Microtextures in the Chelyabinsk impact breccia reveal the history of Phosphorus‐Olivine‐Assemblages in chondrites

1Craig R. Walton,2Ioannis Baziotis,3Ana Černok,4Ludovic Ferrière,5Paul D. Asimow,1,6Oliver Shorttle,3,7Mahesh Anand
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13648]
1Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EQ UK
2Department of Natural Resources Management and Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural University of Athens, IeraOdos 75, 11855 Athens, Greece
3Department of Physical Sciences, Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA UK
4Natural History Museum, Burgring 7, A‐1010 Vienna, Austria
5Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E California Blvd, Pasadena, California, 91125 USA
6Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 OHA UK
7Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD UK
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

The geochemistry and textures of phosphate minerals can provide insights into the geological histories of parental asteroids, but the processes governing their formation and deformation remain poorly constrained. We assessed phosphorus‐bearing minerals in the three lithologies (light, dark, and melt) of the Chelyabinsk (LL5) ordinary chondrite using scanning electron microscope, electron microprobe, cathodoluminescence, and electron backscatter diffraction techniques. The majority of studied phosphate grains appear intergrown with olivine. However, microtextures of phosphates (apatite [Ca5(PO4)3(OH,Cl,F)] and merrillite [Ca9NaMg(PO4)7]) are extremely variable within and between the differently shocked lithologies investigated. We observe continuously strained as well as recrystallized strain‐free merrillite populations. Grains with strain‐free subdomains are present only in the more intensely shocked dark lithology, indicating that phosphate growth predates the development of primary shock‐metamorphic features. Complete melting of portions of the meteorite is recorded by the shock‐melt lithology, which contains a population of phosphorus‐rich olivine grains. The response of phosphorus‐bearing minerals to shock is therefore hugely variable throughout this monomict impact breccia. We propose a paragenetic history for P‐bearing phases in Chelyabinsk involving initial phosphate growth via P‐rich olivine replacement, followed by phosphate deformation during an early impact event. This event was also responsible for the local development of shock melt that lacks phosphate grains and instead contains P‐enriched olivine. We generalize our findings to propose a new classification scheme for Phosphorus‐Olivine‐Assemblages (Type I–III POAs). We highlight how POAs can be used to trace radiogenic metamorphism and shock metamorphic events that together span the entire geological history of chondritic asteroids.

The classification of relict extraterrestrial chrome spinels using STEM techniques on silicate inclusions

1,2Caroline E. Caplan,2Gary R. Huss,2Hope A. Ishii,2John P. Bradley,2,3Birger Schmitz,1Kazuhide Nagashima
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13649]
1Department of Earth Sciences, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 1680 East‐West Road, Honolulu, Hawai‘i, 96822 USA
2Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 1680 East‐West Road, Honolulu, Hawai‘i, 96822 USA
3Astrogeobiology Laboratory, Department of Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

Remnant extraterrestrial chrome spinels from terrestrial sediments provide information on how the mixture of meteoritic materials falling to Earth has changed over Earth’s history. The parent meteorite type of each grain can be identified by characteristic elemental and oxygen‐isotope abundances. Some meteorite types can be difficult to classify because their chrome‐spinel compositional ranges overlap. Silicate inclusions within chrome spinels of modern ordinary chondrites have been shown to have discriminating power among meteorite subclasses. We employed energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and in a (scanning) transmission electron microscope (S/TEM) to investigate inclusions in chrome‐spinel grains from Ordovician and Jurassic sediments. Unaltered Ordovician inclusions allowed us to establish the size limits for reliable SEM analysis of inclusions. The Jurassic grains were more altered, but the use of STEM techniques on small inclusions (<3 μm diameter at their polished surfaces) allowed us to determine chemical compositions and mineral structures of inclusions in three chrome spinels. The parent meteorite type was determined for one Jurassic grain based on its inclusion compositions. Our study confirms that silicate inclusions can be used to classify parent meteorite types of chrome‐spinel grains, but the size of the inclusions and the complex effects of terrestrial alteration must be taken into account. During our study, we also found some interesting exsolution phenomena in the host chrome‐spinel grains.

Origin of minerals in åkermanite-rich patch texture and oxygen isotopic evolution of compact Type A Ca-Al-rich inclusions from the Northwest Africa 7865 CV chondrite

1Akimasa Suzumura,2Noriyuki Kawasaki,3Yusuke Seto,2Hisayoshi Yurimoto,1Shoichi Itoh
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2021.03.030]
1Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
2Department of Natural History Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
3Department of Planetology, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan
Copyright Elsevier

We report the in-situ oxygen isotopic distributions corresponding to the petrographic-mineralogical observation on a compact Type A (CTA) Ca-Al-rich inclusion (CAI), KU-N-02, from a reduced CV3 chondrite, Northwest Africa 7865. The CTA has an igneous texture and mainly consists of spinel, melilite, and Al-Ti-rich clinopyroxene (fassaite). Oxygen isotopic compositions of the constituent minerals plot along the carbonaceous chondrite anhydrous mineral line. The spinel grains are poikilitically enclosed in the melilite and fassaite and are uniformly 16O-rich (Δ17O = approximately −23‰). The fassaite is texturally classified into two types: blocky fassaite and intergranular fassaite. The blocky fassaite crystals exhibit growth zoning as they change from Ti-rich to Ti-poor along the inferred directions of crystal growth from core to rim, while the oxygen isotopic compositions change from 16O-poor (Δ17O = approximately −6‰) to 16O-rich (Δ17O = approximately −23‰) with crystal growth. The intergranular fassaite crystals exist between the melilite crystals and exhibit variable Ti abundance and oxygen isotopic compositions. Additionally, their relationships between Ti contents and oxygen isotopic composition are similar to those of the blocky fassaite. The melilite grains are homogeneously 16O-poor (Δ17O = approximately −2‰), irrespective of their åkermanite (Åk) content. Each melilite grain generally exhibits growth zoning with increasing Åk contents from core to rim, although the melilite contains Åk-rich patches within single crystal. Åk-rich patches often include two types of fassaite: small blebby crystals attached to spinel crystals and round crystals. The oxygen isotopic compositions of the Åk-rich patch and blebby fassaite are 16O-poor (Δ17O = approximately −2‰), similar to that of the host melilite. On the other hand, the round fassaite exhibits significant variation in oxygen isotopic compositions ranging from Δ17O = −23‰ to −4‰, which are different from those of the host melilite. These petrographic textures and oxygen isotopic variations indicate the presence of a solid precursor with variable oxygen isotopic compositions for the CTA. The spinel and round fassaite grains are relicts of the precursor that melted in the 16O-poor nebular gas, resulting in the crystallization of the host melilite from the 16O-poor melt. The Åk-rich patches and blebby fassaite crystallized from melts trapped by the growing host melilite crystals. The blocky and intergranular fassaite crystallized after the melilite did, and the oxygen isotopic composition of the melt changed to 16O-rich during the crystallization process, suggesting that the oxygen isotopic composition of the surrounding nebular gas could be varied. The inferred oxygen isotopic evolution for CTA is consistent with those inferred for Type B CAIs, suggesting that coarse-grained igneous CAIs formed in a similar nebular environment regardless of precursor chemistry.

40Ar/39Ar ages of Northwest Africa 7034 and Northwest Africa 7533

1F. N. Lindsay et al. (>10)
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13637]
1Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08854 USA
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

The Martian breccias NWA 7034, NWA 7533, and paired meteorites record events ranging in age from 4.47 Ga to <200 Ma. Published ages indicate a period of major disturbance at ~1.4 Ga, examined in detail here through 40Ar/39Ar dating of handpicked grains and two small chips. Argon diffusion parameters were obtained for six samples. Also presented are He, Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe contents of two small (<100 µg), handpicked mineral separates, a felsic “Light” sample and a mafic/pyroxene‐rich “Dark” sample. The 40Ar/39Ar ages of five samples, four containing >1 wt% K and thought to be rich in feldspar and one containing <~1 wt% K, cluster near 1.4 Ga. The 40Ar/39Ar ages of nine grains with low K contents have a wide range of apparent ages from 0.3 ± 0.1 Ga to 2.9 ± 0.1 Ga for individual temperature steps, and from 0.74 ± 0.06 Ga to ~2.1 Ga for plateau ages. Isochron ages are less precise, but generally agree with plateau ages. Only two isochrons have the significantly positive intercepts expected in the presence of terrestrial or Martian atmospheric argon. At higher release temperatures, activation energies for diffusion obtained from 39Ar data for six samples are generally 160–200 kJ mol−1, consistent with published values for feldspathic minerals. For three of these samples, lower temperature data on Arrhenius plots are best fit with a much lower activation energy of <100 kJ mol−1. We attribute the low values to the effects of varying degrees of shock on feldspathic minerals and/or the presence of phases in vitrophyric spherules produced by hydrothermal alteration. The low activation energies place an upper limit of ~14 ka on the terrestrial age of NWA 7034. Much lower concentrations of cosmogenic (c) 3He and 21Ne in the Light than in the Dark separate indicate substantial losses concurrent with or postdating cosmic ray irradiation. A one‐stage, cosmic ray exposure (CRE) age for the Dark separate from NWA 7034 is estimated to be between 7 and 10 Ma from the concentrations of 3Hec and 38Arc, and of close to 15 Ma from the concentration of 21Nec. Most of the 40Ar/39Ar and noble gas data are compatible with (1) a heating and alteration event ~1.40 Ga caused by contact metamorphism, an impact, and/or the infiltration of hydrothermal fluids; and (2) at least one later event at lower temperatures that led to either loss of He and Ar from phases with low activation energies, or to gain of K. Most of the 40Ar/39Ar ages are consistent with the assembly of NWA 7034 1.4 Ga ago or perhaps earlier followed more recently by selective alteration. A more recent time of assembly is also consistent with these ages provided that the temperature stayed low. The five most precise 40Ar/39Ar ages of the samples analyzed are all ~1.4 Ga, a value seen frequently in other NWA 7034 chronometers and very similar to crystallization ages of nakhlites and chassignites (NC). Some CRE ages based on noble gases in NWA 7034 agree within their considerable uncertainties with those of NC. These two chronometric coincidences suggest that the NWA 7034 clan and the NC share a launch date on Mars. We propose that K‐rich fluids derived from the nakhlite source area interacted with proto‐NWA 7034 and modified the K/Ar ratios and ages of previously shocked feldspar grains, with the degree of modification depending on the degree of shock. The NWA 7034 clan may therefore be considered components from a metamorphic aureole around a nakhlite massif.

End of magmatism in the upper crust of asteroid 4 Vesta

1,2F. Jourdan,2,3L. Forman,1,2T. Kennedy,1G. K. Benedix,4E. Eroglu,1C. Mayers
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13640]
1Western Australian Argon Isotope Facility, John de Laeter Centre, TIGeR, Curtin University, Perth, 6845 Western Australia, Australia
2Space Science and Technology Centre, School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, 6845 Western Australia, Australia
3Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Western Australian Museum, Locked Bag 49, Welshpool DC, Perth, 6986 Western Australia, Australia
4School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, 6845 Western Australia, Australia
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

Asteroid 4 Vesta is the only largely preserved differentiated asteroid and thus is an excellent proxy to study early magmatism occurring on planets and moons. In this study, we focus on eucrite Pecora Escarpment (PCA) 82502, a medium‐ to fine‐grained eucrite which chemical analyses suggest belongs to the main howardite–eucrite–diogenite clan, albeit with some peculiarities. We carried out backscattered electron and electron backscattered diffraction microscopy analyses of the meteorite along with step‐heating 40Ar/39Ar dating analyses of various types of groundmass aliquots. We show that Pecora Escarpment 82502 is composed of medium‐grained igneous crystalline clasts and smaller fractured satellite clasts surrounded by approximately 50 µm wide impact melt veins of the same composition. Our results show that the large crystalline clasts and fine‐grained veins both display little evidence of shock processes. Six groundmass aliquots from large crystalline clasts returned concordant plateau (>70% of 39Ar) or mini‐plateau (50–70% of 39Ar) 40Ar/39Ar ages with a weighted mean of 4531 ± 6 Ma (P = 0.67). Thermodynamic cooling and 40Ar diffusion models suggest that the K/Ar system recorded and preserved the igneous age despite subsequent infiltration of hot and quickly quenched melt veins. Our new igneous age, combined with evidence for four other young volcanic and plutonic eucrites of similar age, shows that Vesta was still magmatically active around 4531 Ma. The lack of younger ages suggests that this age might well represent the end of the magmatic activity in the upper crust of Vesta. When combined with existing paleomagnetic constraints, our data suggest that 4 Vesta had an active dynamo that was still active ~35 Ma after accretion.

Uniform oxygen fugacity of shergottite mantle sources and an oxidized martian lithosphere

1Robert W.Nicklas,1James M.D.Day,2Zoltan Vaci,3Arya Udry,4Yang Liu,5Kimberly T.Tait
Earth and Planetary Science Letters 564, 116876 Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2021.116876]
1Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
2Institute of Meteoritics, Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA
3Department of Geoscience, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
4Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
5Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, ON, M5S 2C6, Canada
Copyright Elsevier

Martian meteorites are the only available samples that can be directly measured to constrain the geological evolution of Mars. It has been suggested that the oxygen fugacity (fO2) of martian shergottite meteorites, which have low (∼7 wt.%) to high-MgO (∼30 wt.%) compositions, correlates with incompatible trace element enrichment (i.e., La/Yb), and 87Sr/86Sr, 143Nd/144Nd, 187Os/188Os and 176Hf/177Hf at the time of crystallization. These relationships have been interpreted to result from early magmatic processes segregating enriched and more oxidized from depleted and more reduced reservoirs in Mars. Here we use the V-in-olivine oxybarometer to constrain the fO2 of shergottites and the dunitic chassignites. These data, utilizing early crystallizing silicate phases, constrain the shergottite fO2 range to between −3.72 ± 0.07 and −0.21 ± 0.55 ΔFMQ (log units relative to the fayalite-magnetite-quartz buffer), with no correlation with trace element enrichment or Nd isotope systematics. Previously employed oxybarometers that use later-formed or multiple mineral phases, and that show such correlations, likely differ from the V-in-olivine oxybarometer in that they record effects from late-stage magmatic processes. In contrast to shergottites, chassignites are relatively oxidized, at +2.1 ± 0.4 to +2.2 ± 0.5 ΔFMQ. The chassignites, along with the nakhlites, have been proposed to be sourced from metasomatized lithospheric mantle, and their high fO2 strengthens this model. The new data implies that the martian mantle sources of shergottites have fO2 of −2.1 ± 1.8 ΔFMQ. This estimate indicates that the mantle and core of Mars are not in redox equilibrium and therefore that oxidation of the martian mantle following core formation is required.

Carboxylate anion generation in aqueous solution from carbonate radiolysis, a potential route for abiotic organic acid synthesis on Earth and beyond

1Johan Vandenborre,3Laurent Truche,1Amaury Costagliola,1Emeline Craff,1Guillaume Blain,1Véronique Baty,2Ferid Haddad,2Massoud Fattahi
Earth and Planetary Science Letters 564, 116892 Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2021.116892]
1Subatech, UMR 6457, Institut Mines-Télécom Atlantique, CNRS/IN2P3, Université de Nantes, 4, Rue Alfred Kastler, La chantrerie BP 20722, 44307 Nantes cedex 3, France
2GIP ARRONAX, 1 rue ARRONAX, CS 10112, 44817 Saint-Herblain Cedex, France
3University Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, ISTerre, CS 40700, 38058 Grenoble, France
Copyright Elsevier

Low molecular weight carboxylate anions such as formate (HCOO−), acetate (CH3COO−) and oxalate (C2O) have been shown to play an important role in supporting deep subsurface microbial ecosystems. Their origin whether biological or abiotic is currently highly debated, but surprisingly radiolytic production has rarely been considered, as it is the case for H2. Here, we address this question through dedicated irradiation experiments. Aqueous solutions containing carbonate, formate, acetate or oxalate have been irradiated using both the 60.7 MeV α-beam of the ARRONAX cyclotron (Nantes, France) and 661.7 keV γ-Ray in order to reveal the mechanism and chemical yield of radiation-induced dissolved carbonate degradation.

The yields (G-values) of carboxylate anions production/degradation in low-concentration carbonate solution (0.01 to 1 mmol L−1) are measured. Carbonate degradation occurs through three consecutive steps (Carbonate
Formate Acetate Oxalate) involving formate radical (CO2−•), dihydrogen (H2), and carbon dioxide (CO2) generation. Dissolved carbonate radiolysis provides a consistent pathway for both enhancing two-fold the radiolytic H2 production compared to pure water and generating carboxylic species, chiefly oxalate, readily available for microbes. Radiation-induced carbonate degradation may produce substantial amount (millimolar concentration) of carboxylate anions in ancient groundwaters from deep crystalline bedrocks. Subsurface lithoautotrophic microbial ecosystems may not only be supported by radiolytic H2 but also by carboxylate species from carbonate radiolysis. Carbonate radiolysis can be also an endogenous source of carboxylate species on Mars and other planetary bodies.

Aqueous alteration and bioalteration of a synthetic enstatite chondrite

1Caroline AVRIL,1Valérie MALAVERGNE,2Eric D. VAN HULLEBUSCH,3Fabrice BRUNET,2Stephan BORENSZTAJN,4Jérôme LABANOWSKI,5Louis HENNET,6François GUYOT
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13641]
1Laboratoire Géomatériaux et Environnement, Université Gustave Eiffel, EA 4508, UPEM, 5 boulevard Descartes, 77454 Marne‐la‐Vallée, Cedex 2, France
2Institut de physique du globe de Paris, CNRS, Université de Paris, F‐75005 Paris, France
3ISTerre, CNRS—Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Maison des Géosciences, BP 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France
4Laboratoire de Chimie et Microbiologie de l’Eau, UMR CNRS 6008, Université de Poitiers, 40 avenue du recteur Pineau, 86022 Poitiers, France
5Conditions Extrêmes et Matériaux: Haute Température et Irradiation, UPR 3079 CNRS et université d’Orléans, 1d avenue de la recherche scientifique, 45071 Orléans Cedex 2, France
6Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, IMPMC UMR 7590 CNRS, 61 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

Understanding the transformations of highly reduced enstatite chondrites (EC) in terrestrial environments, even on very short timescales, is important to make the best use of the cosmochemical and mineralogical information carried by these extraterrestrial rocks. Analogs of EC meteorites were synthesized at high pressure and high temperature. Then, their aqueous alterations, either abiotic or in the presence of the bacteria Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans or Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans, were studied under air, at pH ~2, 20 °C, and atmospheric pressure. They stayed in shaken batch reactors for 15 days. Reference experiments were carried out separately by altering only one mineral phase among those composing the synthetic EC (i.e., sulfides: troilite or Mg‐Ca‐rich sulfides, enstatite, and Fe70Si30). Composition of the alteration aqueous media and microstructures of the weathered solids were monitored by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy and by scanning electron microscopy, respectively. Alteration sequence of the different mineral components of the synthetic EC was found to occur in the following order: magnesium‐calcium sulfides > troilite > iron‐silicon metallic phase > enstatite regardless of the presence or absence of the microorganisms. Such small biological effects might be due to the fact that the alteration conditions are far from biologically optimal, which is likely the case in most natural environments. The exposed surfaces of an EC meteorite falling on Earth in a wet and acidic environment could lose within a few hours their Ca‐ and Mg‐rich sulfides (oldhamite and niningerite). Then, in <1 week, troilite and kamacite could be altered. In a wet and acidic environment, only the enstatite would remain intact and would weather on a much slower geological timescale.

Colomera (Granada, Spain): More than a century of an IIE iron meteorite journey

1R. P. Lozano,2J. A. Sánchez,1R. González‐Laguna,3T. Martín‐Crespo
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13645]
1Museo Geominero, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, C/Ríos Rosas 23, Madrid, 28003 Spain
2C/Rio Añamaza 4, 29620 Torremolinos, Málaga, Spain
3Departamento de Biología y Geología, Física y Química Inorgánica, ESCET, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, C/Tulipán s/n, Móstoles, 28933 Madrid, Spain
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

Colomera is the Spanish meteorite (IIE) that has aroused the greatest interest among the international scientific community. Until now, the story of the find was only partially known and certain data are incorrect. The amazing journey of this meteorite has been recounted in this work. It reveals unpublished information derived from local archives, and testimonies from the descendants of the family that found the meteorite in 1913, and from the inhabitants of Colomera (Granada, Spain). We also document the story after its discovery, which culminated in a 2015 court ruling demanding the return of the largest part the mass (120.34 kg) to the heirs of the Spanish family that discovered the meteorite. Some of the material initially extracted in Spain (305 g) is currently housed in the Natural History Museum (121.3 g; London, UK). Nine kilograms of fragments remains in the United States after returning the meteorite to Spain in 1969. Of these, we have only located slightly more than 4 kg in several American institutions. Recently, 235 g has been returned to Spain: two fragments in private collections and two fragments in the Museo Geominero, Spanish Geological and Mining Institute (Spanish acronym: IGME).

The Fe/S ratio of pyrrhotite group sulfides in chondrites: An indicator of oxidation and implications for return samples from asteroids Ryugu and Bennu

1Devin L.Schrader,1Jemma Davidson,2Timothy J.McCoy,3Thomas J.Zega,4Sara S.Russell,3Kenneth J.Domanik,4Ashley J.King
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press) Link to Articel [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2021.03.019]
1Center for Meteorite Studies, School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, 781 East Terrace Road, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
2Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 10th & Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20560-0119, USA
3Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
4Planetary Materials Group, Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
Copyright Elsevier

Determining compositional trends among individual minerals is key to understanding the thermodynamic conditions under which they formed and altered, and is also essential to maximizing the scientific value of small extraterrestrial samples, including returned samples and meteorites. Here we report the chemical compositions of Fe-sulfides, focusing on the pyrrhotite-group sulfides, which are ubiquitous in chondrites and are sensitive indicators of formation and alteration conditions in the protoplanetary disk and in small Solar System bodies. Our data show that while there are trends with the at.% Fe/S ratio of pyrrhotite with thermal and aqueous alteration in some meteorite groups, there is a universal trend between the Fe/S ratio and degree of oxidation. Relatively reducing conditions led to the formation of troilite during: (1) chondrule formation in the protoplanetary disk (i.e., pristine chondrites) and (2) parent body thermal alteration (i.e., LL4 to LL6, CR1, CM, and CY chondrites). Oxidizing and sulfidizing conditions led to the formation of Fe-depleted pyrrhotite with low Fe/S ratios during: (1) aqueous alteration (i.e., CM and CI chondrites), and (2) thermal alteration (i.e., CK and R chondrites). The presence of troilite in highly aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrites (e.g., CY, CR1, and some CM chondrites) indicates they were heated after aqueous alteration. The presence of troilite, Fe-depleted pyrrhotite, or pyrite in a chondrite can provide an estimate of the oxygen and sulfur fugacities at which it was formed or altered. The data reported here can be used to estimate the oxygen fugacity of formation and potentially the aqueous and/or thermal histories of sulfides in extraterrestrial samples, including those returned by the Hayabusa2 mission and due to be returned by the OSIRIS-REx mission in the near future.