¹Simone Cogliati,¹Michael C. Macey
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Open Access Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14141]
¹AstrobiologyOU, Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

To assess whether life existed on Mars, it is crucial to identify geochemical biosignatures that are relevant to specific Martian environments. In this paper, thermochemical modeling was used to investigate fluid chemistries and secondary minerals that would have evolved biotically over geological time scales in Martian fluvio-lacustrine and evaporitic settings, and that could be used as potential inorganic biosignatures for life detection on Mars. Modeling was performed using fluid and rock chemistries relevant to Gale crater aqueous environments. Potential inorganic biosignatures were identified investigating alteration deposits found at the surface of a simulant exposed to short-term bio-mediated weathering and comparing experimental and modeling results. In a fluvio-lacustrine setting (water/rock of 2000–278), models suggest that less complex mineral assemblages form during biotic basalt dissolution and subsequent brine evaporation compared to what would happen in an abiotic system. Mainly nontronite, kaolinite, and quartz form under biotic conditions, whereas celadonite, talc, and goethite would also precipitate abiotically. Quartz, sepiolite, and gypsum would precipitate from the evaporation of fluids evolved biotically, whereas nontronite, talc, zeolite, and gypsum would form in an abiotic evaporitic environment. These results could be used to distinguish products of abiotic and biotic processes, aiding the interpretation of data from Mars exploration missions.

¹Kazuhiko Ninomiya et al. (>10)
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14135]
¹Institute for Radiation Sciences, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Japan
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

Samples from asteroid Ryugu, brought back by asteroid explorer Hayabusa2, are important for investigating the origin and evolution of the solar system. Here, we report the elemental compositions of a 123-mg Ryugu sample determined with a nondestructive muon elemental analysis method. This method is a powerful tool for determining bulk chemical composition, including light elements such as C, N, and O. From the muonic x-ray spectra with three carbonaceous chondrites, the relationship between the elemental composition and muonic x-ray intensity was determined for each element. Calibration curves showed linearity, and the elemental composition of Ryugu was quantitatively determined. The results reflect the average bulk elemental composition of asteroid Ryugu owing to the large amount of samples. Ryugu has an elemental composition similar to that of Orgueil (CI1) and should be classified as CI1. However, the O/Si ratio of Ryugu is 25% lower than that of Orgueil, indicating that Orgueil may have been seriously contaminated by terrestrial materials after its fall to Earth. These results indicate that the Ryugu sample is more representative than the CI chondrites as a solid material of the solar system.

^1,2Ting Cao,²Huapei Wang,²Shaochen Hu,^3,4Kaixian Qi
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14136]
¹School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei, China
²Paleomagnetism and Planetary Magnetism Laboratory, School of Geophysics and Geomatics, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei, China
³State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
⁴College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

We present the first rock magnetic and paleomagnetic analyses of the Martian meteorite Grove Mountains (GRV) 020090, a suitable candidate for paleomagnetic study due to its low degree of weathering and shock metamorphism. Petrological and rock magnetic investigation indicates that pyrrhotite is the dominant magnetic mineral in GRV 020090, where it occurs as a primary phase without significant shock metamorphism or alteration. The magnetic grains in GRV 020090 exhibit single-domain behavior that facilitates high-fidelity magnetic recording. We obtained a positive fusion-crust baked contact test, which supports an extraterrestrial origin of the primary remanence in GRV 020090. The nature of the primary remanence was identified as thermoremanence acquired during crystallization of the rock on Mars. Anhysteretic remanent magnetization and isothermal remanent magnetization paleointensity methods indicated paleofield strengths of 1.6 and 2.6 μT, respectively, for the primary remanence. However, the shock pressure that GRV 020090 experienced may have partially demagnetized the primary remanence, leading to underestimated paleointensity values. Therefore, 1.6 μT is regarded as the lower limit on the paleointensity of GRV 020090. This lower limit is higher than the model-predicted surface magnetic field strength in the source region for GRV 020090, suggesting that it may have recorded a small-scale crustal magnetic field previously undetected by orbital magnetic data. This small-scale crustal field is likely generated by the underlying ancient, magnetized layers, as the crustal magnetization of the surficial terrane with lithology similar to GRV 020090 is too weak to produce such a crustal field.

^1,2M. Kimura,^3,4M. K. Weisberg,¹A. Yamaguchi
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Open Access Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14129]
¹National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo, Japan
²Ibaraki University, Mito, Japan
³Kingsborough College and Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York City, New York, USA
⁴American Museum of Natural History, New York City, New York, USA
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

Type 3 chondrites are subdivided into 3.0–3.9. Subtype 3.0 chondrites nearly preserve all of their primitive features. Many criteria have been proposed to distinguish such primitive chondrites. Here, we compiled mineral data and reconsider the petrologic classification criteria for subtype 3.0. Chondrites are classified into subtypes by the minor element distribution of olivine and textural and chemical features of Fe-Ni metal. The []Si4O8 and MgO components of feldspar also distinguish subtype 3.0 from subtypes ≥3.1. Other features, such as the occurrence of near pure chromite, are also indicators of subtype 3.0. It is difficult to distinguish between subtypes 3.0 and ≤2.9 based on mineral chemistry. Therefore, we propose the following criteria to distinguish between subtypes 3.0 and ≤2.9. In type 3.0 chondrites, major silicate (olivine, pyroxene, and plagioclase), oxide, metal, and sulfide minerals do not show aqueous alteration features. Melilite, anorthite, and glass show no or mild aqueous alteration features. Subtype 3.0 has not been identified in all chondrite groups. The absence of subtype 3.0 from some groups mainly reflects differences in the degrees of secondary parent body processes among the chondrite groups.

^1,2F. Campanale,^2,3E. Mugnaioli,^2,3L. Folco,⁴P. Parlanti,⁴M. Gemmi
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14137]
¹Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Ambiente e Della Terra, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
²Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
³CISUP, Centro per l’Integrazione della Strumentazione dell’Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
⁴Centre for Materials Interfaces, Electron Crystallography, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Pontedera, Italy
Copyright Elsevier

TiO2II, a high-pressure polymorph of titanium dioxide, is a diagnostic indicator of shock metamorphism in impact rocks. Due to its typical micro-to-nanometer scale, there are no ab initio structure solutions of natural TiO2II, thereby generating uncertainty about its crystal structure and its known similarity with srilankite (Ti0.67,Zr0.33)O2. Nanoscale electron diffraction investigation of TiO2II from the Australasian tektite strewn field provides the first ab initio structure solution revealing a primitive orthorhombic lattice with cell parameters a = 4.547 Å, b = 5.481 Å, c = 4.891 Å, and space group Pbcn, that is, the same as srilankite and scrutinyite α-PbO2. The linear a and c decrease, and b increase with Ti content indicate TiO2II as Zr-free srilankite endmember in the binary system ZrO2-TiO2. Thereby the name srilankite should be used referring to TiO2II, according to the International Mineralogical Association recommendations. We provide the first evidence for a topotactic subsolidus rutile-to-TiO2II transition, founding their finely intermixing nanocrystals in the same TiO2 crystal, where TiO2II is within the crystal and surrounded by rutile in direct contact. They also show recurrent iso-orientation, with TiO2II [100] parallel to rutile [100], TiO2II [010] parallel to rutile [011], and TiO2II [001] parallel to rutile (0–11). The rutile-TiO2II iso-orientation suggests the compression of rutile (0–11) planes as a possible transition mechanism from rutile to TiO2II, with a consequent shortening of ~0.5 Å per cell. The presence of TiO2II in the distal (~1200 km) impact ejecta from the Australasian tektite strewn field indicates shock pressures of ~12–15 GPa and post-shock temperatures below 500°C followed by rapid quenching.

¹J. Aléon et al. (>10)
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Open Access Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14139]
¹Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, Sorbonne Université, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS UMR 7590, IRD, Paris, France
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

In order to gain insights on the conditions of aqueous alteration on asteroid Ryugu and the origin of water in the outer solar system, we developed the measurement of water content in magnetite at the micrometer scale by secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) and determined the H and Si content of coarse-grained euhedral magnetite grains (polyhedral magnetite) and coarse-grained fibrous (spherulitic) magnetite from the Ryugu polished section A0058-C1001. The hydrogen content in magnetite ranges between ~900 and ~3300 wt ppm equivalent water and is correlated with the Si content. Polyhedral magnetite has low and homogenous silicon and water content, whereas fibrous magnetite shows correlated Si and water excesses. These excesses can be explained by the presence of hydrous Si-rich amorphous nanoinclusions trapped during the precipitation of fibrous magnetite away from equilibrium and testify that fibrous magnetite formed from a hydrous gel with possibly more than 20 wt% water. An attempt to determine the water content in sub-μm framboids indicates that additional calibration and contamination issues must be addressed before a safe conclusion can be drawn, but hints at elevated water content as well. The high water content in fibrous magnetite, expected to be among the first minerals to crystallize at low water–rock ratio, points to the control of water content by local conditions of magnetite precipitation rather than large-scale alteration conditions. Systematic lithological variations associated with water-rich and water-poor magnetite suggest that the global context of alteration may be better understood if local water concentrations are compared with millimeter-scale distribution of the various morphologies of magnetite. Finally, the high water content in the magnetite precursor gel indicates that the initial O isotopic composition in alteration water must not have been very different from that of the earliest magnetite crystals.

¹Bennett J. K. Wilson,²Veronica E. Di Cecco,^3,4Laurence A. J. Garvie,^2,5Kimberly T. Tait,⁶Michael G. Daly
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Open Access Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14140]
¹Lassonde School of Engineering, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
²Department of Natural History, Center for Applied Planetary Mineralogy, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
³Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
⁴School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
⁵Department of Earth Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
⁶Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science, Lassonde School of Engineering, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

The matrix of the C2-ungrouped Tarda meteorite contains abundant smectite minerals that swell and crumble when exposed to polar liquids, causing the sample to rapidly slake. This phenomenon presents a serious challenge when polishing the meteorite, as common polishing liquids used on carbonaceous chondrites, such as water, ethanol, ethylene glycol, and isopropyl alcohol, are polar and will cause the sample to swell, making it unsuitable for some analyses. Hexane and mineral oil are nonpolar liquids that were found to not induce swelling on highly expansive montmorillonite-clay analog material and were effectively integrated into a polishing procedure for Tarda. Here, we detail a procedure for mounting, cutting, and polishing the Tarda meteorite to prepare a surface that is suitable for a variety of sensitive techniques, such as electron microprobe analysis. This work offers a practical methodology for the preparation of other clay-rich samples, which may include the recently returned Ryugu and Bennu materials.

¹M. E. Varela,²S.-L. Hwang,³P. Shen,^1,4L. N. Garcia,¹M. Saavedra,⁵T. Maruoka,⁶M. Bose
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14120]
¹Instituto de Ciencias Astronómicas, de la Tierra y del Espacio (ICATE), Universidad Nacional de San Juan, CONICET, San Juan, Argentina
²Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien, Taiwan, ROC
³Department of Materials and Optoelectronic Science, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC
⁴Instituto de Mecánica Aplicada, Universidad Nacional de San Juan, San Juan, Argentina
⁵Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
⁶School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

The combined SEM and TEM studies on the metal (Fe-Ni alloy ±C) portion of the Vaca Muerta mesosiderite reveal structural and compositional evidence at micro to nanoscale, which sheds light on the solidification of taenite + graphite as a cement, and later solid-state precipitation process for the kamacite formation as grain boundary allotriomorph. Besides, it is proposed that the graphite veinlets formed through a complex partial melting process followed by a solidification toward the final eutectic transient coupled with the solid-state precipitation and later decomposition ordering of taenite. The presence of defects and taenite in graphite signal formation in a liquid environment. The δ13C values of graphite in the graphite-rich areas (e.g., ranging from −0.8 ± 1.7‰ to +15.3 ± 2.5‰) suggest a short-circuit diffusion path for C isotope fractionation.

^1,2Rhonda M. Stroud et al. (>10)
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Open Access Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14128]
¹School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
²Materials Science and Technology Division, US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

Transmission electron microscopy analyses of Hayabusa2 samples show that Ryugu organic matter exhibits a range of morphologies, elemental compositions, and carbon functional chemistries consistent with those of carbonaceous chondrites that have experienced low-temperature aqueous alteration. Both nanoglobules and diffuse organic matter are abundant. Non-globular organic particles are also present, and including some that contain nanodiamond clusters. Diffuse organic matter is finely distributed in and around phyllosilicates, forms coatings on other minerals, and is also preserved in vesicles in secondary minerals such as carbonate and pyrrhotite. The average elemental compositions determined by energy-dispersive spectroscopy of extracted, demineralized insoluble organic matter samples A0107 and C0106 are C100N3O9S1 and C100N3O7S1, respectively, with the difference in O/C slightly outside the difference in the standard error of the mean. The functional chemistry of the nanoglobules varies from mostly aromatic C=C to mixtures of aromatic C=C, ketone C=O, aliphatic (CHn), and carboxyl (COOH) groups. Diffuse organic matter associated with phyllosilicates has variable aromatic C, ketone and carboxyl groups, and some localized aliphatics, but is dominated by molecular carbonate (CO3) absorption, comparable to prior observations of clay-bound organic matter in CI meteorites.

^1,2T. H. Burbine,³R. C. Greenwood,⁴B. Zhang,⁵P. C. Buchanan
Meteoritics & Planetary Science (in Press) Open Access Link to Article [https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.14134]
¹Department of Astronomy, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA
²Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Arizona, USA
³The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
⁴Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
⁵Department of Geology, Kilgore College, Kilgore, Texas, USA
Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons

Asteroid 4 Vesta is typically thought to be the parent body of the HED (howardite, eucrite, and diogenite) meteorites due to spectral similarities. The discovery of asteroids far from Vesta with HED-like spectra like (1459) Magnya and HED-like meteorites (e.g., NWA 011) with anomalous oxygen isotopic values compared to typical HEDs is evidence that other Vesta-like bodies formed. We broadly define a Vesta-like body as a differentiated object with a crust composed primarily of low-Ca pyroxene and plagioclase feldspar. We estimate the number of Vesta-like bodies that did form by looking at the astronomical evidence; the oxygen isotopic, chemical, and petrologic evidence; and the iron meteorite evidence. Assuming that fragments of Vesta were scattered from Vesta by giant planet migration, we conservatively estimate that at least two Vesta-like bodies (Vesta and the Magnya parent bodies) existed. From the oxygen isotopic, chemical, and petrologic evidence, we also conservatively estimate that seven Vesta-like bodies formed. Analyses of iron meteorites indicate that there may be as many as 23 Vesta-like bodies (Vesta, 10 magmatic iron groups, South Byron trio, Emsland/Mbosi duo, 10 ungrouped irons). This estimate from iron meteorites is most certainly an overestimation due to the existence of a number of non-HED crustal/mantle fragments that potentially originated from bodies with magmatic iron cores. Using our three estimates as a guide, we predict that there were ~10 Vesta-like bodies (including Vesta) that formed in the early solar system. Only Vesta remains intact with the others being disrupted early in solar system history.