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Meteoritic evidence for a Ceres-sized water-rich carbonaceous chondrite parent asteroid

Nature Astronomy volume 5, pages 350–355 (2021)Cite this article

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An Addendum to this article was published on 25 October 2021

Abstract

Carbonaceous chondrite meteorites record the earliest stages of Solar System geological activities and provide insight into their parent bodies’ histories. Some carbonaceous chondrites are volumetrically dominated by hydrated minerals, providing evidence for low-temperature, low-pressure aqueous alteration1. Others are dominated by anhydrous minerals and textures that indicate high-temperature metamorphism in the absence of aqueous fluids1. Evidence of hydrous metamorphism at intermediate pressures and temperatures in carbonaceous chondrite parent bodies has been virtually absent. Here we show that an ungrouped, aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrite fragment (numbered 202) from the Almahata Sitta (AhS) meteorite contains an assemblage of minerals, including amphibole, that reflect fluid-assisted metamorphism at intermediate temperatures and pressures on the parent asteroid. Amphiboles are rare in carbonaceous chondrites, having only been identified previously as a trace component in Allende (CV3oxA) chondrules2. Formation of these minerals would require prolonged metamorphism in a large (about 640–1,800 kilometres in diameter) asteroid that is as yet unknown. Because Allende and AhS 202 represent different asteroidal parent bodies, intermediate conditions may have been more widespread in the early Solar System than is recognized from known carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, which are likely to represent a biased sampling.

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Fig. 1: Backscattered electron (atomic number contrast) image of AhS 202.
Fig. 2: Infrared spectra from AhS 202, terrestrial amphiboles and model fit.
Fig. 3: X-ray elemental and backscattered electron images of minerals and textures in AhS 202.

Data availability

The data shown in this paper are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

V.E.H., C.A.G. and M.E.Z. are supported by grant 80NSSC19K0507 from NASA’s Emerging Worlds programme. M.E.Z. was also supported by the Hayabusa2 Participating Scientist Program (NASA). A. Fioretti initially recognized and selected AhS 202 for analysis, made the mount and collected early scanning electron microscopy observations. We thank J. Filiberto (LPI/USRA) for contributing to scientific discussions. The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) is operated by Universities Space Research Association (USRA) under a cooperative agreement with the Science Mission Directorate of NASA. This is LPI Contribution no. 2546.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Space Studies, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO, USA

    V. E. Hamilton

  2. Lunar and Planetary Institute, Universities Space Research Association, Houston, TX, USA

    C. A. Goodrich & A. H. Treiman

  3. Department of Geology, School of Earth and Environment, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA

    H. C. Connolly Jr

  4. Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    H. C. Connolly Jr

  5. Department of Earth and Planetary Science, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA

    H. C. Connolly Jr

  6. Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, USA

    M. E. Zolensky

  7. Physics Department, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan

    M. H. Shaddad

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Contributions

V.E.H. conducted and analysed the spectral measurements, contributed to the scientific interpretation, and coordinated and wrote the manuscript. C.A.G. conducted and analysed the scanning electron microscopy and EMPA measurements, performed the parent-body size modelling, and contributed to the scientific interpretation of all data. A.H.T. contributed to the metamorphic mineral assemblage modelling and textural interpretations. H.C.C. contributed to the scientific interpretation of the observed EPMA, textural and spectral results. M.E.Z. conducted EMPA and TEM measurements and contributed to the scientific interpretation of those data. M.H.S. provided the sample of AhS 202 from the University of Khartoum collection.

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Correspondence to V. E. Hamilton.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Peer review information Nature Astronomy thanks Jemma Davidson and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary Tables 1–3 and Figs. 1–3.

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Hamilton, V.E., Goodrich, C.A., Treiman, A.H. et al. Meteoritic evidence for a Ceres-sized water-rich carbonaceous chondrite parent asteroid. Nat Astron 5, 350–355 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-01274-z

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