Showing papers by "Gary R. Huss published in 2014"

53Mn-53Cr dating of aqueously formed carbonates in the CM2 lithology of the Sutter's Mill carbonaceous chondrite

Abstract: Radiometric dating of secondary minerals can be used to constrain the timing of aqueous alteration on meteoritic parent bodies. Dolomite is a well-documented secondary mineral in CM chondrites, and is thought to have formed by precipitation from an aqueous fluid on the CM parent body within several million years of accretion. The petrographic context of crosscutting dolomite veins indicates that aqueous alteration occurred in situ, rather than in the nebular setting. Here, we present 53Mn-53Cr systematics for dolomite grains in Sutter's Mill section SM51-1. The Mn-Cr isotope data show well-resolved excesses of 53Cr correlated with 55Mn/52Cr ratio, which we interpret as evidence for the in situ decay of radioactive 53Mn. After correcting for the relative sensitivities of Mn and Cr using a synthetic Mn- and Cr-bearing calcite standard, the data yield an isochron with slope corresponding to an initial 53Mn/55Mn ratio of 3.42 ± 0.86 × 10−6. The reported error includes systematic uncertainty from the relative sensitivity factor. When calculated relative to the U-corrected Pb-Pb absolute age of the D'Orbigny angrite, Sutter's Mill dolomites give a formation age between 4564.8 and 4562.2 Ma (2.4–5.0 Myr after the birth of the solar system). This age is contemporaneous with previously reported ages for secondary carbonates in CM and CI chondrites. Consistent carbonate precipitation ages between the carbonaceous chondrite groups suggest that aqueous alteration was a common process during the early stages of parent body formation, probably occurring via heating from internal 26Al decay. The high-precision isochron for Sutter's Mill dolomite indicates that late-stage processing did not reach temperatures that were high enough to further disturb the Mn-Cr isochron.

26Al in chondrules from CR2 chondrites

Abstract: anoa, 0 ) in these chondrules range from ~1 × 10 -6 to ~6 × 10 -6 . The other eight chondrules show no detectable 26 Mg excesses and have upper limits of ( 26 Al/ 27 Al)0 ~(2-3) × 10 -6 . Most CR chondrules have ( 26 Al/ 27 Al)0 significantly lower than those in the other least metamorphosed primitive chondrites, LL3.0, CO3.0, and Acfer 094 (ungrouped). Assuming uniform distri- bution of 26 Al in the protoplanetary disk, these observations suggest that majority of CR chondrules formed >1 Myr later than those in LL3.0, CO3.0, and Acfer 094.

Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination IX: High-speed interstellar dust analog capture in Stardust flight-spare aerogel

Abstract: The NASA Stardust mission used silica aerogel slabs to slowly decelerate and capture impinging cosmic dust particles for return to Earth. During this process, impact tracks are generated along the trajectory of the particle into the aerogel. It is believed that the morphology and dimensions of these tracks, together with the state of captured grains at track termini, may be linked to the size, velocity, and density of the impacting cosmic dust grain. Here, we present the results of laboratory hypervelocity impact experiments, during which cosmic dust analog particles (diameters of between 0.2 and 0.4 mu m), composed of olivine, orthopyroxene, or an organic polymer, were accelerated onto Stardust flight-spare low-density (approximately 0.01 g cm(-3)) silica aerogel. The impact velocities (3-21 km s(-1)) were chosen to simulate the range of velocities expected during Stardust's interstellar dust (ISD) collection phases. Track lengths and widths, together with the success of particle capture, are analyzed as functions of impact velocity and particle composition, density, and size. Captured terminal particles from low-density organic projectiles become undetectable at lower velocities than those from similarly sized, denser mineral particles, which are still detectable (although substantially altered by the impact process) at 15 km s(-1). The survival of these terminal particles, together with the track dimensions obtained during low impact speed capture of small grains in the laboratory, indicates that two of the three best Stardust candidate extraterrestrial grains were actually captured at speeds much lower than predicted. Track length and diameters are, in general, more sensitive to impact velocities than previously expected, which makes tracks of particles with diameters of 0.4 mu m and below hard to identify at low capture speeds (<10 km s(-1)). Therefore, although captured intact, the majority of the interstellar dust grains returned to Earth by Stardust remain to be found.

An unusual clast in lunar meteorite MacAlpine Hills 88105: A unique lunar sample or projectile debris?

Abstract: Lunar meteorite MacAlpine Hills (MAC) 88105 is a well-studied feldspathic regolith breccia dominated by rock and mineral fragments from the lunar highlands. Thin section MAC 88105,159 contains a small rock fragment, 400 × 350 μm in size, which is compositionally anomalous compared with other MAC 88105 lithic components. The clast is composed of olivine and plagioclase with minor pyroxene and interstitial devitrified glass component. It is magnesian, akin to samples in the lunar High Mg-Suite, and also alkali-rich, akin to samples in the lunar High Alkali Suite. It could represent a small fragment of late-stage interstitial melt from an Mg-Suite parent lithology. However, olivine and pyroxene in the clast have Fe/Mn ratios and minor element concentrations that are different from known types of lunar lithologies. As Fe/Mn ratios are notably indicative of planetary origin, the clast could either (1) have a unique lunar magmatic source, or (2) have a nonlunar origin (i.e., consist of achondritic meteorite debris that survived delivery to the lunar surface). Both hypotheses are considered and discussed.

Revisiting 26Al-26Mg systematics of plagioclase in H4 chondrites

Abstract: Zinner and Gopel (1992, 2002) found clear evidence for the former presence of 26Al in the H4 chondrites Ste. Marguerite and Forest Vale. They assumed that the 26Al-26Mg systematics of these chondrites date “metamorphic cooling of the H4 parent body.” Plagioclase in these chondrites can have very high Al/Mg ratios and low Mg concentrations, making these ion probe analyses susceptible to ratio bias, which is inversely proportional to the number of counts of the denominator isotope (Ogliore et al. 2011). Zinner and Gopel (2002) used the mean of the ratios to calculate the isotope ratios, which exacerbates this problem. We analyzed the Al/Mg ratios and Mg isotopic compositions of plagioclase grains in thin sections of Ste. Marguerite, Forest Vale, Beaver Creek, and Sena to evaluate the possible influence of ratio bias on the published initial 26Al/27Al ratios for these meteorites. We calculated the isotope ratios using total counts, a less biased method of calculating isotope ratios. The results from our analyses are consistent with those from Zinner and Gopel (2002), indicating that ratio bias does not significantly affect 26Al-26Mg results for plagioclase in these chondrites. Ste. Marguerite has a clear isochron with an initial 26Al/27Al ratio indicating that it cooled to below 450 °C 5.2 ± 0.2 Myr after CAIs. The isochrons for Forest Vale and Beaver Creek also show clear evidence that 26Al was alive when they cooled, but the initial 26Al/27Al ratios are not well constrained. Sena does not show evidence that 26Al was alive when it cooled to below the Al-Mg closure temperature. Given that metallographic cooling rates for Ste. Marguerite, Forest Vale, and Beaver Creek are atypical (>5000 °C/Myr at 500 °C) compared with most H4s, including Sena, which have cooling rates of 10–50 °C/Myr at 500 °C (Scott et al. 2014), we conclude that the Al-Mg systematics for Ste. Marguerite, Forest Vale, and Beaver Creek are the result of impact excavation of these chondrites and cooling at the surface of the parent body, instead of undisturbed cooling at depth in the H chondrite parent body, like many have assumed.

Crystal Structure, Morphology, and Isotopic Compositions of Presolar Al2O3 Grains in Unequilibrated Ordinary Chondrites

Abstract: GRAINS IN UNEQUILIBRATED ORDINARY CHONDRITES. A. Takigawa, R. M. Stroud, L. R. Nittler, E.P. Vicenzi, A. Herzing, C. M. O’D. Alexander, and G. R. Huss, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 5241 Broad Branch Road NW, Washington, DC 20015, USA, atakigawa@ciw.edu, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington DC, USA, Smithsonian Institution, Suitland, MD, USA, National Institution of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu HI, USA