Featured
-
-
Article
| Open AccessChemical evolution of primordial salts and organic sulfur molecules in the asteroid 162173 Ryugu
The asteroid Ryugu samples are by far the freshest extraterrestrial carbonaceous material. The authors report soluble ions and organic sulfur molecules linked with primordial brine and prebiotic organic evolution of the primitive asteroid.
- Toshihiro Yoshimura
- , Yoshinori Takano
- & Yuki Kimura
-
Article
| Open AccessIgneous meteorites suggest Aluminium-26 heterogeneity in the early Solar Nebula
The homogeneity of Aluminium-26 (Al-26) isotope distribution in the accreting solar nebula is debated. Here, the authors show that the age determination of meteorite Erg Chech 002, compared with other igneous meteorites, indicates that Al-26 was heterogeneously distributed in the early Solar System.
- Evgenii Krestianinov
- , Yuri Amelin
- & Tommaso Di Rocco
-
Article
| Open AccessRapid transition from primary to secondary crust building on the Moon explained by mantle overturn
Overturn of late stage lunar magma ocean cumulates triggers a rapid & short-lived episode of lower mantle melting that explains the key volume, geochronological, & spatial characteristics of the earliest secondary crust on the Moon (Mg-suite).
- Tabb C. Prissel
- , Nan Zhang
- & Haoyuan Li
-
Article
| Open AccessUncovering the chiral bias of meteoritic isovaline through asymmetric photochemistry
Excess of l-amino acids in meteorites suggests an extraterrestrial origin of biomolecular homochirality, which may stem from chiral light-matter interactions. Here the authors support this hypothesis with asymmetric photolysis experiments on racemic isovaline films, showing that circularly polarized starlight can produce l-enantiomeric excesses that can be amplified during parent bodies’ alteration.
- Jana Bocková
- , Nykola C. Jones
- & Cornelia Meinert
-
Article
| Open AccessPotassium isotope heterogeneity in the early Solar System controlled by extensive evaporation and partial recondensation
This study reports strikingly light K isotopic compositions for the extremely K-depleted angrite meteorites, thereby providing the first observation of isotope fractionation likely controlled by partial recondensation at a planetary scale.
- Yan Hu
- , Frédéric Moynier
- & Martin Bizzarro
-
Article
| Open AccessGeoelectrochemistry-driven alteration of amino acids to derivative organics in carbonaceous chondrite parent bodies
Researchers at Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) discovered a chemical process that can explain the very low amino acid abundances in aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrites, deepening our understanding on the Solar System chemical evolution.
- Yamei Li
- , Norio Kitadai
- & Kristin Johnson-Finn
-
Article
| Open AccessEarly crustal processes revealed by the ejection site of the oldest martian meteorite
A new study pinpoints the ejection site of the 4.5-Ga-old Martian breccia NWA 7034 and paired stones to an area northeast of the Terra 679 Cimmeria–Sirenium province.
- A. Lagain
- , S. Bouley
- & P. A. Bland
-
Article
| Open AccessOxygen isotope (δ18O, Δ′17O) insights into continental mantle evolution since the Archean
The 18 O/16 O ratio of the subcontinental mantle has decreased by 0.2‰, while crustal values increased by 4‰ via fluid transfer since the Archean due to the initiation of plate tectonics and subduction, in line with the crust-upper mantle mass balance
- Ilya N. Bindeman
- , Dmitri A. Ionov
- & Alexander V. Golovin
-
Article
| Open AccessIdentifying the wide diversity of extraterrestrial purine and pyrimidine nucleobases in carbonaceous meteorites
All DNA/RNA nucleobases were identified in carbonaceous meteorites. Having been provided to the early Earth as a component in carbonaceous meteorites, these molecules might have played a role for the emergence of genetic functions in early life.
- Yasuhiro Oba
- , Yoshinori Takano
- & Hiroshi Naraoka
-
Article
| Open AccessMid-infrared emissivity of partially dehydrated asteroid (162173) Ryugu shows strong signs of aqueous alteration
Spectral characteristics can be used to link asteroid and meteorite materials. Here, the authors show in-situ mid-infrared data of a boulder on asteroid Ryugu, compared with laboratory spectra of various meteorites, indicate that Ryugu experienced strong aqueous alteration prior to dehydration.
- M. Hamm
- , M. Grott
- & S. Sugita
-
Article
| Open AccessThe Tharsis mantle source of depleted shergottites revealed by 90 million impact craters
The ejection sites of the martian meteorites are still unknown. Here, the authors build a database of 90 million craters and show that Tharsis region is the most likely source of depleted shergottites ejected 1.1 Ma ago, thus confirming that some portions of the mantle were recently anomalously hot.
- A. Lagain
- , G. K. Benedix
- & K. Miljković
-
Article
| Open AccessOlivine-rich achondrites from Vesta and the missing mantle problem
Ultramafic olivine-rich achondrites provide insight into the missing mantle problem in the asteroid belt. The petrology and geochemistry of these samples suggests they are related to Vesta or the Vestoids.
- Zoltan Vaci
- , James M. D. Day
- & Andreas Pack
-
Article
| Open AccessExploring the link between molecular cloud ices and chondritic organic matter in laboratory
Several scenarios exist to explain the origins of the organic matter found in carbonaceous chondrites. Here, the authors show laboratory experiments confirming that a significant portion of the soluble organic matter can originate from organic ices inherited from the dense molecular cloud.
- G. Danger
- , V. Vinogradoff
- & P. Schmitt-Kopplin
-
Article
| Open AccessHydrodynamic instability at impact interfaces and planetary implications
The authors describe a dynamic surface instability between impacting materials, showing that a region of mixing grows between two media. The study implies that this can explain mixed compositions and textures in certain meteorites.
- Avi Ravid
- , Robert I. Citron
- & Raymond Jeanloz
-
Article
| Open AccessLunar impact crater identification and age estimation with Chang’E data by deep and transfer learning
Using Chang’E data, the authors here identify more than 109,000 previously unrecognized lunar craters and date almost 19,000 craters based on transfer learning with deep neural networks. A new lunar crater database is derived and distributed to the planetary community.
- Chen Yang
- , Haishi Zhao
- & Ziyuan Ouyang
-
Article
| Open AccessExtraterrestrial hexamethylenetetramine in meteorites—a precursor of prebiotic chemistry in the inner solar system
This manuscript tackles the origin of organic molecules in carbonaceous meteorites. Identifying hexamethylenetetramine in three carbonaceous meteorites, the authors propose formation from ammonia and formaldehyde by photochemical and thermal reactions in the interstellar medium, followed by the incorporation into planetary systems.
- Yasuhiro Oba
- , Yoshinori Takano
- & Shogo Tachibana
-
Article
| Open AccessAsteroid shower on the Earth-Moon system immediately before the Cryogenian period revealed by KAGUYA
Ancient impact events on Earth are not well characterized due to continuous re-surfacing of Earth. Here, the authors study impact craters on the Moon with ages up to 800 million years ago and present a cross correlation to Earth, linking up to mass extinction events throughout Earth’s history.
- Kentaro Terada
- , Tomokatsu Morota
- & Mami Kato
-
Article
| Open AccessEvidence of metasomatism in the interior of Vesta
The authors here analyse the petrology of the meteorite NWA 8321 (parent body Vesta). They find sulfidation processes of olivine suggesting metasomatism in the Vestan interior and a partial melting origin for the host noritic diogenite.
- Ai-Cheng Zhang
- , Noriyuki Kawasaki
- & Hisayoshi Yurimoto
-
Article
| Open AccessTiming and origin of natural gas accumulation in the Siljan impact structure, Sweden
Fractured rocks of impact craters have been suggested to be suitable hosts for deep microbial communities on Earth, and potentially other terrestrial planets, yet direct evidence remains elusive. Here, the authors show that the Siljan impact structure is host to long-term deep methane-cycling microbial activity.
- Henrik Drake
- , Nick M. W. Roberts
- & Mats E. Åström
-
Article
| Open AccessOrganometallic compounds as carriers of extraterrestrial cyanide in primitive meteorites
Cyanide is thought to be crucial for the origin of life. Here, the authors showed that iron cyanocarbonyl complexes are present in meteorites and propose that these compounds were a source of free cyanide on early Earth and served as precursors to the active sites of ancient hydrogenases.
- Karen E. Smith
- , Christopher H. House
- & Michael P. Callahan
-
Article
| Open AccessMartian magmatism from plume metasomatized mantle
A unified model for the formation of martian rock types is required to understand Mars’s formation and evolution. Here the authors show that nakhlite and chassignite meteorites originate from melting of metasomatized depleted mantle lithosphere, whereas shergottite melts originate from deep plume sources.
- James M. D. Day
- , Kimberly T. Tait
- & Clive R. Neal
-
Article
| Open AccessSilica-rich volcanism in the early solar system dated at 4.565 Ga
Achondritic meteorites can record volcanism and crust formation on planetesimals in the early Solar System. Here, the authors date the Northwest Africa 11119 meteorite with an Al-Mg age of 4564.8 ± 0.3 Ma indicating that this is the earliest evidence of silicic volcanism in the Solar System to date.
- Poorna Srinivasan
- , Daniel R. Dunlap
- & Francis M. McCubbin
-
Article
| Open AccessA large planetary body inferred from diamond inclusions in a ureilite meteorite
Ureilites are a type of meteorite that are believed to be derived from a parent body that was impacted in the early solar system. Here, the authors analyse inclusions within diamonds from a ureilite meteorite and find that they must have formed at above 20 GPa suggesting the parent body was Mercury- to Mars-sized.
- Farhang Nabiei
- , James Badro
- & Philippe Gillet
-
Article
| Open AccessThe oldest magnetic record in our solar system identified using nanometric imaging and numerical modeling
Magnetic fields are thought to have been influential in the formation of our solar system. Here, the authors observe thermomagnetically stable, non-uniformly magnetized kamacite grains within chondritic meteorites, and calculate the grains to retain recordings of these magnetic fields.
- Jay Shah
- , Wyn Williams
- & Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski
-
Article
| Open AccessTime-resolved diffraction of shock-released SiO2 and diaplectic glass formation
Our understanding of shock metamorphism and thus the collision of planetary bodies is limited by a dependence on ex situ analyses. Here, the authors perform in situ analysis on shocked-produced densified glass and show that estimates of impactor size based on traditional techniques are likely inflated.
- A. E. Gleason
- , C. A. Bolme
- & W. L. Mao
-
Article
| Open AccessTaking the pulse of Mars via dating of a plume-fed volcano
Mars hosts the solar system’s largest volcanoes, but their formation rates remain poorly constrained. Here, the authors have measured the crystallization and ejection ages of meteorites from a Martian volcano and find that its growth rate was much slower than analogous volcanoes on Earth.
- Benjamin E. Cohen
- , Darren F. Mark
- & Caroline L. Smith
-
Article
| Open AccessReduced and unstratified crust in CV chondrite parent body
Meteorites may unlock the history of the early solar system. Here, the authors find, through Ca-Fe-rich secondary phases, that the distinction between reduced and oxidized CV chondrites is invalid; therefore, CV3 chondrites are asteroid fragments that percolated heterogeneously via porous flow of hydrothermal fluid.
- Clément Ganino
- & Guy Libourel
-
Article
| Open AccessZhamanshin astrobleme provides evidence for carbonaceous chondrite and post-impact exchange between ejecta and Earth’s atmosphere
Identifying the original impactor from craters remains challenging. Here, the authors use chromium and oxygen isotopes to indicate that the Zhamanshin astrobleme impactor was a carbonaceous chrondrite by demonstrating that depleted 17O values are due to exchange with atmospheric oxygen.
- Tomáš Magna
- , Karel Žák
- & Zdeněk Řanda
-
Article
| Open AccessTracing the oxygen isotope composition of the upper Earth’s atmosphere using cosmic spherules
Oxygen contained within cosmic spherules is sourced from the atmosphere, making micrometeorites a possible archive for past atmospheric conditions. Here, Packet al. compare the isotopic composition of oxygen in cosmic spherules from Antarctica with that of the troposphere, and validate the value of this archive.
- Andreas Pack
- , Andres Höweling
- & Luigi Folco
-
Article
| Open AccessAtomic-scale age resolution of planetary events
Constraining the timing of crustal processes and impact events remains challenging. Here, the authors show that atom probe tomography can produce highly accurate U-Pb isotopic age constraints in baddeleyite crystals, which is a common phase in terrestrial, Martian, Lunar and asteroidal materials.
- L. F. White
- , J. R. Darling
- & I. Martin
-
Article
| Open AccessShock-transformation of whitlockite to merrillite and the implications for meteoritic phosphate
Quantifying the amount of water in meteorites remains challenging, with minerals the key to understanding water contents. Here, Adcocket al. perform shock experiments on H+-bearing whitlockite demonstrating that it may transform into anhydrous merrillite, which is commonly found in Martian meteorites.
- C. T. Adcock
- , O. Tschauner
- & C. Lin
-
Article
| Open AccessRefined Ordovician timescale reveals no link between asteroid breakup and biodiversification
The high amount of L-type chondrites discovered in Ordovician sediments has previously been linked with the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event. But here, Lindskoget al. present new zircon ages that date the chondrite dispersion to 468.0±0.3 Ma, showing that the two events may be unrelated.
- A. Lindskog
- , M. M. Costa
- & M. E. Eriksson
-
Article
| Open AccessAmazonian chemical weathering rate derived from stony meteorite finds at Meridiani Planum on Mars
Little is known about the impacts of Mars’ contemporary dryness on weathering processes. Here, using iron oxidation estimates from the Mars Rover Opportunity, the authors quantify chemical weathering rates for Mars, finding appreciably slower rates compared with the lowest values on Earth.
- Christian Schröder
- , Phil A. Bland
- & John A. Grant
-
Article
| Open AccessYoung asteroidal fluid activity revealed by absolute age from apatite in carbonaceous chondrite
Chondritic meteorites formed in the early solar system and may tell us about primary processes at that time. Here, Zhang et al. report an absolute 207Pb/206Pb isochron age (4,450±50 Ma) of apatite from a carbonaceous chondrite constraining timing of fluid activity in meteorites.
- Ai-Cheng Zhang
- , Qiu-Li Li
- & Ru-Cheng Wang
-
Article
| Open AccessA new type of solar-system material recovered from Ordovician marine limestone
Meteorites falling on Earth today are believed to represent 100–150 parent bodies. Within 470 Myr ago sediments at a limestone quarry in Sweden, Schmitz et al. have found and identified a new type of meteorite based on chromium and oxygen isotopes sourced from a previously unknown parental body.
- B. Schmitz
- , Q. -Z. Yin
- & G. R. Huss
-
Article
| Open AccessA potential hidden layer of meteorites below the ice surface of Antarctica
Collection data suggest the proportion of iron-based meteorites recovered from Antarctica is significantly lower than the rest of the world. Here, the authors propose a mechanism to explain this discrepancy, showing that iron meteorites heated by solar energy can move down through the ice, not to re-emerge.
- G. W. Evatt
- , M. J. Coughlan
- & I. D. Abrahams
-
Article
| Open AccessThe deuterium/hydrogen distribution in chondritic organic matter attests to early ionizing irradiation
The insoluble organic matter in primitive carbonaceous chondrites has a systematic large enrichment in deuterium and several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this. Here, the authors demonstrate that irradiation from the protosun could quantitatively explain the deuteration.
- Boris Laurent
- , Mathieu Roskosz
- & Jean-Marc Lefebvre
-
Article
| Open AccessCosmochemical fractionation by collisional erosion during the Earth’s accretion
Collisions in the early Solar System affected the final composition of the terrestrial planets, and enstatite chondrites (EC) are thought to represent the primordial Earth’s precursors. Here, the authors show that differences between Earth and EC are due to impact erosion of >15% of the early Earth’s mass.
- Asmaa Boujibar
- , Denis Andrault
- & Julien Monteux
-
Article |
Early aqueous activity on the ordinary and carbonaceous chondrite parent bodies recorded by fayalite
The parent bodies of many chondritic meteorites experienced aqueous alteration, the chronology of which helps constrain their histories. Here, the authors synthesize a fayalite standard and report reliable ages of secondary fayalite, from which model accretion ages are determined and the place of accretion is inferred.
- Patricia M. Doyle
- , Kaori Jogo
- & Ian D. Hutcheon
-
Article |
Impact-induced shock and the formation of natural quasicrystals in the early solar system
The first-reported natural quasicrystal, found in the meteorite Khatyrka, has posed many questions regarding the extraterrestrial processes that led to its formation. Here, the authors suggest how the metallic Al- and Cu-bearing phases formed and report the discovery of other new minerals.
- Lincoln S. Hollister
- , Luca Bindi
- & Paul J. Steinhardt
-
Article |
Discovery of seifertite in a shocked lunar meteorite
Few high-pressure polymorphs have been found from lunar meteorites even though the moon has experienced heavy meteorite bombardment. This study presents evidence of a high-pressure polymorph of silica—seifertite—from a lunar meteorite; a record of an intense planetary collision on the moon ~2.7 Ga ago.
- Masaaki Miyahara
- , Shohei Kaneko
- & Naohisa Hirao
-
Article |
The Tissint Martian meteorite as evidence for the largest impact excavation
High-pressure minerals in meteorites reflect the conditions prevailing when they were excavated and launched from their parent bodies. Tissint—a recent Martian meteorite—contains an unusual number of large high-pressure minerals, suggesting excavation from an impact of larger magnitude than for previous Martian samples.
- Ioannis P. Baziotis
- , Yang Liu
- & Lawrence A. Taylor
-
Article |
Evidence for the late formation of hydrous asteroids from young meteoritic carbonates
Dating the age of meteorites can tell us when asteroids formed, but uncertainty remains in the Mn–Cr chronometry. This study presents a method for improving Mn/Cr determination and reports an age of 4,563.4 million years ago for carbonates in CM chondrites, which is younger than previous estimates.
- Wataru Fujiya
- , Naoji Sugiura
- & Yuji Sano