The Fe/S ratio of pyrrhotite group sulfides in chondrites: An indicator of oxidation and implications for return samples from asteroids Ryugu and Bennu.

Determining compositional trends among individual minerals is key to understanding the thermodynamic conditions under which they formed and altered, and is also essential to maximizing the scientific value of small extraterrestrial samples, including returned samples and meteorites. Here we report the chemical compositions of Fe-sulfides, focusing on the pyrrhotite-group sulfides, which are ubiquitous in chondrites and are sensitive indicators of formation and alteration conditions in the protoplanetary disk and in small Solar System bodies. Our data show that while there are trends with the at.

Chromium isotopic insights into the origin of chondrite parent bodies and the early terrestrial volatile depletion.

Chondrites are meteorites from undifferentiated parent bodies that provide fundamental information about early Solar System evolution and planet formation. The element Cr is highly suitable for deciphering both the timing of formation and the origin of planetary building blocks because it records both radiogenic contributions from Mn-Cr decay and variable nucleosynthetic contributions from the stable Cr nuclide. Here, we report high-precision measurements of the massindependent Cr isotope compositions (εCr and εCr) of chondrites (including all carbonaceous chondrites groups) and terrestrial samples using for the first time a multi-collection inductively-coupled-plasma mass-spectrometer to better understand the formation histories and genetic relationships between chondrite parent bodies.

The relationship between CM and CO chondrites: Insights from combined analyses of titanium, chromium, and oxygen isotopes in CM, CO, and ungrouped chondrites.

A close relationship between CM and CO chondrites has been suggested by previous petrologic and isotopic studies, leading to the suggestion that they may originate from similar precursor materials or even a common parent body. In this study, we evaluate the genetic relationship between CM and CO chondrites using Ti, Cr, and O isotopes. We first provide additional constraints on the ranges of εTi and εCr values of bulk CM and CO chondrites by reporting the isotopic compositions of CM2 chondrites Murchison, Murray, and Aguas Zarcas and the CO3.

Water on Mars: Insights from apatite in regolith breccia Northwest Africa 7034.

Determining the source of planetary water from the hydrogen isotope compositions of crustal samples is complicated by the overprinting of isotopically diverse source material by geologic and atmospheric processes. As Mars has no plate tectonics, crustal material, which may have isotopically exchanged with the martian atmosphere, is not recycled into the mantle keeping the water reservoirs in the mantle and atmosphere mostly isolated, buffered by the crust. As the only known martian samples that are regolith breccias with a composition representative of the average crust of Mars, Northwest Africa (NWA) 7034 and its paired stones provide an important opportunity to investigate the water content and hydrogen isotope composition of the martian crust.

The background temperature of the protoplanetary disk within the first four million years of the Solar System.

The background temperature of the protoplanetary disk is a fundamental but poorly constrained parameter that strongly influences a wide range of conditions and processes in the early Solar System, including the widespread process(es) by which chondrules originate. Chondrules, mm-scale objects composed primarily of silicate minerals, were formed in the protoplanetary disk almost entirely during the first four million years of Solar System history but their formation mechanism(s) are poorly understood. Here we present new constraints on the sub-silicate solidus cooling rates of chondrules at <873 K (600°C) using the compositions of sulfide minerals.

High Abundances of Presolar Grains and N-rich Organic Matter in CO3.0 Chondrite Dominion Range 08006.

NanoSIMS C-, N-, and O-isotopic mapping of matrix in CO3.0 chondrite Dominion Range (DOM) 08006 revealed it to have in its matrix the highest abundance of presolar O-rich grains (257 +76/-96 ppm, 2σ) of any meteorite. It also has a matrix abundance of presolar SiC of 35 (+25/-17, 2σ) ppm, similar to that seen across primitive chondrite classes.

Petrography, stable isotope compositions, microRaman spectroscopy, and presolar components of Roberts Massif 04133: A reduced CV3 carbonaceous chondrite.

Here, we report the mineralogy, petrography, C-N-O-stable isotope compositions, degree of disorder of organic matter, and abundances of presolar components of the chondrite Roberts Massif (RBT) 04133 using a coordinated, multitechnique approach. The results of this study are inconsistent with its initial classification as a Renazzo-like carbonaceous chondrite, and strongly support RBT 04133 being a brecciated, reduced petrologic type >3.3 Vigarano-like carbonaceous (CV) chondrite.