Karen Ziegler

Chelyabinsk airburst, damage assessment, meteorite recovery, and characterization

Deep Impact? On 15 February 2013, the Russian district of Chelyabinsk, with a population of more than 1 million, suffered the impact and atmospheric explosion of a 20-meter-wide asteroid—the largest impact on Earth by an asteroid since 1908. Popova et al. (p. 1069, published online 7 November; see the Perspective by Chapman) provide a comprehensive description of this event and of the body that caused it, including detailed information on the asteroid orbit and atmospheric trajectory, damage assessment, and meteorite recovery and characterization. A detailed study of a recent asteroid impact provides an opportunity to calibrate the damage caused by these rare events. [Also see Perspective by Chapman] The asteroid impact near the Russian city of Chelyabinsk on 15 February 2013 was the largest airburst on Earth since the 1908 Tunguska event, causing a natural disaster in an area with a population exceeding one million. Because it occurred in an era with modern consumer electronics, field sensors, and laboratory techniques, unprecedented measurements were made of the impact event and the meteoroid that caused it. Here, we document the account of what happened, as understood now, using comprehensive data obtained from astronomy, planetary science, geophysics, meteorology, meteoritics, and cosmochemistry and from social science surveys. A good understanding of the Chelyabinsk incident provides an opportunity to calibrate the event, with implications for the study of near-Earth objects and developing hazard mitigation strategies for planetary protection.

Unique Meteorite from Early Amazonian Mars: Water-Rich Basaltic Breccia Northwest Africa 7034

So Different and So Similar Most known meteorites from Mars fit into one class. Agee et al. (p. 780, published online 3 January; see the Perspective by Humayun) describe a meteorite, NWA 7034, which shares some characteristics with other martian meteorites but does not fit within the usual classification. NWA 7034 matches the composition of Mars surface but is also richer in water than other martian meteorites, and has different oxygen isotope composition, which suggests the existence of multiple oxygen isotopic reservoirs within Mars. Its radiometric age of 2.1 billion years makes it a unique sample of the Amazonian period on Mars. Detailed analysis of a meteorite shows that it matches the surface of Mars yet is unlike any other martian meteorite. [Also see Perspective by Humayun] We report data on the martian meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 7034, which shares some petrologic and geochemical characteristics with known martian meteorites of the SNC (i.e., shergottite, nakhlite, and chassignite) group, but also has some unique characteristics that would exclude it from that group. NWA 7034 is a geochemically enriched crustal rock compositionally similar to basalts and average martian crust measured by recent Rover and Orbiter missions. It formed 2.089 ± 0.081 billion years ago, during the early Amazonian epoch in Mars geologic history. NWA 7034 has an order of magnitude more indigenous water than most SNC meteorites, with up to 6000 parts per million extraterrestrial H2O released during stepped heating. It also has bulk oxygen isotope values of Δ17O = 0.58 ± 0.05 per mil and a heat-released water oxygen isotope average value of Δ17O = 0.330 ± 0.011 per mil, suggesting the existence of multiple oxygen reservoirs on Mars.

Early Solar System hydrothermal activity in chondritic asteroids on 1–10-year timescales

Chondritic meteorites are considered the most primitive remnants of planetesimals from the early Solar System. As undifferentiated objects, they also display widespread evidence of water–rock interaction on the parent body. Understanding this history has implications for the formation of planetary bodies, the delivery of water to the inner Solar System, and the formation of prebiotic molecules. The timescales of water–rock reactions in these early objects, however, are largely unknown. Here, we report evidence for short-lived water–rock reactions in the highly metamorphosed ordinary chondrite breccia Villalbeto de la Peña (L6). An exotic clast (d = 2cm) has coexisting variations in feldspar composition and oxygen isotope ratios that can only result from hydrothermal conditions. The profiles were modeled at T = 800 °C and P(H2O) = 1 bar using modified grain-boundary diffusion parameters for oxygen self-diffusion and reaction rates of NaSiCa-1Al-1 exchange in a fumarole. The geochemical data are consistent with hydrothermal activity on the parent body lasting only 1–10 y. This result has wide-ranging implications for the geological history of chondritic asteroids.

Silica-rich volcanism in the early solar system dated at 4.565 Ga

The ranges in chemical composition of ancient achondrite meteorites are key to understanding the diversity and geochemical evolution of planetary building blocks. These achondrites record the first episodes of volcanism and crust formation, the majority of which are basaltic. Here we report data on recently discovered volcanic meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 11119, which represents the first, and oldest, silica-rich (andesitic to dacitic) porphyritic extrusive crustal rock with an Al–Mg age of 4564.8u2009±u20090.3u2009Ma. This unique rock contains mm-sized vesicles/cavities and phenocrysts that are surrounded by quench melt. Additionally, it possesses the highest modal abundance (30u2009vol%) of free silica (i.e., tridymite) compared to all known meteorites. NWA 11119 substantially widens the range of volcanic rock compositions produced within the first 2.5–3.5 million years of Solar System history, and provides direct evidence that chemically evolved crustal rocks were forming on planetesimals prior to the assembly of the terrestrial planets.Achondritic meteorites canxa0record volcanism and crust formation on planetesimals in the early Solar System. Here, the authors date the Northwest Africa 11119 meteorite with an Al-Mg age of 4564.8 ± 0.3 Ma indicating that this is the earliest evidence of silicic volcanism in the Solar System to date.