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Chernonozhkin SM, González de Vega C, Artemieva N, Soens B, Belza J, Bolea-Fernandez E, Van Ginneken M, Glass BP, Folco L, Genge MJ, Claeys P, Vanhaecke F, Goderis S. Isotopic evolution of planetary crusts by hypervelocity impacts evidenced by Fe in microtektites. Nat Commun 2021; 12:5646. [PMID: 34552090 PMCID: PMC8458397 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25819-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Fractionation effects related to evaporation and condensation had a major impact on the current elemental and isotopic composition of the Solar System. Although isotopic fractionation of moderately volatile elements has been observed in tektites due to impact heating, the exact nature of the processes taking place during hypervelocity impacts remains poorly understood. By studying Fe in microtektites, here we show that impact events do not simply lead to melting, melt expulsion and evaporation, but involve a convoluted sequence of processes including condensation, variable degrees of mixing between isotopically distinct reservoirs and ablative evaporation during atmospheric re-entry. Hypervelocity impacts can as such not only generate isotopically heavy, but also isotopically light ejecta, with δ56/54Fe spanning over nearly 5‰ and likely even larger variations for more volatile elements. The mechanisms demonstrated here for terrestrial impact ejecta modify our understanding of the effects of impact processing on the isotopic evolution of planetary crusts.
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Affiliation(s)
- S M Chernonozhkin
- Atomic & Mass Spectrometry - A&MS Research Unit, Department of Chemistry, Ghent University, Campus Sterre, Krijgslaan 281 - S12, BE9000, Ghent, Belgium.
| | - C González de Vega
- Atomic & Mass Spectrometry - A&MS Research Unit, Department of Chemistry, Ghent University, Campus Sterre, Krijgslaan 281 - S12, BE9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - N Artemieva
- Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ, 85719, USA
- Institute for Dynamics of Geospheres RAS, 117334, Moscow, Russia
| | - B Soens
- Analytical, Environmental, and Geochemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, BE1050, Brussels, Belgium
| | - J Belza
- Atomic & Mass Spectrometry - A&MS Research Unit, Department of Chemistry, Ghent University, Campus Sterre, Krijgslaan 281 - S12, BE9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - E Bolea-Fernandez
- Atomic & Mass Spectrometry - A&MS Research Unit, Department of Chemistry, Ghent University, Campus Sterre, Krijgslaan 281 - S12, BE9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - M Van Ginneken
- Centre for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, School of Physical Sciences, Ingram Building, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NH, UK
| | - B P Glass
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - L Folco
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Pisa, 56126, Pisa, Italy
- CISUP, Centro per l'Integrazione della Strumentazione dell'Università di Pisa, 56126, Pisa, Italy
| | - M J Genge
- IARC, Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Ph Claeys
- Analytical, Environmental, and Geochemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, BE1050, Brussels, Belgium
| | - F Vanhaecke
- Atomic & Mass Spectrometry - A&MS Research Unit, Department of Chemistry, Ghent University, Campus Sterre, Krijgslaan 281 - S12, BE9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - S Goderis
- Analytical, Environmental, and Geochemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, BE1050, Brussels, Belgium.
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Van Ginneken M, Goderis S, Artemieva N, Debaille V, Decrée S, Harvey RP, Huwig KA, Hecht L, Yang S, Kaufmann FED, Soens B, Humayun M, Van Maldeghem F, Genge MJ, Claeys P. A large meteoritic event over Antarctica ca. 430 ka ago inferred from chondritic spherules from the Sør Rondane Mountains. Sci Adv 2021; 7:eabc1008. [PMID: 33789890 PMCID: PMC8011977 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abc1008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2020] [Accepted: 02/12/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Large airbursts, the most frequent hazardous impact events, are estimated to occur orders of magnitude more frequently than crater-forming impacts. However, finding traces of these events is impeded by the difficulty of identifying them in the recent geological record. Here, we describe condensation spherules found on top of Walnumfjellet in the Sør Rondane Mountains, Antarctica. Affinities with similar spherules found in EPICA Dome C and Dome Fuji ice cores suggest that these particles were produced during a single-asteroid impact ca. 430 thousand years (ka) ago. The lack of a confirmed crater on the Antarctic ice sheet and geochemical and 18O-poor oxygen isotope signatures allow us to hypothesize that the impact particles result from a touchdown event, in which a projectile vapor jet interacts with the Antarctic ice sheet. Numerical models support a touchdown scenario. This study has implications for the identification and inventory of large cosmic events on Earth.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Van Ginneken
- Belgian Geological Survey, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, 1000 Brussels, Belgium.
- Analytical, Environmental and Geo-Chemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
- Laboratoire G-Time, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - S Goderis
- Analytical, Environmental and Geo-Chemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - N Artemieva
- Planetary Science Institute, 1700 East Fort Lowell, Suite 106, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
- Institute of Geosphere Dynamics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119334, Russian Federation
| | - V Debaille
- Laboratoire G-Time, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - S Decrée
- Belgian Geological Survey, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
| | - R P Harvey
- Department of Geological Sciences, 112 A. W. Smith Building, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7216, USA
| | - K A Huwig
- Department of Geological Sciences, 112 A. W. Smith Building, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7216, USA
| | - L Hecht
- Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz Institut für Evolutions und Biodiversitätsfoschung, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
- Institut für Geologische Wissenschaften, Freie Universität Berlin, Malteserstr. 74-100, D-12449 Berlin, Germany
| | - S Yang
- National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Science, 1800 E Paul Dirac Dr., Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA
| | - F E D Kaufmann
- Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz Institut für Evolutions und Biodiversitätsfoschung, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
| | - B Soens
- Analytical, Environmental and Geo-Chemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - M Humayun
- National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Science, 1800 E Paul Dirac Dr., Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA
| | - F Van Maldeghem
- Analytical, Environmental and Geo-Chemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - M J Genge
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - P Claeys
- Analytical, Environmental and Geo-Chemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
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Dai ZR, Bradley JP, Joswiak DJ, Brownlee DE, Hill HGM, Genge MJ. Possible in situ formation of meteoritic nanodiamonds in the early Solar System. Nature 2002; 418:157-9. [PMID: 12110882 DOI: 10.1038/nature00897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 133] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Grains of dust that pre-date the Sun provide insights into their formation around other stars and into the early evolution of the Solar System. Nanodiamonds recovered from meteorites, which originate in asteroids, have been thought to be the most abundant type of presolar grain. If that is true, then nanodiamonds should be at least as abundant in comets, because they are thought to have formed further out in the early Solar System than the asteroid parent bodies, and because they should be more pristine. Here we report that nanodiamonds are absent or very depleted in fragile, carbon-rich interplanetary dust particles, some of which enter the atmosphere at speeds within the range of cometary meteors. One interpretation of the results is that some (perhaps most) nanodiamonds formed within the inner Solar System and are not presolar at all, consistent with the recent detection of nanodiamonds within the accretion discs of other young stars. An alternative explanation is that all meteoritic nanodiamonds are indeed presolar, but that their abundance decreases with heliocentric distance, in which case our understanding of large-scale transport and circulation within the early Solar System is incomplete.
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Affiliation(s)
- Z R Dai
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
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