1Zachary A.Torrano,1,2Devin L.Schrader,1,2Jemma Davidson,cRichard C.Greenwood,1Daniel R.Dunlap,1Meenakshi Wadhwa
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2021.03.004]
1School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA
2Center for Meteorite Studies, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA
3Planetary and Space Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom
Copyright Elsevier
A close relationship between CM and CO chondrites has been suggested by previous petrologic and isotopic studies, leading to the suggestion that they may originate from similar precursor materials or even a common parent body. In this study, we evaluate the genetic relationship between CM and CO chondrites using Ti, Cr, and O isotopes. We first provide additional constraints on the ranges of ε50Ti and ε54Cr values of bulk CM and CO chondrites by reporting the isotopic compositions of CM2 chondrites Murchison, Murray, and Aguas Zarcas and the CO3.8 chondrite Isna. We then report the ε50Ti and ε54Cr values for several ungrouped and anomalous carbonaceous chondrites that have been previously reported to exhibit similarities to the CM and CO chondrite groups, including Elephant Moraine (EET) 83226, EET 83355, Grosvenor Mountains (GRO) 95566, MacAlpine Hills (MAC) 87300, MAC 87301, MAC 88107, and Northwest Africa (NWA) 5958, and the oxygen isotope compositions of a subset of these samples. We additionally report the ε50Ti, ε54Cr, and O isotopic compositions of additional ungrouped chondrites LaPaz Ice Field (LAP) 04757, LAP 04773, Lewis Cliff (LEW) 85332, and Coolidge to assess their potential relationships with known carbonaceous and ordinary chondrite groups. LAP 04757 and LAP 04773 exhibit isotopic compositions indicating they are low-FeO ordinary chondrites. The isotopic compositions of Murchison, Murray, Aguas Zarcas, and Isna extend the compositional ranges defined by the CM and CO chondrites in ε50Ti versus ε54Cr space. The majority of the ungrouped carbonaceous chondrites with documented similarities to the CM and/or CO chondrites plot outside the CM and CO group fields in plots of ε50Ti versus ε54Cr,Δ17O versus ε50Ti, and Δ17O versus ε54Cr. Therefore, based on differences in their Ti, Cr, and O-isotopic compositions, we conclude that the CM, CO, and ungrouped carbonaceous chondrites likely represent samples of multiple distinct parent bodies. We also infer that these parent bodies formed from precursor materials that shared similar isotopic compositions, which may indicate formation in regions of the protoplanetary disk that were in close proximity to each other.
Day: March 11, 2021
Highly volatile element (H, C, F, Cl, S) abundances and H isotopic compositions in chondrules from carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites
1Kei Shimizu,1ConelM. O’D. Alexander,1Erik H.Hauri,2Adam R.Sarafian,1Larry R.Nittler,1Jianhua Wang,3Steven D.Jacobsen,4Ruslan A.Mendybaev
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press) Link to Artiel [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2021.03.005]
1Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC
2Science and Technology Division, Corning Incorporated, Corning, NY
3Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
4Dept. of Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Copyright Elsevier
The partial pressures and isotopic compositions of volatiles present during chondrule formation can be constrained by the highly volatile element or HVE (H, C, F, Cl, and S) abundances and isotopic compositions in chondrules. Here we present the results of high spatial resolution and low background secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) analyses of the HVE concentrations and H isotopic compositions in type I and II chondrules in primitive ordinary chondrites Semarkona (LL3.00) and Queen Alexandra Range (QUE) 97008 (L3.05), and the primitive carbonaceous chondrite Dominion Range (DOM) 08006 (CO3.00). The HVEs in the chondrules primarily reside in the mesostases, in which the HVE contents and H isotopic compositions vary significantly (H2O: 8–10,200 ppm, CO2: 2.4–1170 ppm, F: 0.3–30 ppm, Cl: 0.07–175 ppm, S: 0.38–4400 ppm, δD: 77–15,000‰). To dissolve such HVE contents in a silicate melt requires significantly higher total pressures (up to 1900 bars), and in some cases requires anomalous gas compositions (CO dominated), compared to those expected from canonical conditions of chondrule formation (∼10-3 bars, H2+H2O dominated). Rather, the enrichments of H2O, CO2, Cl, and F in the mesostases at the edges of some chondrules suggest that there were secondary influxes of HVEs into the chondrule mesostases from the surrounding matrix during parent body processes. Consistent with this, melt inclusions sealed in olivine phenocrysts have significantly lower HVE contents than the mesostases in contact with the surrounding matrix material. Further, the calculated diffusion distances of H2O in silicate glasses under the relevant conditions are comparable to the radii of the chondrules. The high δD values in the mesostases could have been generated through isotopic Rayleigh fractionation as a result of the loss of very D-poor H2 generated from Fe metal oxidation by H2O in the parent bodies. Based on these results, we hypothesize that the bulk of the HVEs in the chondrules are secondary in origin. However, a small portion of the HVEs in chondrules could be primary, as there are low but measurable amounts of HVEs in the melt inclusions that are sealed in phenocrysts. Further, measured S contents in some chondrule mesostases agree with those predicted in a sulfide saturated silicate melt based on an experimentally calibrated thermodynamic model. We constrain the upper limits of primary HVEs in the chondrules based on the lowest measured HVE contents to minimize the effects of the secondary influx of HVEs (type I H2O: 7–11 ppm, CO2: 0.3–0.6 ppm, F: 0.1–0.2 ppm, Cl: 0.01–0.03 ppm, S: 0.3–60 ppm, and type II H2O: 50–85 ppm, CO2: 0.4–3 ppm, F: 0.04–2 ppm, Cl: 0.04–2 ppm, S: 190–260 ppm).
Trace element variations generated by magmatic and post-crystallization processes in eucrite meteorites
1Ben Kumler,1James M.D.Day
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2021.03.002]
1Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0244, USA
Copyright Elsevier
Eucrite meteorites are early-formed (>4.5 Ga) basaltic rocks that are likely to derive from the asteroid 4 Vesta, or a similarly differentiated planetesimal. To understand trace element and moderately volatile element (MVE) behavior more fully within and between eucrites, a laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) study is reported for plagioclase and pyroxene, as well as fusion crust and vitrophyric materials for ten eucrites. These eucrites span from a cumulate eucrite (Northwest Africa [NWA] 1923) to samples corresponding to Main Group (Queen Alexandra Range 97053, Pecora Escarpment 91245, Cumulus Hills 04049, Bates Nunatak 00300, Lewis Cliff 85305, Graves Nunataks 98098) and Stannern Group (Allan Hills 81001, NWA 1000) compositions, in addition to Elephant Moraine 90020. Along with a range of refractory trace elements, focus was given to abundances of five MVE (K, Zn, Rb, Cs, Pb) to interrogate the volatile abundance distributions in eucrite mineral phases. Modal recombination analyses of the eucrites reveals the important role of accessory phases (zircon, apatite) in some of the incompatible trace element (ITE) distributions, but not for the MVE which, for the phases that were analyzed, are mostly sited within plagioclase (Cs, Rb, K) and pyroxene (Zn, Pb), and are in equilibrium with a parental melt composition for Main Group eucrites. The new data reveal a possible relationship with total refractory ITE enrichment and texture, with the most ITE enriched Stannern Group eucrites examined (NWA 1000, ALHA 81001) having acicular textures and, in the case of ALHA 81001 a young degassing age (∼3.7 Ga). Collectively the results suggest that Stannern Group eucrites may be related to anatexis of the eucritic crust by thermal metamorphism, with the heat source possibly coming from impacts. Impact processes do not have a pronounced effect on the abundances of the MVE, where plagioclase, pyroxene, fusion crust, and whole rock compositions of eucrites are all significantly depleted in the MVE, with Zn/Fe, Rb/Ba and K/U similar to lunar rocks. Assessment of eucrite compositions, however, suggests that Vesta has a more heterogeneous distribution of volatile elements and is similarly to slightly less volatile-depleted than the Moon. Phase dependence of the MVE (e.g., Cl in apatite, Zn primarily into spinel and early formed phases, including pyroxene) is likely to influence comparison diagrams where MVE stable isotopes are shown. In the case of δ37Cl versus δ66Zn, metamorphism and impact processes may lead to a decrease in the δ37Cl value for a given δ66Zn value in eucrites, raising the possibility that late-stage impact and metamorphism had a profound effect on volatile distributions in early planetesimal crusts.