Glenn J. MacPherson

Elemental compositions of comet 81P/Wild 2 samples collected by Stardust

We measured the elemental compositions of material from 23 particles in aerogel and from residue in seven craters in aluminum foil that was collected during passage of the Stardust spacecraft through the coma of comet 81P/Wild 2. These particles are chemically heterogeneous at the largest size scale analyzed (∼180 ng). The mean elemental composition of this Wild 2 material is consistent with the CI meteorite composition, which is thought to represent the bulk composition of the solar system, for the elements Mg, Si, Mn, Fe, and Ni to 35%, and for Ca and Ti to 60%. The elements Cu, Zn, and Ga appear enriched in this Wild 2 material, which suggests that the CI meteorites may not represent the solar system composition for these moderately volatile minor elements.

ALH85085: a unique volatile-poor carbonaceous chondrite with possible implications for nebular fractionation processes

Abstract Allan Hills 85085 is a unique chondrite with affinities to the Al Rais-Renazzo clan of carbonaceous chondrites. Its constituents are less than 50 μm in mean size. Chondrules and microchondrules of all textures are present; nonporphyritic chondrules are unusually abundant. The mean compositions of porphyritic, nonporphyritic and barred olivine chondrules resemble those in ordinary chondrites except that they are depleted in volatile elements. Ca-, Al-rich inclusions are abundant and largely free of nebular alteration; they comprise types similar to those in CM and CO chondrites, as well as unique types. Calcium dialuminate occurs in several inclusions. Metal, silicate and sulfide compositions are close to those in CM-CO chondrites and Al Rais and Renazzo. C1-chondrite clasts and metal-rich “reduced” clasts are present, but opaque matrix is absent. Siderophile abundances in ALH85085 are extremely high (e.g., Fe/Si= 1.7 × solar), and volatiles are depleted (e.g., Na/Si= 0.25 × solar, S/Si= 0.03 × solar). Nonvolatile lithophile abundances are similar to those in Al Rais, Renazzo, and CM and CO chondrites. ALH85085 agglomerated when temperatures in the nebula were near 1000 K, in the same region where Renazzo, Al Rais and the CI chondrites formed. Agglomeration of high-temperature material may thus be a mechanism by which the fractionation of refractory lithophiles occurred in the nebula. Chondrule formation must have occurred at high temperatures when clumps of precursors were small. After agglomeration, ALH85085 was annealed and lightly shocked. C1 and other clasts were subsequently incorporated during late-stage brecciation.

Chronology of the early Solar System from chondrule-bearing calcium-aluminium-rich inclusions

Chondrules and Ca-Al-rich inclusions (CAIs) are high-temperature components of meteorites that formed during transient heating events in the early Solar System. A major unresolved issue is the relative timing of CAI and chondrule formation. From the presence of chondrule fragments in an igneous CAI, it was concluded that some chondrules formed before CAIs (ref. 5). This conclusion is contrary to the presence of relict CAIs inside chondrules, as well as to the higher abundance of 26Al in CAIs; both observations indicate that CAIs pre-date chondrules by 1–3 million years (Myr). Here we report that relict chondrule material in the Allende meteorite, composed of olivine and low-calcium pyroxene, occurs in the outer portions of two CAIs and is 16O-poor (Δ17O ≈ - 1‰ to -5‰). Spinel and diopside in the CAI cores are 16O-rich (Δ17O up to -20‰), whereas diopside in their outer zones, as well as melilite and anorthite, are 16O-depleted (Δ17O = -8‰ to 2‰). Both chondrule-bearing CAIs are 26Al-poor with initial 26Al/27Al ratios of (4.7 ± 1.4) × 10-6 and <1.2 × 10-6. We conclude that these CAIs had chondrule material added to them during a re-melting episode ∼2 Myr after formation of CAIs with the canonical 26Al/27Al ratio of 5 × 10-5.

Diverse Sources for Igneous Blocks in Franciscan Melanges, California Coast Ranges

Igneous blocks in Franciscan melanges are of three chemical-petrologic types: (1) tholeiitic basalts of both arc and spreading center origin, with depletions in light relative to heavy rare-earth elements,

Fine-grained, spinel-rich inclusions from the reduced CV chondrites Efremovka and Leoville; I. Mineralogy, petrology, and bulk chemistry

3\%> TiO_{2} >1\%

Type C Ca, Al-rich inclusions from Allende: Evidence for multistage formation

, high Y/Zr and Y/Ti ratios, and relict augites that generally have low Al and Ti and well-defined iron-enrichment trends; (2) basalts of probable seamount origin with marked enrichments in light relative to heavy rare-earth elements,

Forsterite-bearing type B refractory inclusions from CV3 chondrites: From aggregates to volatilized melt droplets

5\%> TiO_{2} >1\%