¹Addi Bischoff et al. (>10)
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Open Access Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13821]
¹Institut für Planetologie, University of Münster, Wilhelm-Klemm-Str. 10, 48149 Münster, Germany
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

On October 7, 2008, the asteroid 2008 TC3 exploded as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere, producing significant dust (in the atmosphere) and delivering thousands of stones in a strewn field in Sudan, collectively known as the Almahata Sitta (AhS) stones. About 600 fragments were officially recovered in 2008 and 2009. Further rocks were collected since the fall event by local people. From these stones, 249 were classified at the Institut für Planetologie in Münster (MS) known as MS-xxx or MS-MU-xxx AhS subsamples. Most of these rocks are ureilitic in origin (168; 67%): 87 coarse-grained ureilites, 60 fine-grained ureilites, 15 ureilites with variable texture/mineralogy, four trachyandesites, and two polymict breccias. We identified 81 non-ureilitic fragments, corresponding to 33% of the recovered samples studied in Münster. These included chondrites, namely 65 enstatite chondrites (43 EL; 22 EH), 11 ordinary chondrites (OC), one carbonaceous chondrite, and one unique R-like chondrite. Furthermore, three samples represent a unique type of enstatite achondrite. Since all AhS stones must be regarded as individual specimens independent from each other, the number of fresh ureilite and enstatite chondrite falls in our meteorite collections has been increased by several hundred percent. Overall, the samples weigh between <1 and 250 g and have a mean mass of ~15 g. If we consider—almost 15 years after the fall—the mass calculations, observations during and after the asteroid entered the atmosphere, the mineralogy of the C1 stones AhS 91A and AhS 671, and the experimental work on fitting the asteroid spectrum (e.g., Goodrich et al., 2019; Jenniskens et al., 2010; Shaddad et al., 2010), the main portion of the meteoroid was likely made of the fine-grained (carbonaceous) dust and was mostly lost in the atmosphere. In particular, the fact that C1 materials were found has important implications for interpreting asteroid 2008 TC3’s early spectroscopic results. Goodrich et al. (2019) correctly suggested that if scientists had not recovered the “water-free” samples (e.g., ureilites, enstatites, and OC) from the AhS strewn field, 2008 TC3 would have been assumed to be a carbonaceous chondrite meteoroid. Considering that the dominating mass of the exploding meteoroid consisted of carbonaceous materials, asteroid 2008 TC3 cannot be classified as a polymict ureilite; consequently, we state that the asteroid was a polymict carbonaceous chondrite breccia, specifically a polymict C1 object that may have formed by late accretion at least 50–100 Ma after calcium–aluminum-rich inclusions.

^1,2,3Zoë E. Wilbur et al. (>10)
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13823]
¹Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, 85721 USA
²University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89154 USA
³Jacobs, NASA Johnson Space Center, Mail Code XI3, Houston, Texas, 77058 USA
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

Enstatite-rich meteorites, including the aubrites, formed under conditions of very low oxygen fugacity (ƒO2: iron-wüstite buffer −2 to −6) and thus offer the ability to study reduced magmatism present on multiple bodies in our solar system. Elemental partitioning among metals, sulfides, and silicates is poorly constrained at low ƒO2; however, studies of enstatite-rich meteorites may yield empirical evidence of the effects of low ƒO2 on elemental behavior. This work presents comprehensive petrologic and oxygen isotopic studies of 14 aubrites, including four meteorites that have not been previously investigated in detail. The aubrites exhibit a variety of textures and mineralogy, and their elemental zoning patterns point to slow cooling histories for all 14 samples. Oxygen isotope analyses suggest that the aubrite parent bodies may be more heterogeneous than originally reported or may have experienced incomplete magmatic differentiation. Contrary to the other classified aubrites and based on textural and mineralogical observations, we suggest that the Northwest Africa 8396 meteorite shows an affinity for an enstatite chondrite parentage. By measuring major elemental compositions of silicates, sulfides, and metals, we calculate new metal–silicate, sulfide–silicate, and sulfide–metal partition coefficients for aubrites that are applicable to igneous systems at low ƒO2. The geochemical behavior of elements in aubrites, as determined using partition coefficients, is similar to the geochemical behavior of elements determined experimentally for magmatic systems on Mercury. Enstatite-rich meteorites, including aubrites, represent valuable natural petrologic analogues to Mercury and their study could further our understanding of reduced magmatism in our solar system.