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Structure and thermal history of the H-chondrite parent asteroid revealed by thermochronometry

Nature volume 422, pages 502–506 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Our Solar System formed ∼4.6 billion years ago from the collapse of a dense core inside an interstellar molecular cloud. The subsequent formation of solid bodies took place rapidly. The period of <10 million years over which planetesimals were assembled can be investigated through the study of meteorites1,2,3. Although some planetesimals differentiated and formed metallic cores like the larger terrestrial planets, the parent bodies of undifferentiated chondritic meteorites experienced comparatively mild thermal metamorphism that was insufficient to separate metal from silicate4,5. There is debate about the nature of the heat source6,7,8,9 as well as the structure and cooling history of the parent bodies10,11,12. Here we report a study of 244Pu fission-track and 40Ar–39Ar thermochronologies of unshocked H chondrites, which are presumed to have a common, single, parent body. We show that, after fast accretion, an internal heating source (most probably 26Al decay8,9,10,13) resulted in a layered parent body6 that cooled relatively undisturbed: rocks in the outer shells reached lower maximum metamorphic temperatures and cooled faster than the more recrystallized and chemically equilibrated rocks from the centre, which needed ∼160 Myr to reach 390K.

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Figure 1: Onion-shell model for undifferentiated ordinary chondrite parent asteroids6. A celestial body that is internally heated (probably by the decay energy from short-lived 26Al) reaches higher maximum metamorphic temperatures in its centre, resulting in higher petrologic types (numbers shown) that cool slower than in the outer layers, which in turn results in lower petrologic types with faster cooling.
Figure 2: Correlation between cooling ages and metamorphic grade.
Figure 3: Integrated cooling curves for all H chondrites where complete chronological information is available.

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Acknowledgements

We thank B. Dominik for mineral separation, A. Bouikine and E. Korotchantseva for assisting in 40Ar–39Ar analyses, and D. Stöffler for shock-stage classification of some H chondrites. We appreciate discussions with J.A. Wood, E. Anders and T. Althaus, and support from R. Altherr, T. Kirsten and K. Mauersberger at various stages of this study. M.T., E.K.J. and J.H. acknowledge support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.Author contributions P.P. provided the motivation for this research by his enthusiastic work on 244Pu fission-track studies.

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  1. Paul Pellas: Deceased

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mineralogisches Institut der Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 236, D-69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Mario Trieloff & Jens Hopp

  2. Institut für Planetologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Wilhelm-Klemm-Straβe 10, Münster, D–48149, Germany

    Elmar K. Jessberger

  3. Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, Heidelberg, D-69117, Germany

    Ingrid Herrwerth & Jens Hopp

  4. Laboratoire de Minéralogie du Muséum, 61 rue Buffon, 75005, Paris, 75005, France

    Christine Fiéni, Marianne Ghélis, Michèle Bourot-Denise & Paul Pellas

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Correspondence to Mario Trieloff.

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Trieloff, M., Jessberger, E., Herrwerth, I. et al. Structure and thermal history of the H-chondrite parent asteroid revealed by thermochronometry. Nature 422, 502–506 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01499

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