¹Daniela Guerrero,¹Wolf Uwe Reimold,¹Natalia Hauser,²Igor Figueiredo,²Lucas Kenni,³Philippe Lambert
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14247]
¹Postgraduate Program in Geology, Laboratory of Geochronology, Geosciences Institute, University of Brasília, Brasília, Brazil
²Department of Geology—Escola de Minas, Federal University of Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Brazil
³CIRIR—Centre International de Recherche et de Restitution sur les Impacts et sur Rochechouart, Rochechouart, France
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

The Rochechouart impact structure in the northwestern part of the French Massif Central (FMC) has a great diversity of impactites, including monomict impact breccias, suevite, and impact melt rocks (IMRs). The structure is strongly eroded, which allows the study of impactites of the crater fill and the transition into the crater floor. The FMC has had a multistage geological evolution from the late Neoproterozoic to the Ordovician (600–450 Ma) until the later stages of the Variscan orogeny (~300 Ma). Previous geochronological work on Rochechouart has been focused mainly on the impactites and constraining the impact age, and scarce work has been done on the FMC-related target rocks. Here, U-Pb isotope analysis by LA-MC-ICP-MS has been conducted on zircon from two IMRs from the Recoudert and Montoume localities, and from a monzodiorite, a paragneiss, and two amphibolite samples of the basement to the impact structure. Zircon from the target rocks yielded mainly Neoproterozoic to Carboniferous ages (~924 to ~301 Ma) that can mostly be correlated to different stages of the geological evolution of the FMC. The monzodiorite also yielded a Permian age of 272 ± 12 Ma. Zircon from the IMRs, and especially from the Montoume sample, gave a comparatively higher diversity of Neoproterozoic to Jurassic ages (~552 to ~195 Ma). Provenance analysis for the zircon age populations of the impactites compared to those of the basement rocks shows overall poor correlation between the two age groups. This suggests that other target lithologies were involved in the formation of these impact melts as well. Post-Variscan and preimpact ages (281–226 Ma) obtained for both melt rocks probably reflect a previously unconstrained event in the evolution of the regional geological history. Ages similar to the currently most widely accepted impact age of ~204–206 Ma were obtained from both IMR samples. In addition, the Montoume melt rock yielded several post-204 Ma ages, which might reflect a to date unconstrained, about 194 Ma postimpact thermal/hydrothermal event.

¹Carolinna da Silva Maia de Souza,¹Natalia Hauser,¹Wolf Uwe Reimold,¹Renato Borges Bernardes,¹Lucieth Cruz Vieira,¹Edi Mendes Guimarães,²Manfred Gottwald
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14236]
¹Institute of Geosciences, University of Brasilia, Darcy Ribeiro Campus, Brasília, Brazil
²German Aerospace Center, Remote Sensing Technology Institute, Wessling, Germany
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

Extensive, new outcrops along the MT-100 state road in the northern part of the central uplift of the 40-km diameter, 252–259 Ma old Araguainha impact structure, Central Brazil, have become available for investigation. They offer new insight into the contact relationships between the different lithologies and the genesis of different types of impact-related rocks, as well as the current level of erosion of the structure. Three types of impact melt rock (IMR) with different field relationships and compositions can now be distinguished: (1) Type-I of granitic composition and occurring mainly as veins and dikes, besides a few larger pods, in the central alkali granite core of the central uplift; (2) Type-II in the form of plastically deformed clasts of mainly highly silicious compositions in polymict impact breccia; and (3) Type-III, derived from partially melted conglomerate or sandstone precursors, and that occurs at selected sites in (meta)sedimentary strata of the basement in the immediate environs of the alkali granite core. Both polymict lithic and melt-bearing (suevitic) impact breccias are recognized in the 110-m thick integrated section through impact breccia directly overlying the crater floor. This crater floor is composed of (meta)-sedimentary basement strata with granite injections and, locally, sandstones of the Devonian sedimentary Furnas Formation of the Paraná Basin. Main breccia components are (meta)-pelites and (meta)sandstones of the basement that is currently favored to be related to the regional Paraguay Belt and to the lower sequence of the Paraná Basin sedimentary strata. Locally, breccia contains clasts of IMR Type-II, and only very rarely are granitic fragments observed. Clasts of IMR Type-I have never been observed in the breccia deposits. These new observations preclude significant involvement of alkali granite in the formation of the polymict breccia or in the production of shock melts. They also reveal the major role of the (meta)sedimentary precursors in the production of IMR by shock melting and provide essential information for better understanding the cratering processes involved in the formation of an impact structure in a sedimentary target, of the size of the Araguainha impact structure.

^1,2Aryavart Anand et al. (>10)
Geochimica et Cosmochimica acta (in Press) Open Access Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2024.07.025]
¹Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen 37077, Germany
²Institut für Geologie, Universität Bern, Bern 3012, Switzerland
Copyright Elsevier

Magmatic iron meteorites are thought to sample the metallic cores of differentiated planetesimals and are subdivided into several chemical groups, each representing a distinct parent body. The only exceptions are the groups IIAB and IIG, which have been proposed to sample two immiscible melts from the same core. To test this model, we report the first Fe, Ni, O, and Cr isotope data for IIG iron meteorites and the first high-precision O isotope data for IIAB iron meteorites. The new data demonstrate that IIG iron meteorites belong to the non-carbonaceous (NC) meteorites. This is evident from the isotope anomaly of each of the four elements investigated, where the IIG irons always overlap with the compositions of NC meteorites but are distinct from those of carbonaceous (CC) meteorites. Moreover, among the NC meteorites and in particular, the NC irons, the isotopic composition of the IIG irons overlaps only with that of the IIAB irons. The combined Fe-Ni-O-Cr isotope data for IIAB and IIG iron meteorites, therefore, reveal formation from a single isotopic reservoir, indicating a strong genetic link between the two groups. The indistinguishable isotopic composition of the IIAB and IIG irons, combined with chemical evidence for the formation of IIG irons as late-stage liquids of the IIAB core, strongly suggests that both groups originate from the same core. The results underscore the strength of utilizing multiple elements to establish genetic links among meteorites, rather than using a single element. They also highlight the significance of integrating multiple geochemical tracers and petrologic observations to accurately determine genetic relationships and the formation of meteorites within the same parent body.