MAGNESIUM ISOTOPE EVIDENCE FOR SINGLE STAGE FORMATION OF CB CHONDRULES BY COLLIDING PLANETESIMALS
- Centre for Star and Planet Formation, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen DK-1350 (Denmark)
Chondrules are igneous spherical objects preserved in chondritic meteorites and believed to have formed during transient heating events in the solar protoplanetary disk. Chondrules present in the metal-rich CB chondrites show unusual chemical and petrologic features not observed in other chondrite groups, implying a markedly distinct formation mechanism. Here, we report high-precision Mg-isotope data for 10 skeletal olivine chondrules from the Hammadah al Hamra 237 (HH237) chondrite to probe the formation history of CB chondrules. The {sup 27}Al/{sup 24}Mg ratios of individual chondrules are positively correlated to their stable Mg-isotope composition (μ{sup 25}Mg), indicating that the correlated variability was imparted by a volatility-controlled process (evaporation/condensation). The mass-independent {sup 26}Mg composition (μ{sup 26}Mg*) of chondrules is consistent with single stage formation from an initially homogeneous magnesium reservoir if the observed μ{sup 25}Mg variability was generated by non-ideal Rayleigh-type evaporative fractionation characterized by a β value of 0.5142, in agreement with experimental work. The magnitude of the mass-dependent fractionation (∼300 ppm) is significantly lower than that suggested by the increase in {sup 27}Al/{sup 24}Mg values, indicating substantial suppression of isotopic fractionation during evaporative loss of Mg, possibly due to evaporation at high Mg partial pressure. Thus, the Mg-isotope data of skeletal chondrules from HH237 are consistent with their origin as melts produced in the impact-generated plume of colliding planetesimals. The inferred μ{sup 26}Mg* value of –3.87 ± 0.93 ppm for the CB parent body is significantly lower than the bulk solar system value of 4.5 ± 1.1 ppm inferred from CI chondrites, suggesting that CB chondrites accreted material comprising an early formed {sup 26}Al-free component.
- OSTI ID:
- 22224066
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 776, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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