Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Stardust silicates from primitive meteorites

Nature volume 428, pages 921–924 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Primitive chondritic meteorites contain material (presolar grains1), at the level of a few parts per million, that predates the formation of our Solar System. Astronomical observations2 and the chemical composition of the Sun3 both suggest that silicates must have been the dominant solids in the protoplanetary disk from which the planets of the Solar System formed, but no presolar silicates have been identified in chondrites4,5,6. Here we report the in situ discovery of presolar silicate grains 0.1–1 µm in size in the matrices of two primitive carbonaceous chondrites. These grains are highly enriched in 17O (δ17OSMOW > 100–400‰), but have solar silicon isotopic compositions within analytical uncertainties, suggesting an origin in an oxygen-rich red giant or an asymptotic giant branch star7,8. The estimated abundance of these presolar silicates (3–30 parts per million) is higher than reported for other types of presolar grains in meteorites1, consistent with their ubiquity in the early Solar System, but is about two orders of magnitude lower than their abundance in anhydrous interplanetary dust particles9. This result is best explained by the destruction of silicates during high-temperature processing in the solar nebula.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Corresponding images of backscattered electrons, secondary ion ratio (28Si-/16O-), and oxygen isotope ratios (δ17O and δ18O) of matrices.
Figure 2: Oxygen isotopic ratios of presolar silicate and oxide grains.
Figure 3: Backscattered electron images of presolar grains embedded in meteorite matrices.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Nittler, L. R. Presolar stardust in meteorites: recent advances and scientific frontiers. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 209, 259–273 (2003)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Waters, L. B. F. M. et al. Mineralogy of oxygen-rich dust shells. Astron. Astrophys. 315, L361–L364 (1996)

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Anders, E. & Grevesse, N. Abundances of the elements: meteoritic and solar. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 53, 197–214 (1989)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Messenger, S. & Bernatowicz, T. J. Search for presolar silicates in Acfer 094. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 35, A109 (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Alexander, C. M. O'D., Nittler, L. R. & Tera, F. The search of presolar silicates and the 54Cr carrier. Lunar Planet. Sci. [CD-ROM] XXXII, 2191 (2001)

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Mostefaoui, S., Hoppe, P., Marhas, K. K. & Gröner, E. Search for in situ presolar oxygen-rich dust in meteorites. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 38, A99 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Nittler, L. R., Alexander, C. M. O'D., Gao, X., Walker, R. M. & Zinner, E. Stellar sapphires: The properties and origins of presolar Al2O3 in meteorites. Astrophys. J. 483, 475–495 (1997)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Lugaro, M., Zinner, E., Gallino, R. & Amari, S. Si isotopic ratios in mainstream presolar SiC grains revisited. Astrophys. J. 527, 369–394 (1999)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Messenger, S., Keller, L. P., Stadermann, F. J., Walker, R. M. & Zinner, E. Samples of stars beyond the solar system: silicate grains in interplanetary dust. Science 300, 105–108 (2003)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Newton, J. et al. Acfer 094, a uniquely primitive carbonaceous chondrite from the Sahara. Meteoritics 30, 47–56 (1995)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Greshake, A. The primitive matrix components of the unique carbonaceous chondrite Acfer 094; a TEM study. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 61, 437–452 (1997)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Krot, A. N., Meibom, A., Weisberg, M. K. & Keil, K. The CR chondrite clan: implications for early solar system processes. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 37, 1451–1490 (2002)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Yurimoto, H., Nagashima, K. & Kunihiro, T. High precision isotope micro-imaging of materials. Appl. Surf. Sci. 203–204, 793–797 (2003)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. Kunihiro, T., Nagashima, K. & Yurimoto, H. Microscopic oxygen isotopic homogeneity/heterogeneity in the matrix from the Vigarano CV3 chondrite. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta (submitted)

  15. Hoppe, P. & Ott, U. in Astrophysical Implications of the Laboratory Study of Presolar Materials (eds Bernatowicz, T. J. & Zinner, E.) 27–58 (AIP Press, New York, 1997)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  16. Huss, G. R., Meshik, A. P., Smith, J. B. & Hohenberg, C. M. Presolar diamond, silicon carbide, and graphite in carbonaceous chondrites: Implications for thermal processing in the solar nebula. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 67, 4823–4848 (2003)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Dai, Z. R. et al. Possible in situ formation of meteoritic nanodiamonds in the early Solar System. Nature 418, 157–159 (2002)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Jessberger, E. K. et al. in Interplanetary Dust (eds Grün, E., Gustafson, B. Å. S., Dermott, S. F. & Fechtig, H.) 253–294 (Springer, Berlin, 2001)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  19. Bradley, J. P. & Brownlee, D. E. Cometary particles: thin sectioning and electron beam analysis. Science 231, 1542–1544 (1986)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Hewins, R. H. in Chondrules and the Protoplanetary Disk (eds Hewins, R. H., Jones, R. H. & Scott, E. R. D.) 3–9 (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1996)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Itoh, S. & Yurimoto, H. Contemporaneous formation of chondrules and refractory inclusions in the early Solar System. Nature 423, 728–731 (2003)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Bischoff, A. et al. New carbonaceous and type 3 ordinary chondrites from the Sahara Desert. Meteoritics 26, 318 (1991)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Clayton, R. N. & Mayeda, T. K. Oxygen isotope studies of carbonaceous chondrites. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 63, 2089–2104 (1999)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank E. R. D. Scott for discussions, and I. Takayanagi, K. Kosaka and Suzushin-Kogyo for assistance with SCAPS development. This work was supported by Monkasho (H.Y.) and NASA (A.N.K.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Ookayama, Meguro, 152-8551, Japan

    Kazuhide Nagashima & Hisayoshi Yurimoto

  2. Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96822, USA

    Alexander N. Krot

Authors
  1. Kazuhide Nagashima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alexander N. Krot
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hisayoshi Yurimoto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kazuhide Nagashima.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nagashima, K., Krot, A. & Yurimoto, H. Stardust silicates from primitive meteorites. Nature 428, 921–924 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02510

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02510

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing