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Degassing of early-formed planetesimals restricted water delivery to Earth

Nature volume 615, pages 854–857 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

The timing of delivery and the types of body that contributed volatiles to the terrestrial planets remain highly debated1,2. For example, it is unknown if differentiated bodies, such as that responsible for the Moon-forming giant impact, could have delivered substantial volatiles3,4 or if smaller, undifferentiated objects were more probable vehicles of water delivery5,6,7. Here we show that the water contents of minerals in achondrite meteorites (mantles or crusts of differentiated planetesimals) from both the inner and outer portions of the early Solar System are ≤2 μg g−1 H2O. These are among the lowest values ever reported for extraterrestrial minerals. Our results demonstrate that differentiated planetesimals efficiently degassed before or during melting. This finding implies that substantial amounts of water could only have been delivered to Earth by means of unmelted material.

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Fig. 1: Δ17O versus ε54Cr in planetary materials8.
Fig. 2: Maximum water concentrations measured in NAMs from ungrouped achondrite meteorites (this study), angrites40, eucrites41, the Moon38,39,50, Mars51,52 and the Earth53,54.
Fig. 3: Critical radii required for retention of H-bearing species (H2 in red; H2O in blue; CH4 in cyan) at the surface of a growing planetesimal, calculated by equating the thermal velocity of vapour molecules to the escape velocity (which depends on planetesimal density and size).

Data availability

All data are available in the main text, Methods or Supplementary Data Tables. Supplementary Data Tables are available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7308443. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to E. Bullock and P. Piccoli for their assistance with SEM and EPMA analyses. We are also indebted to G. Rossman, who kindly provided a piece of synthetic forsterite for use as an analytical blank. We thank P. Warren and an anonymous reviewer for their helpful comments and we are grateful to J. VanDecar for editorial handling. Many of the ideas in this contribution were developed in close collaboration with E. Hauri, whose analytical prowess and generosity are greatly missed. Funding: NASA grant 80NSSC20K0336 (S.G.N., M.E.N., C.M.O’D.A.); NASA FINESST award 80NSSC22K0043 (L.D.P.); DTM Postdoctoral Fellowship (M.E.N.).

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Author notes

  1. L. R. Nittler

    Present address: School Of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    M. E. Newcombe & L. D. Peterson

  2. NIRVANA Laboratories, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA

    S. G. Nielsen

  3. Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC, USA

    J. Wang, C. M. O’D. Alexander & L. R. Nittler

  4. Corning Incorporated, Corning, NY, USA

    A. R. Sarafian

  5. University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

    K. Shimizu

  6. University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    A. J. Irving

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Contributions

Conceptualization: S.G.N., M.E.N., C.M.O’D.A. Methodology: M.E.N., J.W., L.R.N., A.R.S., K.S. Investigation: M.E.N., L.D.P., J.W. Funding acquisition: S.G.N., M.E.N., C.M.O’D.A. Writing, original draft: M.E.N., S.G.N. Writing, reviewing and editing: M.E.N., S.G.N., C.M.O’D.A., L.D.P., J.W., L.R.N., A.R.S., K.S., A.J.I.

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Correspondence to M. E. Newcombe.

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Extended data figures and tables

Extended Data Fig. 1 Summary of highly volatile element analyses in CC and NC meteorite NAMs (olivine, pyroxene and feldspar).

None of the analyses in this plot are blank-corrected. Error bars represent one standard deviation of replicate analyses (see Supplementary Data Tables). Data were collected during two analytical sessions: NWA 6704, NWA 6962, NWA 2788, NWA 8409 and NWA 11558 were analysed during May 2019 and NWA 8777 and NWA 10132 were analysed during March 2019. Meteorites with CC affinity are labelled in blue and meteorites with NC affinity are labelled in orange. a, CO2 concentrations are primarily used to assess the impact of surface contamination; analyses were screened for outliers in 12C/30Si before their inclusion in this plot. The analytical blank and detection limit (labelled det. lim.) were assessed using Suprasil glass during the March session and synthetic forsterite during the May session. b, H2O concentration data. The analytical blank and detection limit were assessed using Suprasil glass during the March session (assumed to contain 2 μg g−1 H2O) and synthetic forsterite (assumed to contain 0 μg g−1 H2O) during the May session. c, Cl concentration data. The analytical blank and detection limit were assessed using replicate analyses of synthetic forsterite. d, S concentration data. The analytical blank and detection limit were assessed using replicate analyses of Suprasil. e, F concentration data. The analytical blank and detection limit were assessed using replicate analyses of Suprasil.

Extended Data Fig. 2 Blank-corrected highly volatile element analyses in CC and NC meteorite NAMs (olivine, pyroxene and feldspar).

Details of the analyses are provided in the caption to Extended Data Fig. 1. Error bars represent one standard deviation of replicate analyses (see Supplementary Data Tables). a, Blank-corrected H2O data. Analyses below the detection limit (labelled det. lim.) are plotted at 0 μg g−1. b, Blank-corrected Cl data. Analyses below the detection limit are plotted at 0 μg g−1. Only NWA 8409 contains detectable Cl. Cl was not analysed in NWA 8777 or NWA 10132. c, Blank-corrected S data. Analyses below the detection limit are plotted at 0 μg g−1. d, Blank-corrected F data. Analyses below the detection limit are plotted at 0.01 μg g−1.

Extended Data Fig. 3 Calculated upper bounds on the concentrations of H2O (a), Cl (b), S (c) and F (d) in hypothetical silicate melts that would be in equilibrium with the NAMs in the CC (labelled in blue) and NC (labelled in orange) ungrouped achondrites.

Concentrations are calculated using mineral–melt partition coefficients30,31,32. Ranges of H2O and S measured in bulk carbonaceous chondrites are shown in grey56: the ungrouped achondrites contain at least one order of magnitude less H2O than the driest (CV) carbonaceous chondrites and more than two orders of magnitude lower S than the most S-depleted (CK) carbonaceous chondrites.

Extended Data Fig. 4 Calculated H2O in the NWA 6962 parent body assuming that the precursor material underwent 10%, 30% and 50% batch melting and assuming that the water concentrations measured in olivine-hosted melt inclusions from this sample (containing 10–38 μg g−1 H2O) are representative of primitive mantle melts.

The petrogenetic history of NWA 6962 is poorly constrained but its olivine-rich mineralogy is petrographically similar to the NC brachinite meteorites that are thought to have been generated by crystallization of an approximately 30% partial melt of chondrite-like precursor materials35. Assuming a melt fraction of 30%, we estimate that the NWA 6962 parent body contained about 3–13 μg g−1 H2O.

Extended Data Fig. 5 Photomicrographs of the meteorite chips analysed during this study.

All chips are a few millimetres across; scale bars for individual chips are provided in Extended Data Figs. 6–12. Chips are pressed into indium.

Extended Data Fig. 6 Elemental concentration maps measured by EDS and BSE image of NWA 6704.

a–e, Elemental concentration maps. f, BSE image.

Extended Data Fig. 7 Elemental concentration maps measured by EDS and secondary electron image of NWA 10132.

a–e, Elemental concentration maps. f, Secondary electron image.

Extended Data Fig. 8 Elemental concentration maps measured by EDS and BSE image of NWA 2788.

a–e, Elemental concentration maps. f, BSE image.

Extended Data Fig. 9 Elemental concentration maps measured by EDS and BSE image of NWA 6962.

a–e, Elemental concentration maps. f, BSE image.

Extended Data Fig. 10 Elemental concentration maps measured by EDS and secondary electron image of NWA 8777.

a–e, Elemental concentration maps. f, Secondary electron image.

Extended Data Fig. 11 Elemental concentration maps measured by EDS and BSE image of NWA 8409.

a–e, Elemental concentration maps. f, BSE image.

Extended Data Fig. 12 Elemental concentration maps measured by EDS and BSE image of NWA 11558.

a–e, Elemental concentration maps. f, BSE image.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Data Tables

Data tables containing raw and processed data collected by secondary-ion mass spectrometry and electron microprobe.

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Newcombe, M.E., Nielsen, S.G., Peterson, L.D. et al. Degassing of early-formed planetesimals restricted water delivery to Earth. Nature 615, 854–857 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05721-5

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