Nucleosynthetic isotope variability amongst Solar System objects is commonly used to probe the genetic relationship between meteorite groups and rocky planets, which, in turn, may provide insights into the building blocks of the Earth-Moon system1–5. Using this approach, it is inferred that no primitive meteorite matches the terrestrial composition such that the nature of the disk material that accreted to form the Earth and Moon is unconstrained6. This conclusion, however, is based on the assumption that the observed nucleosynthetic variability amongst inner Solar System objects predominantly reflects spatial heterogeneity. Here, we use the isotopic composition of the refractory element calcium to show that the inner Solar System’s nucleosynthetic variability in the mass-independent 48Ca/44Ca ratio (μ48Ca) primarily represents a rapid change in the μ48Ca composition of disk solids associated with early mass accretion to the proto-Sun. In detail, the μ48Ca values of samples originating from the ureilite and angrite parent bodies as well as Vesta, Mars and Earth are positively correlated to the masses of the inferred parent asteroids and planets – a proxy of their accretion timescales – implying a secular evolution of the bulk μ48Ca disk composition in the terrestrial planet-forming region. Individual chondrules from ordinary chondrites formed within 1 Myr of proto-Sun collapse7 record the full range of inner Solar System μ48Ca compositions, indicating a rapid change in the composition of the disk material. We infer that this secular evolution reflects admixing of pristine outer Solar System material to the thermally-processed inner protoplanetary disk associated with the accretion of mass to the proto-Sun. The indistinguishable μ48Ca composition of the Earth (0.2±3.9 ppm) and Moon (3.7±1.9 ppm) reported here is a prediction of our model if the Moon-forming impact involved protoplanets or precursors that completed their accretion near the end of the disk lifetime.
The current shock classification scheme of meteorites assigns shock levels of S1 (unshocked) to S6 (very strongly shocked) using shock effects in rock-forming minerals such as olivine and plagioclase. The S6 stage (55-90 GPa; 850-1750°C) relies solely on localized effects in or near melt zones, the recrystallization of olivine, or the presence of mafic high-pressure phases such as ringwoodite. However, high whole rock temperatures and the presence of high-pressure phases that are unstable at those temperatures and pressures of zero GPa (e.g., ringwoodite) are two criteria that exclude each other. Each type of high-pressure phase provides a minimum shock pressure during elevated pressure conditions to allow the formation of this phase, and a maximum temperature of the whole rock after decompression to allow the preservation of this phase. Rocks classified as S6 are characterized not by the presence but by the absence of those thermally unstable highpressure phases. High-pressure phases in or attached to shock melt zones form mainly during shock pressure decline. This is because shocked rocks (<60 GPa) experience a shock wave with a broad isobaric pressure plateau only during low velocity (<4.5 km s À1 ) impacts, which rarely occur on small planetary bodies; e.g., the Moon and asteroids. The mineralogy of shock melt zones provides information on the shape and temporal duration of the shock wave but no information on the general maximum shock pressure in the whole rock.
— Mineralogy, major element compositions of minerals, and elemental and oxygen isotopic compositions of the whole rock attest to a lunar origin of the meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 032, an unbrecciated basalt found in October 1999. The rock consists predominantly of olivine, pyroxene and chromite phenocrysts, set in a crystalline groundmass of feldspar, pyroxene, ilmenite, troilite and trace metal. Whole‐rock shock veins comprise a minor, but ubiquitous portion of the rock. Undulatory to mosaic extinction in olivine and pyroxene phenocrysts and micro‐faults in groundmass and phenocrysts also are attributed to shock. Several geochemical signatures taken together indicate unambiguously that NWA 032 originated from the Moon. The most diagnostic criteria include whole‐rock oxygen isotopic composition and ratios of Fe/Mn in the whole rock, olivine, and pyroxene. A lunar origin is documented further by the presence of Fe‐metal, troilite, and ilmenite; zoning to extremely Fe‐rich compositions in pyroxene; the ferrous oxidation state of all Fe in pyroxene; and the rare earth element (REE) pattern with a well‐defined negative europium anomaly. This rock is similar in major element chemistry to basalts from Apollo 12 and 15, but is enriched in light REE and has an unusually high Th/Sm ratio. Some Apollo 14 basalts yield a closer match to NWA 032 in REE patterns, but have higher concentrations of Al2O3. Ar‐Ar step release results are complex, but yield a whole‐rock age of ˜2.8 Ga, suggesting that NWA 032 was extruded at 2.8 Ga or earlier. This rock may be the youngest sample of mare basalt collected to date. Noble gas concentrations combined with previously collected radionuclide data indicate that the meteorite exposure history is distinct from currently recognized lunar meteorites. In short, the geochemical and petrographic features of NWA 032 are not matched by Apollo or Luna samples, nor by previously identified lunar meteorites, indicating that it originates from a previously unsampled mare deposit. Detailed assessment of petrographic features, olivine zoning, and thermodynamic modelling indicate a relatively simple cooling and crystallization history for NWA 032. Chromite‐spinel, olivine, and pyroxene crystallized as phenocrysts while the magma cooled no faster than 2 °C/h based on the polyhedral morphology of olivine. Comparison of olivine size with crystal growth rates and preserved Fe‐Mg diffusion profiles in olivine phenocrysts suggest that olivine was immersed in the melt for no more than 40 days. Plumose textures in groundmass pyroxene, feldspar, and ilmenite, and Fe‐rich rims on the phenocrysts formed during rapid crystallization (cooling rates ˜20 to 60 °C/h) after eruption.
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