Constraints on the Distances and Timescales of Solid Migration in the Early Solar System from Meteorite Magnetism

Abstract

The migrations of solid objects throughout the solar system are thought to have played key roles in disk evolution and planet formation. However, our understanding of these migrations is limited by a lack of quantitative constraints on their timings and distances recovered from laboratory measurements of meteorites. The protoplanetary disk supported a magnetic field that decreased in intensity with heliocentric distance. As such, the formation distances of the parent asteroids of ancient meteorites can potentially be constrained by paleointensity measurements of these samples. Here, we find that the WIS 91600 ungrouped C2 chondrite experienced an ancient field intensity of 4.4 ± 2.8 µT. Combined with the thermal history of this meteorite, magnetohydrodynamical models suggest the disk field reached 4.4 µT at ∼9.8 AU, indicating that the WIS 91600 parent body formed in the distal solar system. Because WIS 91600 likely came to Earth from the asteroid belt, our recovered formation distance argues that this body previously travelled from ∼10 AU to 2-3 AU, supporting the migration of asteroid-sized bodies throughout the solar system. WIS 91600 also contains chondrules, calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions and amoeboid olivine aggregates, indicating that some primitive millimeter-sized solids that formed in the innermost solar system migrated outward to ∼10 AU within ∼3-4 Myr of solar system formation. Moreover, the oxygen isotopic compositions of proposed distal meteorites (WIS 91600, Experimental constraints on solid migration Tagish Lake and CI chondrites) argue that the CM, CO and CR chondrites contain micrometer-scale dust and ice that originated in the distal solar system.

Terrestrial planet compositions controlled by accretion disk magnetic field

“…4). This trend is interpreted as resulting from spatial and temporal decays of magnetic field strength in the protoplanetary disk, which is consistent with paleomagnetic intensities recorded in meteorites (Bryson et al 2020;Fu et al 2020), magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) disk models (Bai 2015), and accretion rates of stars (Wardle 2007).…”

What Can Meteorites Tell Us About the Formation of Jupiter?

“…A possible way of resolving this issue is to use the predicted dependency of nebular field strength with distance (Weiss et al, 2021) to constrain the formation distance of a particular magnetic record. As an example, it was recently argued that the weak nebular field recorded by ungrouped Tagish Lake-like chondrites indicates they formed beyond ∼10 AU, consistent with their volatile-rich compositions and extreme 15 N-isotopic compositions (Bryson, Weiss, Biersteker, et al, 2020;Bryson, Weiss, Lima, et al, 2020). On the other hand, this predicted field dependency on distance assumes constant accretion rates in space and time (Fu et al, 2020).…”

“…These reservoirs are named for the chondrite classes found in each: one containing noncarbonaceous chondrites and the other containing carbonaceous chondrites. Although the precise formation locations of meteorites is a key uncertainty, the two reservoirs are generally thought to have been located at ∼2-3 and perhaps >3-7 AU from the Sun for most meteorites (Desch et al, 2018;Sutton et al, 2017), with the possibility that some carbonaceous groups (e.g., CI, CR and CB chondrites and ungrouped Tagish Lake-like meteorites) formed at even greater distances (Bryson, Weiss, Biersteker, et al, 2020;Gounelle et al, 2006). Kruijer et al (2017) proposed that the two reservoirs formed inward and outward of the formation location of proto-Jupiter, respectively, given that Jupiter is the largest giant planet and likely formed the largest core.…”

Analytical Protocols for Phobos Regolith Samples Returned by the Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) Mission

“…Unique and primitive carbonaceous chondrites Tagish Lake and Wisconsin Range (WIS) 91600 rich in organic matter (e.g., Pizzarello et al, 2001; Nakamura-Messenger et al, 2006;Herd et al, 2011) show spectral similarities to D-or T-type asteroids (Hiroi et al, 2001;. Although D-and T-type asteroids are currently located in the outer regions of the main asteroid belt and in the Jupiter Trojan regions (DeMeo and Carry, 2014), they may have formed in the distal solar system (e.g., Vokrouhlický et al, 2016;Fujiya et al, 2019;Bryson et al, 2020). The low density of Phobos is also similar to that of Tagish Lake, suggesting their nature as a primitive, porous material (Brown et al, 2000;Pätzold et al, 2014).…”

“…Marty et al (2016) reported the diagram pro les between the bulk elements ( 2 H,13 C, 15 N) and noble gas to discuss the origins of these. In addition, magnetism studies can be used to determine the formation distance from the Sun(Bryson et al, 2020). Abundances of isotopically anomalous grains, socalled presolar grains, such as silicates, oxides, SiC, graphite, and diamond are indicators of the primitiveness as well as the degree of thermal metamorphism/aqueous alteration of chondritic meteorites (e.g.,Leitner et al, 2020).…”