Metal differentiation on asteroids recorded in Zn and Fe isotopic signatures of ureilites

verfasst von: S. M. Chernonozhkin, L. Pittarello, G. Hublet, S. Weyer, I. Horn, P. Claeys, V. Debaille, F. Vanhaecke, S. Goderis
Abstract: Ureilites are meteorites that represent mantle restites of a planetesimal likely disrupted before the magma ocean stage and then reaccreted. Historically, it was speculated that evaporation shifts the Zn isotope ratios in ureilites toward heavier compositions. The fact that the ureilite parent body (UPB) is depleted in some moderately volatile elements (MVEs) makes ureilites an appealing target to study isotopic fractionation by evaporation in the early Solar System. Here, we show that Fe and Zn isotope ratios of bulk ureilites and their metal and silicate components rather record metal melting and extraction of Fe-FeS melts in the UPB, which also resulted in isotopic disequilibrium between the silicate and metal parts. This finding underlines that the isotopic evolution of MVEs in the early Solar System is not only affected by evaporation, but also by planetary differentiation processes due to the chalcophile and/or siderophile behaviour of many MVEs. It shows that to avoid interpretational bias due to undersampling of planetesimal reservoirs in meteorite collections, and to distinguish planetary differentiation from evaporation, isotopic compositions of MVEs should be combined with common geochemical proxies.
Organisationseinheit(en): Institut für Erdsystemwissenschaften
Abteilung Mineralogie
AG Geochemie
Externe Organisation(en): Universiteit Gent
University of Leoben
Geological Survey of Finland (GTK)
Universität Wien
Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Typ: Artikel
Journal: Geochemical Perspectives Letters
Band: 33
Seiten: 38-43
Anzahl der Seiten: 6
ISSN: 2410-339X
Publikationsdatum: 03.01.2025
Publikationsstatus: Veröffentlicht
Peer-reviewed: Ja
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete: Umweltchemie, Geologie, Geochemie und Petrologie
Elektronische Version(en): https://doi.org/10.7185/geochemlet.2501 (Zugang: Offen)

BibTeX

@article{bab5fe6226254ddc923198769ad43b27,
title = "Metal differentiation on asteroids recorded in Zn and Fe isotopic signatures of ureilites",
abstract = "Ureilites are meteorites that represent mantle restites of a planetesimal likely disrupted before the magma ocean stage and then reaccreted. Historically, it was speculated that evaporation shifts the Zn isotope ratios in ureilites toward heavier compositions. The fact that the ureilite parent body (UPB) is depleted in some moderately volatile elements (MVEs) makes ureilites an appealing target to study isotopic fractionation by evaporation in the early Solar System. Here, we show that Fe and Zn isotope ratios of bulk ureilites and their metal and silicate components rather record metal melting and extraction of Fe-FeS melts in the UPB, which also resulted in isotopic disequilibrium between the silicate and metal parts. This finding underlines that the isotopic evolution of MVEs in the early Solar System is not only affected by evaporation, but also by planetary differentiation processes due to the chalcophile and/or siderophile behaviour of many MVEs. It shows that to avoid interpretational bias due to undersampling of planetesimal reservoirs in meteorite collections, and to distinguish planetary differentiation from evaporation, isotopic compositions of MVEs should be combined with common geochemical proxies.",
author = "Chernonozhkin, {S. M.} and L. Pittarello and G. Hublet and S. Weyer and I. Horn and P. Claeys and V. Debaille and F. Vanhaecke and S. Goderis",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Authors.",
year = "2025",
month = jan,
day = "3",
doi = "10.7185/geochemlet.2501",
language = "English",
volume = "33",
pages = "38--43",
journal = "Geochemical Perspectives Letters",
issn = "2410-339X",
publisher = "European Association of Geochemistry",
}