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A Unique Basaltic Micrometeorite Expands the Inventory of Solar System Planetary Crusts

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A Unique Basaltic Micrometeorite Expands the Inventory of Solar System Planetary Crusts A unique basaltic micrometeorite expands the inventory of solar system planetary crusts Matthieu Gounellea,1, Marc Chaussidonb, Alessandro Morbidellic, Jean-Alix Barratd,Ce´ cile Engrande, Michael E. Zolenskyf, and Kevin D. McKeegang aLaboratoire de Mine´ralogie et de Cosmochimie du Muse´um, Muse´um National d’Histoire Naturelle, Unite´Mixte de Recherche Centre National de Recherche Scientifique-7202, CP52, 57 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France; bCentre de Recherches Pe´trographiques et Ge´ochimiques-Nancy Universite´-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UPR 2300, 15 Rue Notre-Dame des Pauvres, France; cObservatoire de la Coˆte d’Azur, Boulevard de l’Observatoire, B.P. 4229, 06304 Nice Cedex 4, France; dUniversite de Bretagne Occidentale-Institut Universitaire Europeen de la Mer, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unite´Mixte de Recherche 6538 (Domaines Oce´aniques), Place Nicolas Copernic, 29280 Plouzane´Cedex, France; eCentre de Spectrome´trie Nucle´aire et de Spectrome´trie de Masse, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-Universite´Paris-Sud, Baˆtiment 104, 91 405 Orsay Campus, France; fSN2, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058; and gDepartment of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1567 Edited by Mark H. Thiemens, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, and approved February 20, 2009 (received for review January 13, 2009) Micrometeorites with diameter Ϸ100–200 ␮m dominate the flux of solar system. Very few groups of differentiated achondrites are extraterrestrial matter on Earth. The vast majority of micromete- known (14). Lunar meteorites come from the Moon, whereas orites are chemically, mineralogically, and isotopically related to Shergottites–Nakhlites–Chassignites (SNC) meteorites are carbonaceous chondrites, which amount to only 2.5% of meteorite thought to originate from Mars. The Howardite–Eucrite– falls. Here, we report the discovery of the first basaltic microme- Diogenite (HED) meteorites as well as mesosiderites (15) are teorite (MM40). This micrometeorite is unlike any other basalt hypothesized to come from the Ϸ500-km, differentiated asteroid known in the solar system as revealed by isotopic data, mineral 4 Vesta (16). Angrites, aubrites, and the unique meteorite chemistry, and trace element abundances. The discovery of a new NWA011 are differentiated achondrites that have not been basaltic asteroidal surface expands the solar system inventory of identified with any particular asteroid. planetary crusts and underlines the importance of micrometeorites Although thousands of micrometeorites have been studied in for sampling the asteroids’ surfaces in a way complementary to detail (7), so far no unmelted micrometeorite has been found meteorites, mainly because they do not suffer dynamical biases as with an unambiguous achondritic composition and texture. meteorites do. The parent asteroid of MM40 has undergone Based purely on their chemistry, 6 totally melted micrometeor- extensive metamorphism, which ended no earlier than 7.9 Myr ites (cosmic spherules) were tentatively linked to the HED after solar system formation. Numerical simulations of dust trans- meteorites (17) which represent the most common group of port dynamics suggest that MM40 might originate from one of the achondrites (amounting to Ϸ1.7% of meteorite falls). However, recently discovered basaltic asteroids that are not members of the because cosmic spherules are fully melted during atmospheric Vesta family. The ability to retrieve such a wealth of information entry (18), their original textures, mineralogy, and isotopic from this tiny (a few micrograms) sample is auspicious some years compositions are compromised or lost, and they cannot provide before the launch of a Mars sample return mission. secure links to the parent bodies from which they come. In this article, we report the discovery of a micrometeorite asteroids ͉ cosmic dust ͉ differentiation whose properties show that it is not related to chondrites. Despite the small size of the sample (a few micrograms), we have icrometeorites with diameter Ϸ100–200 ␮m dominate the examined its mineralogy, its mineral chemistry, its Rare Earth Mpresent-day flux of extraterrestrial material reaching Element (REE) abundance pattern, and its oxygen isotopic Earth (1). These particles are generally collected on polar ice composition. Its magnesium isotopic composition was also in- caps in Greenland and Antarctica via ice or snow melting and vestigated to detect evidence for the former presence of the 26 T ϭ filtering (2–5). Recently, large micrometeorites were also col- short-lived radionuclide Al ( 1/2 0.74 Myr) which was present in the early solar system (19). lected by magnetic sampling in the Transantarctic Mountains We show that this micrometeorite is clearly a differentiated (6). A large majority of micrometeorites are chemically, miner- achondrite, although it is distinct from eucrites and any other alogically, and isotopically related to primitive carbonaceous achondrites group. It is a sample from a basaltic asteroid that is chondrites (7–9), which, however, amount to only 2.5% of so far unrepresented among the meteorite collection. Numerical meteorite falls (10). This important difference between the simulations of dust generated by known basaltic asteroids are nature of micrometeorites and that of meteorites is due to the performed to try to identify the parent asteroid of this new radically different dynamical processes affecting these two kinds basaltic micrometeorite. of objects while in interplanetary space. Meteorites are delivered on Earth via a combination of Yarkovsky thermal forces, inter- Mineralogy, Mineral Chemistry, and Isotopic Composition. MM40 action with resonances, and close encounters with the terrestrial measures 140 ϫ 100 ␮m (Fig. 1) and its mass is estimated to be at planets (11). Micrometeorites, however, have their dynamical most of a few micrograms, assuming a density of 3 g/cm3.Itis evolution dominated by nongravitational forces such as Poynt- irregular in shape and has a granular texture. It consists of low- ing–Robertson drag (12), with the effects of resonances and calcium pyroxene (En29.2–47.8Wo2.6–3.3), high-calcium pyroxene, planetary encounters playing a less important role. Therefore, plagioclase, SiO , and minor oxides and troilite (see Table 1 for the micrometeorites provide a more representative sampling of solar 2 system bodies than do meteorites (13). Achondrites are meteorites that do not contain chondrules. Author contributions: M.G. designed research; M.G., M.C., A.M., J.-A.B., C.E., M.E.Z., and Primitive achondrites have a puzzling origin (14), whereas K.D.M. performed research; M.G., M.C., A.M., J.-A.B., C.E., M.E.Z., and K.D.M. analyzed differentiated achondrites result from the chemical differentia- data; and M.G. wrote the paper. tion of a large asteroid, a large satellite, or a planet. In addition The authors declare no conflict of interest. to terrestrial (or lunar) samples, differentiated achondrites This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. therefore provide the only samples of the planetary crusts of our 1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]. 6904–6909 ͉ PNAS ͉ April 28, 2009 ͉ vol. 106 ͉ no. 17 www.pnas.org͞cgi͞doi͞10.1073͞pnas.0900328106 Downloaded by guest on September 25, 2021 Fig. 1. Backscattered electron image of micrometeorite 99-21-40 (MM40). It consists of pyroxene (Px), plagioclase (Pl), and quartz (Qz). MM40 is covered by Fig. 2. Raman spectrum of the SiO2 polymorph found in MM40. The Ϸ460 Ϫ a thin magnetite (Mt) rim. cm 1 line positively identifies it as quartz. plagioclase and pyroxene compositions). Plagioclase has an anor- chondrites). The plagioclase pattern is flat (Fig. 5) with a ϭ thitic composition (An87.1–88.9Al10.8–12.6Or0.28–0.45, average moderate positive Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu* 5.9). ⌬26 ϭϪ Ϯ An87.9Al11.8Or0.30). High-calcium pyroxene (En35.6–49.0Wo5.6–25.8, Plagioclase and pyroxene have Mg 3.5 4.2 ‰ and Ϯ average En42.8Wo11.6) consists primarily of pigeonite with augite 1.5 2.8 ‰, respectively. The respective Al/Mg ratios of the two exsolution lamellae ranging in size from 1 to 3 ␮m. The pyroxene minerals are 3,500 and 0. The absence of any 26Mg excess even mg#, defined as the atomic ratio of Mg/(MgϩFe), varies between for high 27Al/24Mg ratios (Fig. 6) demonstrates that 26Al was not 0.40 and 0.50 with an average value of 0.47. TiO2 content in present at the time of the Al-Mg system isotopic closure. We 26 27 pyroxene varies between 0.20 and 0.61 wt%. SiO2 was identified as calculate that the upper limit of the Al/ Al ratio at the time quartz (rather than cristobalite or other polymorphs) by Raman of isotopic closure was of 2.8 ϫ 10Ϫ8. spectroscopy (Fig. 2). It occurs as micrometer-sized inclusions within pyroxene, and also interstitial between pyroxene and pla- A Unique Extraterrestrial Basalt. Given its angular shape, its tex- gioclase. MM40 is partially rimmed by magnetite (Fe3O4)also ture, and its mineralogy, MM40 is undoubtedly an unmelted identified by using Raman spectroscopy (Fig. 3). micrometeorite. It is not a cosmic spherule similar to those Both plagioclase and pyroxene have identical oxygen isotopic reported by ref. 17. compositions within errors (2␴): ␦18O ϭ 5.7 Ϯ 0.5 ‰ (5.6 Ϯ 0.6 The texture and mineralogy of MM40 is markedly different from ‰) and ␦17O ϭ 3.4 Ϯ 0.3 ‰ (3.1 Ϯ 0.7 ‰), respectively (Fig. that of chondrites, which represent the most abundant type of 4). The average ⌬17O for the two minerals is 0.37 Ϯ 0.4‰(2␴). meteorites falling on Earth (20). MM40 petrography and mineral- REE patterns were obtained for pyroxene and plagioclase ogy are characteristic of basaltic rocks that result from partial (Fig. 5). Two pyroxene analyses display strong increases in melting of the mantle of rocky planets, large moons, or asteroids abundances from La to Lu (Lan/Lun ϭ 0.09–0.2, where the index large enough to have undergone metal-silicate differentiation (14).
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