Volatile element chemistry during accretion of the earth

1BruceFegleyJr,1Katharina Lodders,2Nathan S.Jacobson
Geochemistry [Chemie der Erde] (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemer.2019.125594]
1Planetary Chemistry Laboratory, Dept. of Earth & Planetary Sciences and McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
2Materials Division, NASA Glenn Research Center, MS106-1, 21000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, OH 44135, USA
Copyright Elsevier

We review some issues relevant to volatile element chemistry during accretion of the Earth with an emphasis on historical development of ideas during the past century and on issues we think are important. These ideas and issues include the following: (1) whether or not the Earth accreted hot and the geochemical evidence for high temperatures during its formation, (2) some chemical consequences of the Earth’s formation before dissipation of solar nebular gas, (3) the building blocks of the Earth, (4) the composition of the Earth and its lithophile volatility trend, (5) chemistry of silicate vapor and steam atmospheres during Earth’s formation, (6) vapor – melt partitioning and possible loss of volatile elements, (7) insights from hot rocky extrasolar planets. We include tabulated chemical kinetic data for high-temperature elementary reactions in silicate vapor and steam atmospheres. We finish with a summary of the known and unknown issues along with suggestions for future work.

Mineralogical survey of the anorthositic Feldspathic Highlands Terrane crust using Moon Mineralogy Mapper data

1,2M.Martinot,3J.Flahaut,4S.Besse,2C.Quantin-Nataf,3W.van Westrenen
Icarus (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2020.113747]
1Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2Université Lyon 1, ENS-Lyon, CNRS, UMR 5276 LGL-TPE, F-69622, Villeurbanne, France
3Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, CNRS/Université de Lorraine F-54500, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France
4European Space Astronomy Centre, P.O. Box 78, 28691 Villanueva de la Canada, Madrid, Spain
Copyright Elsevier

Spectroscopic data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument are used to study the mineralogy of the central peak or peak ring of 75 craters located in the lunar anorthositic Feldspathic Highlands Terrane (FHT-a), as defined by Jolliff et al. (2000). The thickness of South-Pole Aitken (SPA) ejecta at the location of the selected craters is estimated. Crustal thickness models are used with empirical cratering equations to estimate the depth of origin of the material excavated in the studied central peaks, and its distance to the crust-mantle interface. The goal of this survey is to study the composition of the FHT-a crust, and the extent of its potential lateral and vertical heterogeneities. High-Calcium Pyroxene (HCP) and featureless spectra are mostly detected throughout the entire FHT-a, whereas the number of pure plagioclase detections is small. No relationship between the central peak composition and the distance to SPA or the depth within the SPA ejecta is observed. The SPA ejecta material cannot be spectrally distinguished from crustal material. We interpret the paucity of plagioclase spectra in the FHT-a, which contrasts with more frequent plagioclase detections in the central peaks of craters sampling the crust in younger lunar terranes using identical spectroscopic techniques Martinot et al. (2018b), as a possible effect of terrane maturation, or of mixing with mafic components that mask their signature in the visible near-infrared. Overall, the FHT-a appears homogeneous laterally. However, data hint at a pyroxene compositional change with increasing depth, from high-calcium content in the upper crust towards less calcic compositions with increasing depth, which is consistent with prior studies of the architecture of the lunar crust.

Micrometeorites: Insights into the flux, sources and atmospheric entry of extraterrestrial dust at Earth

1,3Matthew J.Genge,2Matthias Van Ginneken,3Martin D.Suttle
Planetary and Space Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2020.104900]
1Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
2Department of Physics, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK
3Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2BD, UK

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Linking studies of tiny meteoroids, zodiacal dust, cometary dust and circumstellar disks

1A.C.Levasseur-Regourd,2C.Baruteau,,2J.Lasue,3,4J.Milli,5J.-B.Renard
Planetary and Space Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2020.104896]
1LATMOS, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, CNES, Paris, France
2IRAP, Université de Toulouse, CNES, CNRS, UPS, Toulouse, France
3European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Córdova 3107, Casilla, 19001, Santiago, Chile
4Univ. Grenoble Alpes, IPAG, Grenoble, France
5LPC2E, Université d’Orléans, CNRS, Orléans, France

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WATER AND HEAT: NEW CONSTRAINTS ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE CV CHONDRITE PARENT BODY

1Lydie Bonal,2Jérôme Gattacceca, 1,3Alexandre Garenne,1JolanthaEschrig, 2PierreRochette,2 Lisa Krämer Ruggiu
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2020.03.009]
1Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique de Grenoble, Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS CNES, 38000 Grenoble (France)
2CNRS, Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, Coll France, INRAE, CEREGE, Aix-en-Provence, France
3Nuclear and Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA
Copyright Elsevier

This paper focuses on the post-accretion history of CV3 chondrites, through a combination of petrographic and mineralogical characterization, magnetic measurements, spectral (Raman and Infrared) and thermo-gravimetric analysis of 31 meteorites (including 7 falls, 21 Antarctic and 3 non-Antarctic finds) spanning a wide metamorphic range.
We classify the 21 Antarctic chondrites and the Bukhara fall into the CVRed, CVOxA, and CVOxB subgroups. We establish quantitative parameters relevant for this sub-classification. In comparison to CVOx, CVRed chondrites are characterized by (i) a lower abundance of matrix, (ii) a higher abundance of metal, (iii) the presence of Ni-poor sulfides. In comparison to CVOxB, CVOxA are characterized by (i) similar matrix abundance, (ii) a higher abundance of metal, (iii) the presence of metal almost exclusively under the form of awaruite, (iv) lower Ni content of sulfides, (v) lower magnetic susceptibility and saturation remanence.
Both CVOx (CVOxA and CVOxB) and CVRed experienced aqueous alteration, and contain oxyhydroxides and phyllosilicates. We show that the abundance of these hydrated secondary minerals observed today in individual CV chondrites decreases with their peak metamorphic temperature. This is interpreted either as partial dehydration of these secondary minerals or limited hydration due to the rapid exhaustion of the water reservoir during parent body thermal metamorphism. Moreover, the lower abundance of oxyhydroxides (that have a lower thermal stability than phyllosilicates and may in large part postdate the peak of thermal metamorphism) in more metamorphosed CV chondrites is interpreted as lower availability of aqueous fluids during retrograde metamorphism in these meteorites.
Lastly, we show that in comparison to CVOxB, CVOxA are systematically (i) more metamorphosed, (ii) less hydrated, (iii) depleted in ferromagnetic minerals, (iv) but enriched in metal in the form of secondary awaruite. CVOxA may be thermally metamorphosed CVOxB. CVRed are significantly different from CVOx (matrix abundances, alteration products, opaque minerals), but span the same wide metamorphic range. This could be indicative of a laterally heterogeneous CV parent body, or suggest the existence of distinct parent bodies for CVOx and CVRed chondrites.

Ammonium salts are a reservoir of nitrogen on a cometary nucleus and possibly on some asteroids

1Olivier Poch et al. (>10)
Science 367, eaaw7462 Link to Article [DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw7462]
1Université Grenoble Alpes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG), 38000 Grenoble, France.

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Ruthenium isotope vestige of Earth’s pre-late-veneer mantle preserved in Archaean rocks

1Mario Fischer-Gödde,1Bo-Magnus Elfers,1Carsten Münker,2Kristoffer Szilas,3Wolfgang D. Maier,1Nils Messling,4,5,6Tomoaki Morishita,7Martin Van Kranendonk,8Hugh Smithies
Nature 579, 240-244 Link to Article [DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2069-3]
1Institut für Geologie und Mineralogie, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
2Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
3School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
4Faculty of Geosciences and Civil Engineering, Institute of Science and Engineering, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan
5Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
6Volcanoes and Earth’s Interior Research Center, Research Institute for Marine Geodynamics, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokosuka, Japan
7Australian Centre for Astrobiology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
8Geological Survey of Western Australia, East Perth, Western Australia, Australia

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Probing Europa’s subsurface ocean composition from surface salt minerals using in-situ techniques

1,2Tuan H.Vu,1,2Mathieu Choukroun,1,2Robert Hodyss,1,2Paul V.Johnson
Icarus (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2020.113746]
1Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
2NASA Astrobiology Institute, USA
Copyright Elsevier

The composition of Europa’s subsurface ocean is of great interest for understanding the internal geochemistry and potential habitability of this icy body. However, current constraints on the ocean composition need to rely largely on its expression on the surface. In this work, we combine chemical divide modeling with cryogenic Raman and X-ray diffraction experiments to examine freezing of a simple putative brine system containing Na+, Mg2+, Cl−, and SO42− across a range of ionic concentrations and freezing rates to assess the feasibility of inferring the ocean’s chemical composition via in-situ techniques. The results suggest that multiple hydrated salts not predicted by chemical models are frequently encountered in the final solid phase, making accurate quantification of the subsurface liquid composition via surface observables rather challenging. In addition, flash freezing of diluted brines often produces water ice together with amorphous hydrated Mg salts, which may significantly hinder their detection. These findings can help inform both analytical protocols for a Raman spectrometer onboard a Europa surface lander as well as potential locations for exploration, in order to best provide meaningful constraints on emplacement mechanisms and the composition of frozen salt minerals on the surface.

The role of Bells in the continuous accretion between the CM and CR chondrite reservoirs

1Elishevah van Kooten,2Larissa Cavalcante,3Daniel Wielandt,3Martin Bizzarro
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13459]
1Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Université de Paris, CNRS, UMR 7154, 1 rue Jussieu, 75238 Paris, France
2Institute of Chemistry, University of São Paulo, 03178 São Paulo, Brazil
3Centre for Star and Planet Formation and Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, DK‐1350 Copenhagen, Denmark
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

CM meteorites are dominant members of carbonaceous chondrites (CCs), which evidently accreted in a region separated from the terrestrial planets. These chondrites are key in determining the accretion regions of solar system materials, since in Mg and Cr isotope space, they intersect between what are identified as inner and outer solar system reservoirs. In this model, the outer reservoir is represented by metal‐rich carbonaceous chondrites (MRCCs), including CR chondrites. An important question remains whether the barrier between MRCCs and CCs was a temporal or spatial one. CM chondrites and chondrules are used here to identify the nature of the barrier as well as the timescale of chondrite parent body accretion. We find based on high precision Mg and Cr isotope data of seven CM chondrites and 12 chondrules, that accretion in the CM chondrite reservoir was continuous lasting <3 Myr and showing late accretion of MRCC‐like material reflected by the anomalous CM chondrite Bells. We further argue that although MRCCs likely accreted later than CM chondrites, CR chondrules must have initially formed from a reservoir spatially separated from CM chondrules. Finally, we hypothesize on the nature of the spatial barrier separating these reservoirs.

Widespread production of silica- and alkali-rich melts at the onset of planetesimal melting

1Max Collinet,1Timothy L.Grove
Geochimcia et Cosmochimica Acta (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2020.03.005]
1Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences department, 77 Massachusetts avenue, 02139, MA, USA
Copyright Elsevier

We present the results of melting experiments on a suite of carbonaceous and ordinary chondritic compositions (CV, CM, CI, H and LL) performed at low pressure (0.1 to 13.1 MPa) and over a range of oxygen fugacity (log fO2 – (log fO2)IW = -2.5 to -1 and +0.8, IW being the iron-wustite buffer). These experiments constrain the composition of partial melts (F = 5-25 wt.%) of chondritic planetesimals. Most experiments (IW -2.5 to -1) were conducted in Molybdenum-Hafnium Carbide pressure vessels, which prevented the loss of alkali elements from the melt. The results show that all planetesimals not significantly depleted in moderately volatile elements relative to the sun’s photosphere (e.g. CI, H and LL compositions) produced low-degree melts (<15 wt.%) rich in SiO2, Al2O3 and alkali elements, regardless of the fO2. Despite their high apparent viscosities (104-5 Pa.s), such low-density partial melts (2400-2500 kg/m3) were mobilized and, upon crystallizing, formed rocks containing up to 80 vol.% of plagioclase An10-30 (i.e. oligoclase) such as the trachyandesite achondrites Graves Nunataks 06128/9, Northwest Africa 6698 and 11575, the Almahata Sitta clast ALM-A, as well as smaller “albitic clasts” in polymict ureilites and “alkali-silica-rich” inclusions in non-magmatic iron meteorites. We suggest that silica- and alkali- rich melts were widespread in small bodies of the early solar system but that much evidence was erased by subsequent stages of melting and planetary accretion and differentiation.