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.

Hydrothermal fluid activity on asteroid Itokawa

Nature Astronomy volume 7, pages 1063–1069 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Carbonaceous chondrites contain widespread mineralogical evidence for water–rock interactions, indicating that the C-type asteroids from which they are derived had active hydrothermal systems. In comparison, ordinary chondrites contain secondary minerals that are predominantly anhydrous, suggesting that their parent S-type asteroids were relatively dry. The returned particles from the Hayabusa Mission allow us to probe directly the alteration history of S-type asteroid Itokawa. Here we report nanometre-sized NaCl crystals identified in the interior of an Itokawa particle. These crystals are intimately associated with secondary albitic plagioclase, indicating coupled formation. The NaCl most likely formed through precipitation from an aqueous fluid prior to complete metamorphic dehydration on asteroid Itokawa. Our results therefore imply that asteroid Itokawa supported an active hydrothermal system and suggest that the once-hydrated S-type asteroids could have potentially delivered water to terrestrial planets.

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

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

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

Fig. 1: HAADF image and associated EDS X-ray maps of FIB Section no. 3.
Fig. 2: Higher-magnification SE images of NaCl grains in FIB Section no. 3.
Fig. 3: TEM images and EDS X-ray maps of FIB Section no. 5 showing the presence of a vein that transects the section and associated NaCl grains.
Fig. 4: Comparison of SAED patterns acquired from plagioclase and the vein in FIB Section no. 5.

Data Availability

All data supporting this study are provided in Results section of this paper and the supplementary information accompanying this paper. Source data are provided with this paper.

References

  1. Krot, A. N., Keil, K., Scott, E. R. D., Goodrich, C. A. & Weisberg, M. K. in Treatise on Geochemistry: Second Edition Vol. 1 (eds Holland, H. D. & Turekian, K. K.) 1–63 (Elsevier, 2014).

  2. Brearley, A. J. & Krot, A. N. in Metasomatism and the Chemical Transformation of Rock Vol. 56 (eds Harlov, D. E. & Austrheim, A.) 659–789 (Springer, 2013).

  3. Huss, G. R., Rubin, A. E. & Grossman, J. N. in Meteorites and the Early Solar System II (eds Lauretta, D. S. & McSween, H. Y.) 567–586 (Univ. Arizona Press, 2006).

  4. Alexander, C. M. O., Barber, D. J. & Hutchison, R. The microstructure of Semarkona and Bishunpur. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 53, 3045–3057 (1989).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Dobrică, E. & Brearley, A. J. Widespread hydrothermal alteration minerals in the fine-grained matrices of the Tieschitz unequilibrated ordinary chondrite. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 49, 1323–1349 (2014).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Jones, R. H., Mccubbin, F. M. & Guan, Y. Phosphate minerals in the H group of ordinary chondrites, and fluid activity recorded by apatite heterogeneity in the Zag H3-6 regolith breccia. Am. Mineral. 101, 2452–2467 (2016).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Kovach, H. A. & Jones, R. H. Feldspar in type 4-6 ordinary chondrites: metamorphic processing on the H and LL chondrite parent bodies. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 45, 246–264 (2010).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Lewis, J. A., Jones, R. H. & Brearley, A. J. Plagioclase alteration and equilibration in ordinary chondrites: metasomatism during thermal metamorphism. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 316, 201–229 (2022).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Velbel, M. A. Terrestrial weathering of ordinary chondrites in nature and continuing during laboratory storage and processing: review and implications for Hayabusa sample integrity. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 49, 154–171 (2014).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Nakamura, T. et al. Itokawa dust particles: a direct link between S-type asteroids and ordinary chondrites. Science 333, 1113–1116 (2011).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Keller, L. P. & Berger, E. L. Transmission electron microscopy of plagioclase-rich Itokawa grains: space weathering effects and solar flare track exposure ages. Hayabusa 2017 Symp. Sol. Syst. Mater. Sagamihara, Japan (2017).

  12. Burgess, K. D. & Stroud, R. M. Comparison of space weathering features in three particles from Itokawa. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 56, 1109–1124 (2021).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Noguchi, T. et al. Sylvite and halite on particles recovered from 25143 Itokawa: a preliminary report. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 49, 1305–1314 (2014).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. Zolensky, M. E. et al. Asteroidal water within fluid inclusion-bearing halite in an H5 chondrite, Monahans (1998). Science 285, 1377–1379 (1999).

  15. Rubin, A. E., Zolensky, M. E. & Bodnar, R. J. The halite-bearing Zag and Monahans (1998) meteorite breccias: shock metamorphism, thermal metamorphism and aqueous alteration on the H-chondrite parent body. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 37, 125–141 (2002).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. Zolensky, M. E. et al. The search for and analysis of direct samples of early Solar System aqueous fluids. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 375, 20150386 (2017).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Fries, M., Zolensky, M. & Steele, A. Mineral inclusions in Monahans and Zag halites: evidence of the originating body. Annu. Meet. Meteorit. Soc. 74, 5390 (2011).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Zega, T. J., Thompson, M. S. & Howe, J. Y. Microstructure analysis of a soil grain returned from asteroid Itokawa. Lunar Planet. Sci. 48, 3037 (2017).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. Steiger, M., Charola, A. E. & Sterflinger, K. in Stone in Architecture (eds Siegesmund, S. & Snethlage, R.) 227–316 (Springer, 2011).

  20. Gounelle, M. & Zolensky, M. E. A terrestrial origin for sulfate veins in CI1 chondrites. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 36, 1321–1329 (2001).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. Uesugi, M. et al. Sequential analysis of carbonaceous materials in Hayabusa-returned samples for the determination of their origin. Earth, Planets Sp. 66, 102 (2014).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. Lee, M. R. et al. Characterization of mineral surfaces using FIB and TEM: a case study of naturally weathered alkali feldspars. Am. Mineral. 92, 1383–1394 (2007).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  23. Ewing, G. E. in Intermolecular Forces and Clusters II Vol. 116 (ed. Wales, D. J.) 1–25 (Springer-Verlag, 2005).

  24. Wise, M. E., Martin, S. T., Russell, L. M. & Buseck, P. R. Water uptake by NaCl particles prior to deliquescence and the phase rule. Aerosol Sci. Technol. 42, 281–294 (2008).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. Oliva-Ramirez, M., Macías-Montero, M., Borras, A. & González-Elipe, A. R. Ripening and recrystallization of NaCl nanocrystals in humid conditions. RSC Adv. 6, 3778–3782 (2016).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. Bahadur, R. & Russell, L. M. Water uptake coefficients and deliquescence of NaCl nanoparticles at atmospheric relative humidities from molecular dynamics simulations. J. Chem. Phys. 129, 094508 (2008).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  27. Zolotov, M. Y. & Mironenko, M. V. Hydrogen chloride as a source of acid fluids in parent bodies of chondrites. Lunar Planet. Sci. 38, 2340 (2007).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  28. Lewis, J. A., Jones, R. H. & Garcea, S. C. Chondrule porosity in the L4 chondrite Saratov: dissolution, chemical transport, and fluid flow. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 240, 293–313 (2018).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  29. Putnis, A. Fluid–mineral interactions: controlling coupled mechanisms of reaction, mass transfer and deformation. J. Petrol. 62, egab092 (2021).

  30. Wogelius, R. A. & Walther, J. V. Olivine dissolution at 25 °C: effects of pH, CO2, and organic acids. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 55, 943–954 (1991).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  31. Putnis, A. Mineral replacement reactions. Rev. Mineral. Geochem. 70, 87–124 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  32. Hövelmann, J., Putnis, A., Geisler, T., Schmidt, B. C. & Golla-Schindler, U. The replacement of plagioclase feldspars by albite: observations from hydrothermal experiments. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 159, 43–59 (2010).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  33. Drüppel, K. & Wirth, R. Metasomatic replacement of albite in nature and experiments. Minerals 8, 214 (2018).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  34. Almeida, K. M. F. & Jenkins, D. M. Stability field of the Cl-rich scapolite marialite. Am. Mineral. 102, 2484–2493 (2017).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  35. Bridges, J. C. & Grady, M. M. A halite-siderite-anhydrite-chlorapatite assemblage in Nakhla: mineralogical evidence for evaporites on Mars. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 34, 407–415 (1999).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  36. Bakker, R. J. Package FLUIDS. Part 4: thermodynamic modelling and purely empirical equations for H2O-NaCl-KCl solutions. Mineral. Petrol. 105, 1–29 (2012).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  37. Chou, I.-M., Sterner, S. M. & Pitzer, K. S. Phase relations in the system NaCl-KCl-H2O: IV. Differential thermal analysis of the sylvite liquidus in the KCl-H2O binary, the liquidus in the NaCl-KCl-H2O ternary, and the solidus in the NaCl-KCl binary to 2 kb pressure, and a summary of experimental data for thermodynamic-PTX analysis of solid-liquid equilibria at elevated P-T conditions. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 56, 2281–2293 (1992).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  38. Grimm, R. E. Penecontemporaneous metamorphism, fragmentation, and reassembly of ordinary chondrite parent bodies. J. Geophys. Res. 90, 2022 (1985).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  39. Ganguly, J., Tirone, M., Chakraborty, S. & Domanik, K. H-chondrite parent asteroid: a multistage cooling, fragmentation and re-accretion history constrained by thermometric studies, diffusion kinetic modeling and geochronological data. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 105, 206–220 (2013).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  40. Lucas, M. P. et al. Evidence for early fragmentation-reassembly of ordinary chondrite (H, L, and LL) parent bodies from REE-in-two-pyroxene thermometry. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 290, 366–390 (2020).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  41. Blackburn, T., Alexander, C. M. O., Carlson, R. & Elkins-Tanton, L. T. The accretion and impact history of the ordinary chondrite parent bodies. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 200, 201–217 (2017).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  42. Vacher, L. G. et al. Hydrogen in chondrites: influence of parent body alteration and atmospheric contamination on primordial components. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 281, 53–66 (2020).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  43. Lewis, J. A. & Jones, R. H. Phosphate and feldspar mineralogy of equilibrated L chondrites: the record of metasomatism during metamorphism in ordinary chondrite parent bodies. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 51, 1886–1913 (2016).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  44. Jin, Z. & Bose, M. New clues to ancient water on Itokawa. Sci. Adv. 5, eaav8106 (2019).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  45. Harrison, K. P. & Grimm, R. E. Thermal constraints on the early history of the H-chondrite parent body reconsidered. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 74, 5410–5423 (2010).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  46. Dauphas, N. & Pourmand, A. Hf-W-Th evidence for rapid growth of Mars and its status as a planetary embryo. Nature 473, 489–492 (2011).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  47. Alexander, C. M. O., McKeegan, K. D. & Altwegg, K. Water reservoirs in small planetary bodies: meteorites, asteroids, and comets. Space Sci. Rev. 214, 36 (2018).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  48. Berger, E. L. & Keller, L. P. A hybrid ultramicrotomy-FIB technique for preparing serial electron transparent thin sections from particulate samples. Micros. Today 23, 18–23 (2015).

    Google Scholar 

  49. Zega, T. J., Nittler, L. R., Busemann, H., Hoppe, P. & Stroud, R. M. Coordinated isotopic and mineralogic analyses of planetary materials enabled by in situ lift-out with a focused ion beam scanning electron microscope. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 42, 1373–1386 (2007).

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  50. Hovmöller, S. CRISP: crystallographic image processing on a personal computer. Ultramicroscopy 41, 121–135 (1992).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the NASA Laboratory Analysis of Returned Samples grant no. 80NSSC19K0509 awarded to T.J.Z. We acknowledge NASA grant no. NNX12AL47G and no. NNX15AJ22G, and NSF grant no. 1531243 and no. 0619599 for funding the instrumentation in the KMICF at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, UA. We thank R. Downs in the Department of Geosciences, UA for the loan of the terrestrial albite sample. We greatly appreciate members of the Planetary Materials Research Group at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory for very helpful feedback and suggestions. S.C. would like to thank P.-M. Zanetta for helpful conversations on quantification of EDS spectra and L. Keller, J. Lewis and M. Zolotov for useful information and discussions. S.C. also appreciates Z. Zeszut, T. Ramprasad and Y.-J. Chang for their assistance with FIB and TEM operations.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

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

    Shaofan Che & Thomas J. Zega

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Thomas J. Zega

Authors
  1. Shaofan Che
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Thomas J. Zega
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

S.C. prepared the FIB sections of the terrestrial albite sample, carried out part of the TEM analyses and wrote the paper. T.J.Z. prepared the FIB sections of Itokawa particle RA-QD02-0248 and conducted part of the TEM analyses. Both authors contributed to the data interpretation and discussions and revision of the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shaofan Che.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Peer review

Peer review information

Nature Astronomy thanks Makoto Kimura and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Text, Figs. 1–15, Tables 1 and 2 and References.

Source data

Source Data Fig. 1

Unprocessed HAADF and EDS X-ray maps.

Source Data Fig. 2

Unprocessed TEM SE images.

Source Data Fig. 3

Unprocessed BF-TEM, HAADF and EDS X-ray maps.

Source Data Fig. 4

Unprocessed SAED patterns.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Che, S., Zega, T.J. Hydrothermal fluid activity on asteroid Itokawa. Nat Astron 7, 1063–1069 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-02012-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-02012-x

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