Justin I. Simon

CALCIUM ISOTOPE COMPOSITION OF METEORITES, EARTH, AND MARS

The relative abundances of calcium isotopes in the mass range 40-44 were measured in primitive and differentiated meteorites and igneous rocks from Earth and Mars in search of non-mass-dependent variations that could provide clues about early solar system processes. Most bulk samples of planetary materials have calcium isotopic compositions identical with Earths within the current resolution of about 0.01% in 40Ca/44Ca. Possible exceptions include carbonaceous chondrites, some ordinary chondrites, and two samples of calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions, which have small excesses of 40Ca. The samples with 40Ca excesses are also known to have 50Ti and 135Ba excesses and 142Nd and 144Sm deficits. Collectively these data from refractory elements suggest that the planetary embryos represented by chondrites preserve isotopic heterogeneity that reflects different nucleosynthetic sources. No late admixture from a single nucleosynthetic source can explain all observations. The results are most compatible with variable proportions of material derived from Type II supernovae. The initial calcium isotope compositions of Earth and Mars are indistinguishable and similar to the 40Ca abundance found in some chondrites and all differentiated meteorites studied. It appears that isotopic heterogeneity in calcium was still present at the completion of disk formation but was homogenized during planetary accretion.

Oxygen Isotope Variations at the Margin of a CAI Records Circulation Within the Solar Nebula

Isotope measurements within an inclusion in a meteorite reveal a record of processes in the early solar system. Micrometer-scale analyses of a calcium-, aluminum-rich inclusion (CAI) and the characteristic mineral bands mantling the CAI reveal that the outer parts of this primitive object have a large range of oxygen isotope compositions. The variations are systematic; the relative abundance of 16O first decreases toward the CAI margin, approaching a planetary-like isotopic composition, then shifts to extremely 16O-rich compositions through the surrounding rim. The variability implies that CAIs probably formed from several oxygen reservoirs. The observations support early and short-lived fluctuations of the environment in which CAIs formed, either because of transport of the CAIs themselves to distinct regions of the solar nebula or because of varying gas composition near the proto-Sun.

Assimilation of preexisting Pleistocene intrusions at Long Valley by periodic magma recharge accelerates rhyolite generation: rethinking the remelting model

Rhyolite flows and tuffs from the Long Valley area of California, which were erupted over a two-million-year time period, exhibit systematic trends in Nd, Hf, and Pb isotopes, trace element composition, erupted volume, and inferred magma residence time that provide evidence for a new model for the production of large volumes of silica-rich magma. Key constraints come from geochronology of zircon crystal populations combined with a refined eruption chronology from Ar–Ar geochronology; together these data give better estimates of magma residence time that can be evaluated in the context of changing magma compositions. Here, we report Hf, Nd, and Sr isotopes, major and trace element compositions, 40Ar/39Ar ages, and U–Pb zircon ages that combined with existing data suggest that the chronology and geochemistry of Long Valley rhyolites can be explained by a dynamic interaction of crustal and mantle-derived magma. The large volume Bishop Tuff represents the culmination of a period of increased mantle-derived magma input to the Long Valley volcanic system; the effect of this input continued into earliest postcaldera time. As the postcaldera evolution of the system continued, new and less primitive crustal-derived magmas dominated the system. A mixture of varying amounts of more mafic mantle-derived and felsic crustal-derived magmas with recently crystallized granitic plutonic materials offers the best explanation for the observed chronology, secular shifts in Hf and Nd isotopes, and the apparently low zircon crystallization and saturation temperatures as compared to Fe–Ti oxide eruption temperatures. This scenario in which transient crustal magma bodies remained molten for varying time periods, fed eruptions before solidification, and were then remelted by fresh recharge provides a realistic conceptual framework that can explain the isotopic and geochemical evidence. General relationships between crustal residence times and magma sources are that: (1) precaldera rhyolites had long crustal magma residence times and high crustal affinity, (2) the caldera-related Bishop Tuff and early postcaldera rhyolites have lower crustal affinity and short magma residence times, and (3) later postcaldera rhyolites again have stronger crustal signatures and longer magma residence times.

Ca Isotope Effects in Orgueil Leachates and the Implications for the Carrier Phases of 54Cr Anomalies

Primitive meteorites contain small 40Ca excesses, in addition to rare anomalies in 48Ca. Refractory inclusions from Vigarano and Allende have larger 40Ca and resolvable 48Ca anomalies. These results imply that Ca isotopic heterogeneities were still present in the early solar system at both the mineral and whole-rock scale. The absence of correlated Ca isotope anomalies in leachates from the CI1 chondrite Orgueil containing large 54Cr anomalies has implications on the origin of the Cr anomalies. 54Cr has to be produced either in massive stars during s-process nucleosynthesis without accompanying 48Ca or in particular zones in the rare Type Ia supernovae. In the latter case, 54Cr has been produced in a zone predominantly enriched in Cr and 54Cr and not mixed with other zones, or 54Cr has been produced together with other neutron-rich nuclides and there has been subsequent decoupling of this material in the star, in the solar system, or in the laboratory.