich lithology showing different petrologic subtypes. The other two lithologies, C1 and C1/2, are very altered and possibly related to the CM chondrite group. In this article, we describe all the lithologies in detail and attempt a classification of each in order to understand the origin and the history of formation of the Aguas Zarcas parent body.

¹D.I.Foustoukos,¹C.M.O’D.Alexander,¹G.D.Cody
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2021.01.021]
¹Earth & Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 5241 Broad Branch Rd. NW, Washington DC 20015, USA
Copyright Elsevier

A series of experiments was performed to constrain the chemical and isotope evolution of insoluble organic material (IOM) during hydrothermal alteration at temperatures ranging from 250 °C to 450 °C at 50 MPa. Experiments involved IOM that was extracted from the Murchison (CM2) meteorite or synthesized by aqueous carbonization of dextrose. Flash (dry) pyrolysis experiments at 400 – 1000 °C were also conducted with Murchison-IOM to distinguish between the effects of hydrothermal and thermal degradation. Extended reaction times (up to 3905 h) were employed to establish D/H equilibria between IOM and H2O. The H isotope compositions of the H2O used in the experiments ranged from δD = -447 ‰ to 3259 ‰. Results revealed that the extent of the IOM H isotope evolution strongly depends on the δD composition of the coexisting H2O with minimal temperature effects. The empirical relationship that describes the isotope exchange between IOM and H2O is as follows:

δDIOM (‰) = 0.643 (± 0.007) * δDH2O (‰) – 86 (± 8) (‰)

Based on this empirical relationship, two models are proposed for the H2O-IOM H exchange. The first assumes that all H in IOM is exchangeable and that the redistribution of H-bearing moieties with experiment temperature results in an “apparent” εorganics-H2O= -357 ‰. The second model considers a higher εorganics-H2O (-131 ‰), in accordance with theoretical studies, and assumes the presence of two H reservoirs, one that undergoes H isotope exchange with H2O and one that does not. In this case, 74 % of the H in IOM is exchangeable with H2O.

In our experiments, the hydrothermally altered Murchison-IOM lost labile 15N enriched N-H moieties. Experiments that included 15N-labelled NH3(aq) found that there was only minor N exchange with IOM. Furthermore, the experimental data show that the extent of H and N loss is temperature and process dependent. This results in the decoupling of N/C and H/C atomic ratio systematics between hydrothermal alteration and flash (dry) pyrolysis, with much more limited changes in H/C and N/C after flash pyrolysis.

In the light of the experiments, two models for the range of bulk and IOM H isotope compositions of the aqueously altered CI, CM, and CR chondrites are explored. The very D-rich IOM compositions, relative to the bulk compositions, cannot be explained by a fully exchangeable IOM with a reasonable value for εorganics-H2O (i.e., <0 ‰). Instead, a two-component IOM model is invoked in which the initial bulk and non-exchangeable IOM have δD = 3650 ‰. The estimated ranges of Fexchange, including uncertainties in εorganics-H2O, are 0.59-0.75 and 0.13-0.30 for CMs and CRs, respectively. Most values of Fexchange are significantly lower than in the experiments, perhaps because the alteration temperatures in the chondrites were << 250 °C. An apparent relationship between Fexchange and the IOM δ15N suggests an endmember composition of ∼ 300 ‰. For the CMs, alone, however, the initial δ15N is projected to ∼ 137 ‰.

¹Zhengbin Deng,¹Marc Chaussidon,^1,2,3Denton S.Ebel,⁴Johan Villeneuve,¹Julien Moureau,¹Frédéric Moynier
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2021.01.015]
¹Université de Paris, Institut de physique du globe de Paris, CNRS, UMR 7154, Paris 75005, France
²Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA
³Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, New York, USA
⁴Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, Université de Lorraine, CNRS 7358, Vandoeuve-lès-Nancy, France
Copyright Elsevier

Improvements in our understanding of the formation of chondrules requires a better knowledge of the thermal histories and the nature of their solid precursors. We present an in situ nanosecond laser ablation multi-collector inductively-coupled-plasma mass-spectrometry (LA-MC-ICP-MS) technique to measure simultaneously mass-dependent Mg isotopic fractionations and radiogenic 26Mg in chondritic components, thus allowing us to investigate within a chronological framework the thermal processes redistributing Mg in chondrules and their precursors. The internal 26Al-26Mg isochrons provide initial 26Al/27Al ratios from 5.46 (± 0.38) × 10−5 to 6.14 (± 0.92) × 10−5 for amoeboid olivine aggregates (AOAs) and Ca-, Al-rich inclusions (CAIs), and from 0.16 (± 0.08) × 10−5 to 1.87 (± 0.92) × 10−5 for chondrules from Allende and Leoville chondrites, which are consistent with the previously reported values. The combination of these values with up to 2.5‰ variation of the 25Mg/24Mg ratio within the studied chondrules shows that: (i) AOAs and the precursors of chondrules were likely formed via condensation of rapid-cooling gas reservoirs, and (ii) Mg stable isotopes are probably at disequilibrium between olivines and mesostases in some chondrules, likely due to Mg loss by vaporization during chondrule formation. We use these new observations to propose that Mg isotopes can likely serve as a tracer for the thermal histories of chondrules. We present here a scenario taking into account Mg loss by vaporization from chondrule melt and Mg gain into the melt by olivine dissolution. The existing Mg isotopic observations in chondrule melts and olivines can be explained in a scenario with a homogeneous distribution of Mg isotopes and initial 26Al in the accretion disk, provided that chondrule precursors have been heated up to sufficiently high peak temperatures (up to 2123 K) and stayed above 1800 K for several tens of minutes to allow for significant Mg evaporation. These conditions are most consistent with a shock wave model for the origin of chondrules.