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by admin | Aug 23, 2022 | mainpost, vol23

G. Avice, M.M.M. Meier, Y. Marrocchi

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Origin of radiogenic 129Xe variations in carbonaceous chondrites

G. Avice1,

1Université Paris Cité, Institut de physique du globe de Paris, CNRS, Paris, F-75005, France

M.M.M. Meier2,

2Naturmuseum St. Gallen, Rorschacher Strasse 263, St. Gallen, CH-9016, Switzerland

Y. Marrocchi3

3Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CRPG, UMR 7358, Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, F-54500, France

Affiliations | Corresponding Author | Cite as | Funding information

G. Avice
Email: avice@ipgp.fr

1Université Paris Cité, Institut de physique du globe de Paris, CNRS, Paris, F-75005, France
2Naturmuseum St. Gallen, Rorschacher Strasse 263, St. Gallen, CH-9016, Switzerland
3Université de Lorraine, CNRS, CRPG, UMR 7358, Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy, F-54500, France

Avice, G., Meier, M.M.M., Marrocchi, Y. (2022) Origin of radiogenic 129Xe variations in carbonaceous chondrites. Geochem. Persp. Let. 23, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.7185/geochemlet.2228

Programme National de Planétologie (PNP), funding program by CNRS-INSU

Geochemical Perspectives Letters v23 | https://doi.org/10.7185/geochemlet.2228
Received 6 April 2022 | Accepted 19 July 2022 | Published 23 August 2022

Copyright © 2022 The Authors

Published by the European Association of Geochemistry
under Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Keywords: cosmochemistry, meteorites, noble gases, Tarda, Tagish Lake

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Abstract

Abstract | Introduction | Material and Methods | Results of Noble Gas Measurements and Cosmic-ray Exposure Ages | Discussion | Conclusions | Author Contributions | Acknowledgements | References | Supplementary Information

Carbonaceous chondrites are pristine witnesses of the formation of the solar system. Among them, the carbon-rich Tarda and Tagish Lake meteorites are thought to have sampled very distant regions of the outer circumsolar disk (Hiroi et al., 2001 Hiroi, T., Zolensky, M.E., Pieters, C.M. (2001) The Tagish Lake Meteorite: A Possible Sample from a D-Type Asteroid. Science 293, 2234–2236. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1063734 ). Here, we show that their noble gas isotopic compositions (especially 129Xe excesses) are similar, implying their formation in comparable environments. Combined with literature data, we show that the radiogenic excesses of 129Xe relative to solar wind in carbonaceous chondrites define anti-correlations with their respective iodine and carbon contents. These trends do not result from the heterogeneous distribution of 129I in the disk but rather evidence a xenon dilution effect; the radiogenic 129Xe excesses being dominated by trapped xenon in the most carbon-rich carbonaceous chondrites. Our data also suggest that both Tarda and Tagish Lake accreted beyond 10 astronomical units, in regions of the disk that were cold enough for CO2 to condense.

Figures

Figure 1 Neon three isotope plot for bulk samples of Tarda, Tagish Lake and Orgueil. The compositions of Ne-Q, Air, Ne-HL, Ne-E and cosmogenic (purple range) are also shown for comparison (see Ott, 2014 and Krietsch et al., 2021 and refs. therein). The two dashed lines represent mixing arrays between Ne-Q and cosmogenic neon and Ne-HL and cosmogenic neon. Error bars (1σ) are smaller than the symbols.

Figure 2 Isotopic composition of total xenon extracted from bulk Tarda, Tagish Lake and Orgueil samples. Isotopic ratios are normalised to Q-Xe (Busemann et al., 2000) and expressed with the delta notation (δiXeQ = ((iXe/130Xe)sample/(iXe/130Xe)Q − 1) × 1000). Errors are at 1σ.

Figure 3 Average 129Xe* excesses relative to SW-Xe (expressed in δ notation with δ129XeSW = (129Xe/132Xe)bulk/(129Xe/132Xe)SW − 1 × 1000) for the different types of chondrites and the comet 67P/C-G (data from Mazor et al., 1970; Marty et al., 2017 and this study). The average δ129XeSW is plotted as a function of (a) the 127I content (data from Clay et al., 2017), (b) the carbon content (data from Vacher et al., 2020 and Marrocchi et al., 2021), and (c) the matrix abundance (data from Alexander et al., 2018). TTL = Tarda and Tagish Lake.

Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3

View all figures and tables





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Introduction

Abstract | Introduction | Material and Methods | Results of Noble Gas Measurements and Cosmic-ray Exposure Ages | Discussion | Conclusions | Author Contributions | Acknowledgements | References | Supplementary Information


Noble gases trapped in primitive meteorites (chondrites) allow quantification of the physical processes that operated during the evolution of the protoplanetary disk (e.g., Kuga et al., 2015

Kuga, M., Marty, B., Marrocchi, Y., Tissandier, L. (2015) Synthesis of refractory organic matter in the ionized gas phase of the solar nebula. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112, 7129–7134. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1502796112

). Although these elements are present in different carriers contained in meteorites (including presolar SiC, diamonds, graphite; Ott, 2014

Ott, U. (2014) Planetary and pre-solar noble gases in meteorites. Chemie der Erde - Geochemistry 74, 519–544. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemer.2014.01.003

), they are mainly hosted in a phase − referred to as phase Q − whose nature is still poorly characterised (Busemann et al., 2000

Busemann, H., Baur, H., Wieler, R. (2000) Primordial noble gases in “phase Q” in carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites studied by closed-system stepped etching. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 35, 949–973. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2000.tb01485.x

). Notwithstanding this uncertainty, it has been shown that phase Q dominates the heavy noble gas budget of chondrites and is closely associated with carbonaceous material that survives HF/HCl attack of bulk meteorites (Lewis et al., 1975

Lewis, R.S., Srinivasan, B., Anders, E. (1975) Host Phase of a Strange Xenon Component in Allende. Science 190, 1251–1262.

). Thanks to its extreme sensitivity to oxidation, the xenon isotopic composition of phase Q has been precisely determined, revealing a mass dependent isotopic fractionation relative to solar wind (SW-Xe) in favour of the heavy isotopes relative to the light ones (Wieler et al., 1991

Wieler, R., Anders, E., Baur, H., Lewis, R.S., Signer, P. (1991) Noble gases in “phase Q”: Closed-system etching of an Allende residue. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 55, 1709–1722. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(91)90141-Q

; Busemann et al., 2000

Busemann, H., Baur, H., Wieler, R. (2000) Primordial noble gases in “phase Q” in carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites studied by closed-system stepped etching. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 35, 949–973. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2000.tb01485.x

; Gilmour, 2010

Gilmour, J.D. (2010) “Planetary” noble gas components and the nucleosynthetic history of solar system material. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 74, 380–393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2009.09.015

). However, the commonly used Xe-Q isotopic composition hinges on the average of measurements of several carbonaceous chondrites (CCs) showing distinct Xe isotopic compositions between and within each group, especially for 129Xe (Busemann et al., 2000

Busemann, H., Baur, H., Wieler, R. (2000) Primordial noble gases in “phase Q” in carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites studied by closed-system stepped etching. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 35, 949–973. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2000.tb01485.x

). Such 129Xe excesses result from the decay of extinct 129I (t1/2 = 16 Myr), which was producing radiogenic 129Xe* during the first ∼100 million years of the solar system (Jeffery and Reynolds, 1961

Jeffery, P.M., Reynolds, J.H. (1961) Origin of excess Xe129 in stone meteorites. Journal of Geophysical Research 66, 3582–3583. https://doi.org/10.1029/JZ066i010p03582

). The measurement of xenon isotopes in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko revealed extreme 129Xe enrichment relative to 132Xe and the solar composition (Marty et al., 2017

Marty, B. Altwegg, K., Balsiger, H., Bar-Nun, A., Bekaert, D.V., Berthelier, J.J., Bieler, A., Briois, C., Calmonte, U., Combi, M., De Keyser, J., Fiethe, B., Fuselier, S.A., Gasc, S., Gombosi, T.I., Hansen, K.C., Hässig, M., Jackel, A., Kopp, E., Korth, A., Le Roy, L., Mall, U., Mousis, O., Owen, T., Reme, H., Rubin, M., Semon, T., Tzou, C.Y., Waite, J.H., Wurz, P. (2017) Xenon isotopes in 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko show that comets contributed to Earth’s atmosphere. Science 356, 1069–1072. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aal3496

). As this large monoisotopic excess would require unlikely 129I enrichment, it has been interpreted as originating from a specific nucleosynthetic process producing 129Xe that was sampled by icy bodies formed in the outer solar system (Marty et al., 2017

Marty, B. Altwegg, K., Balsiger, H., Bar-Nun, A., Bekaert, D.V., Berthelier, J.J., Bieler, A., Briois, C., Calmonte, U., Combi, M., De Keyser, J., Fiethe, B., Fuselier, S.A., Gasc, S., Gombosi, T.I., Hansen, K.C., Hässig, M., Jackel, A., Kopp, E., Korth, A., Le Roy, L., Mall, U., Mousis, O., Owen, T., Reme, H., Rubin, M., Semon, T., Tzou, C.Y., Waite, J.H., Wurz, P. (2017) Xenon isotopes in 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko show that comets contributed to Earth’s atmosphere. Science 356, 1069–1072. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aal3496

). Interestingly, the carbon-rich primitive chondrites Tagish Lake and Tarda are thought to originate from D-type asteroids (Hiroi et al., 2001

Hiroi, T., Zolensky, M.E., Pieters, C.M. (2001) The Tagish Lake Meteorite: A Possible Sample from a D-Type Asteroid. Science 293, 2234–2236. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1063734

; Marrocchi et al., 2021

Marrocchi, Y., Avice, G., Barrat, J.-A. (2021) The Tarda Meteorite: A Window into the Formation of D-type Asteroids. The Astrophysical Journal Letters 913, 8. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/abfaa3

) considered to have formed at large heliocentric distances beyond the current orbit of Saturn, and potentially as far as the Kuiper Belt (i.e. 30–50 astronomical units = au; Levison et al., 2009

Levison, H.F., Bottke, W.F., Gounelle, M., Morbidelli, A., Nesvorný, D., Tsiganis, K. (2009) Contamination of the asteroid belt by primordial trans-Neptunian objects. Nature 460, 364–366. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08094

). Here we report the results of a comprehensive study of the isotopic compositions of noble gases contained in Tagish Lake and Tarda to evaluate if material accreted in the outer solar system presents specific signatures. We compare our data to other CCs and discuss the origin of the variable radiogenic 129Xe excesses between and within each CC groups.

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Material and Methods

Abstract | Introduction | Material and Methods | Results of Noble Gas Measurements and Cosmic-ray Exposure Ages | Discussion | Conclusions | Author Contributions | Acknowledgements | References | Supplementary Information


Noble gases were extracted from bulk fragments of Tarda, Tagish Lake and Orgueil meteorites by a laser step-heating method and measured with a noble gas mass spectrometer. Uncertainties on isotope ratios include internal uncertainties, external uncertainties assessed by measurements of standard aliquots, and uncertainties on the blank contribution. Details on the analytical procedure are in the Supplementary Information.

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Results of Noble Gas Measurements and Cosmic-ray Exposure Ages

Abstract | Introduction | Material and Methods | Results of Noble Gas Measurements and Cosmic-ray Exposure Ages | Discussion | Conclusions | Author Contributions | Acknowledgements | References | Supplementary Information


Abundances and isotopic compositions of Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe extracted from bulk Tarda, Tagish Lake and Orgueil samples are reported in Table S-1. Elemental abundances of Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe in Tarda, Tagish Lake and Orgueil are similar to those reported for other volatile-rich carbonaceous chondrites (Table S-1; Mazor et al., 1970

Mazor, E., Heymann, D., Anders, E. (1970) Noble gases in carbonaceous chondrites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 34, 781–824. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(70)90031-1

). Most heating steps show a similar 20Ne/132Xe ratio (average value of 22 ± 4), slightly lower than the range reported for the HL component (50 ± 20; Huss and Lewis, 1994

Huss, G.R., Lewis, R.S. (1994) Noble gases in presolar diamonds I: Three distinct components and their implications for diamond origins. Meteoritics 29, 791–810. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.1994.tb01094.x

). For all samples, 36Ar/132Xe and 84Kr/132Xe ratios plot close to the Q component although the first, low temperature, heating steps are systematically plotting toward higher 84Kr/132Xe ratios, which are compatible with a contribution from weakly bound atmospheric gases (Fig. S-1). For all heating steps, the isotopic composition of neon indicates the presence of abundant trapped neon in the different meteorite samples (Fig. 1). Data points of heating steps of Tarda and Tagish Lake samples plot slightly below a mixing line defined by Ne-HL (Huss and Lewis, 1994

Huss, G.R., Lewis, R.S. (1994) Noble gases in presolar diamonds I: Three distinct components and their implications for diamond origins. Meteoritics 29, 791–810. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.1994.tb01094.x

) and cosmogenic neon (Supplementary Information). The two first heating steps of Orgueil samples plot on the Ne-Q/cosmogenic mixing line while the high temperature extraction steps show lower 21Ne/22Ne ratios and plot close to the Ne-Q/Ne-HL mixing line. For argon, 38Ar/36Ar ratios are compatible with either the atmospheric 38Ar/36Ar ratio (≈0.188; Ozima and Podosek, 2002

Ozima, M., Podosek, F.A. (2002) Noble Gas Geochemistry. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

) or the 38Ar/36Ar ratio of argon in phase Q (≈0.187; Ott, 2002

Ott, U. (2002) Noble gases in meteorites - Trapped Components. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 47, 71–100. https://doi.org/10.2138/rmg.2002.47.3

). However, the 40Ar/36Ar ratios range from 3 to 43, well below the atmospheric value (≈300, Ozima and Podosek, 2002

Ozima, M., Podosek, F.A. (2002) Noble Gas Geochemistry. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

), but typical for trapped argon contained in carbonaceous chondrites (Krietsch et al., 2021

Krietsch, D., Busemann, H., Riebe, M.E.I., King, A.J., Alexander, C.M.O’D., Maden, C. (2021) Noble gases in CM carbonaceous chondrites: Effect of parent body aqueous and thermal alteration and cosmic ray exposure ages. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 310, 240–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2021.05.050

). The isotopic ratios of Kr and Xe are distinct from those of air, as well, and are similar again, to those measured for bulk carbonaceous chondrites (e.g., Krietsch et al., 2021

Krietsch, D., Busemann, H., Riebe, M.E.I., King, A.J., Alexander, C.M.O’D., Maden, C. (2021) Noble gases in CM carbonaceous chondrites: Effect of parent body aqueous and thermal alteration and cosmic ray exposure ages. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 310, 240–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2021.05.050

). The first heating steps of Tarda and Tagish Lake samples reveal the presence of weakly bound atmospheric gases (Fig. S-2). For the 129Xe/130Xe ratio, high temperature heating steps of Tarda and Tagish Lake samples gave reproducible results with an average value of 6.37 ± 0.01 (1σ s.d.). This value is 8.3 ± 3.4 ‰ lower than the 129Xe/130Xe measured for Q-Xe (Busemann et al., 2000

Busemann, H., Baur, H., Wieler, R. (2000) Primordial noble gases in “phase Q” in carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites studied by closed-system stepped etching. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 35, 949–973. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2000.tb01485.x

). High temperature heating steps of Orgueil samples reveal the presence of excess radiogenic 129Xe compared to Q-Xe.


Figure 1 Neon three isotope plot for bulk samples of Tarda, Tagish Lake and Orgueil. The compositions of Ne-Q, Air, Ne-HL, Ne-E and cosmogenic (purple range) are also shown for comparison (see Ott, 2014

Ott, U. (2014) Planetary and pre-solar noble gases in meteorites. Chemie der Erde - Geochemistry 74, 519–544. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemer.2014.01.003

and Krietsch et al., 2021

Krietsch, D., Busemann, H., Riebe, M.E.I., King, A.J., Alexander, C.M.O’D., Maden, C. (2021) Noble gases in CM carbonaceous chondrites: Effect of parent body aqueous and thermal alteration and cosmic ray exposure ages. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 310, 240–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2021.05.050

and refs. therein). The two dashed lines represent mixing arrays between Ne-Q and cosmogenic neon and Ne-HL and cosmogenic neon. Error bars (1σ) are smaller than the symbols.
Full size image


The presence of abundant trapped Ne in both Tarda and Tagish Lake prevents us from determining precisely the cosmogenic 22Ne/21Ne ratio and thus cosmogenic 21Ne production rates (Supplementary Information). Tarda has a cosmic ray exposure (CRE) age within 5–12 Ma, very similar to Tagish Lake (5–8 Ma), while for Orgueil, the possible CRE age ranges from 6 to 11 Ma. The nominal (K-Ar) radiogenic gas retention ages are 2.4–2.7 Ga for Tarda, 2.0–2.8 Ga for Tagish Lake, and 2.2–2.7 Ga for Orgueil.

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Discussion

Abstract | Introduction | Material and Methods | Results of Noble Gas Measurements and Cosmic-ray Exposure Ages | Discussion | Conclusions | Author Contributions | Acknowledgements | References | Supplementary Information


Based on multiple isotopic systems (i.e. H, C, N and O), it has recently been proposed that Tarda and Tagish Lake could be genetically related (Marrocchi et al., 2021

Marrocchi, Y., Avice, G., Barrat, J.-A. (2021) The Tarda Meteorite: A Window into the Formation of D-type Asteroids. The Astrophysical Journal Letters 913, 8. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/abfaa3

). This hypothesis can be tested in the light of noble gas measurements reported here. In the three isotope diagram, the neon isotopic compositions of bulk chondrites plot within a space defined by cosmogenic Ne, Ne-Q and a pole with (20Ne/22Ne) slightly below that of Ne-HL carried by presolar nanodiamonds (Fig. 1; Huss and Lewis, 1994

Huss, G.R., Lewis, R.S. (1994) Noble gases in presolar diamonds I: Three distinct components and their implications for diamond origins. Meteoritics 29, 791–810. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.1994.tb01094.x

; Krietsch et al., 2021

Krietsch, D., Busemann, H., Riebe, M.E.I., King, A.J., Alexander, C.M.O’D., Maden, C. (2021) Noble gases in CM carbonaceous chondrites: Effect of parent body aqueous and thermal alteration and cosmic ray exposure ages. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 310, 240–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2021.05.050

). The latter is likely due to the presence of Ne-E from presolar SiC or graphite (Riebe et al., 2020

Riebe, M.E.I., Busemann, H., Alexander, C.M.O’D., Nittler, L.R., Herd, C.D.K., Maden, C., Wang, J., Wieler, R. (2020) Effects of aqueous alteration on primordial noble gases and presolar SiC in the carbonaceous chondrite Tagish Lake. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 55, 1257–1280. https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13383

). The data points from Tarda and Tagish Lake plot on the lower part of this isotopic space with similar Ne isotopic compositions, which are clearly resolved from that of the CI chondrite Orgueil (Fig. 1). Our results show that both Tarda and Tagish Lake have similar bulk Xe spectra and 129Xe* excesses (Fig. 2), with δ129XeSW =10 ± 3 ‰ (Fig. 3a). In addition, both chondrites show similar cosmic-ray exposure and radiogenic retention ages: 5–10 Ma and 2.4–2.7 Ga for Tarda, and 5–8 Ma and 2.0–2.8 Ga for Tagish Lake. Altogether, our results thus reinforce the genetic link between Tarda and Tagish Lake, which share similar isotopic signatures for elements having drastically different geochemical behaviour (Marrocchi et al., 2021

Marrocchi, Y., Avice, G., Barrat, J.-A. (2021) The Tarda Meteorite: A Window into the Formation of D-type Asteroids. The Astrophysical Journal Letters 913, 8. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/abfaa3

).


Figure 2 Isotopic composition of total xenon extracted from bulk Tarda, Tagish Lake and Orgueil samples. Isotopic ratios are normalised to Q-Xe (Busemann et al., 2000

Busemann, H., Baur, H., Wieler, R. (2000) Primordial noble gases in “phase Q” in carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites studied by closed-system stepped etching. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 35, 949–973. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2000.tb01485.x

) and expressed with the delta notation (δiXeQ = ((iXe/130Xe)sample/(iXe/130Xe)Q − 1) × 1000). Errors are at 1σ.
Full size image



Figure 3 Average 129Xe* excesses relative to SW-Xe (expressed in δ notation with δ129XeSW = (129Xe/132Xe)bulk/(129Xe/132Xe)SW − 1 × 1000) for the different types of chondrites and the comet 67P/C-G (data from Mazor et al., 1970

Mazor, E., Heymann, D., Anders, E. (1970) Noble gases in carbonaceous chondrites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 34, 781–824. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(70)90031-1

; Marty et al., 2017

Marty, B. Altwegg, K., Balsiger, H., Bar-Nun, A., Bekaert, D.V., Berthelier, J.J., Bieler, A., Briois, C., Calmonte, U., Combi, M., De Keyser, J., Fiethe, B., Fuselier, S.A., Gasc, S., Gombosi, T.I., Hansen, K.C., Hässig, M., Jackel, A., Kopp, E., Korth, A., Le Roy, L., Mall, U., Mousis, O., Owen, T., Reme, H., Rubin, M., Semon, T., Tzou, C.Y., Waite, J.H., Wurz, P. (2017) Xenon isotopes in 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko show that comets contributed to Earth’s atmosphere. Science 356, 1069–1072. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aal3496

and this study). The average δ129XeSW is plotted as a function of (a) the 127I content (data from Clay et al., 2017

Clay, P.L., Burgess, R., Busemann, H., Ruzié-Hamilton, L., Joachim, B., Day, J.M.D., Ballentine, C.J. (2017) Halogens in chondritic meteorites and terrestrial accretion. Nature 551, 614–618. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature24625

), (b) the carbon content (data from Vacher et al., 2020

Vacher, L.G., Piani, L., Rigaudier, T., Thomassin, D., Florin, G., Piralla, M., Marrocchi, Y. (2020) Hydrogen in chondrites: Influence of parent body alteration and atmospheric contamination on primordial components. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 281, 53–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2020.05.007

and Marrocchi et al., 2021

Marrocchi, Y., Avice, G., Barrat, J.-A. (2021) The Tarda Meteorite: A Window into the Formation of D-type Asteroids. The Astrophysical Journal Letters 913, 8. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/abfaa3

), and (c) the matrix abundance (data from Alexander et al., 2018

Alexander, C.M.O’D., McKeegan, K.D., Altwegg, K. (2018) Water Reservoirs in Small Planetary Bodies: Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets. Space Science Reviews 214, 47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-018-0474-9

). TTL = Tarda and Tagish Lake.
Full size image


Xenon in the Jupiter-family comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P/C-G) presents a 129Xe excess and important, tens of percent 134−136Xe deficits relative to SW-Xe (Marty et al., 2017

Marty, B. Altwegg, K., Balsiger, H., Bar-Nun, A., Bekaert, D.V., Berthelier, J.J., Bieler, A., Briois, C., Calmonte, U., Combi, M., De Keyser, J., Fiethe, B., Fuselier, S.A., Gasc, S., Gombosi, T.I., Hansen, K.C., Hässig, M., Jackel, A., Kopp, E., Korth, A., Le Roy, L., Mall, U., Mousis, O., Owen, T., Reme, H., Rubin, M., Semon, T., Tzou, C.Y., Waite, J.H., Wurz, P. (2017) Xenon isotopes in 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko show that comets contributed to Earth’s atmosphere. Science 356, 1069–1072. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aal3496

). The former has been attributed as resulting from the contribution of parentless 129Xe and the latter of a mixture of two nucleosynthetic processes (i.e. s- and r-process; Marty et al., 2017

Marty, B. Altwegg, K., Balsiger, H., Bar-Nun, A., Bekaert, D.V., Berthelier, J.J., Bieler, A., Briois, C., Calmonte, U., Combi, M., De Keyser, J., Fiethe, B., Fuselier, S.A., Gasc, S., Gombosi, T.I., Hansen, K.C., Hässig, M., Jackel, A., Kopp, E., Korth, A., Le Roy, L., Mall, U., Mousis, O., Owen, T., Reme, H., Rubin, M., Semon, T., Tzou, C.Y., Waite, J.H., Wurz, P. (2017) Xenon isotopes in 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko show that comets contributed to Earth’s atmosphere. Science 356, 1069–1072. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aal3496

) different from the one measured for most inner solar system material (Avice et al., 2020

Avice, G., Moreira, M., Gilmour, J.D. (2020) Xenon Isotopes Identify Large-scale Nucleosynthetic Heterogeneities across the Solar System. The Astrophysical Journal 889, 68. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab5f0c

). This is however not observed in Orgueil, Tarda and Tagish Lake (Fig. 2) whereas they are generally thought to have formed in the outer solar system, at large heliocentric distances >10 au (Desch et al., 2018

Desch, S.J., Kalyaan, A., Alexander, C.M.O’D. (2018) The Effect of Jupiter’s Formation on the Distribution of Refractory Elements and Inclusions in Meteorites. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 238, 11. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4365/aad95f

; Fujiya et al., 2019

Fujiya, W., Hoppe, P., Ushikubo, T., Fukuda, K., Lindgren, P., Lee, M.R., Koike, M., Shirai, K., Sano, Y. (2019) Migration of D-type asteroids from the outer Solar System inferred from carbonate in meteorites. Nature Astronomy 460, 364. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-019-0801-4

; Marrocchi et al., 2021

Marrocchi, Y., Avice, G., Barrat, J.-A. (2021) The Tarda Meteorite: A Window into the Formation of D-type Asteroids. The Astrophysical Journal Letters 913, 8. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/abfaa3

). These meteorites are even showing among the weakest 129Xe* excesses measured in CCs (Fig. 3a; Mazor et al., 1970

Mazor, E., Heymann, D., Anders, E. (1970) Noble gases in carbonaceous chondrites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 34, 781–824. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(70)90031-1

). Some rare CMs show similar 129Xe/132Xe but suffered from significant heating (Alexander et al., 2012

Alexander, C.M.O’D., Bowden, R., Fogel, M.L., Howard, K.T., Herd, C.D.K., Nittler, L.R. (2012) The Provenances of Asteroids, and Their Contributions to the Volatile Inventories of the Terrestrial Planets. Science 337, 721–723. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1223474

; Krietsch et al., 2021

Krietsch, D., Busemann, H., Riebe, M.E.I., King, A.J., Alexander, C.M.O’D., Maden, C. (2021) Noble gases in CM carbonaceous chondrites: Effect of parent body aqueous and thermal alteration and cosmic ray exposure ages. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 310, 240–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2021.05.050

). In addition, when combining data from all CCs and the comet 67P (Mazor et al., 1970

Mazor, E., Heymann, D., Anders, E. (1970) Noble gases in carbonaceous chondrites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 34, 781–824. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(70)90031-1

; Clay et al., 2017

Clay, P.L., Burgess, R., Busemann, H., Ruzié-Hamilton, L., Joachim, B., Day, J.M.D., Ballentine, C.J. (2017) Halogens in chondritic meteorites and terrestrial accretion. Nature 551, 614–618. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature24625

; Marty et al., 2017

Marty, B. Altwegg, K., Balsiger, H., Bar-Nun, A., Bekaert, D.V., Berthelier, J.J., Bieler, A., Briois, C., Calmonte, U., Combi, M., De Keyser, J., Fiethe, B., Fuselier, S.A., Gasc, S., Gombosi, T.I., Hansen, K.C., Hässig, M., Jackel, A., Kopp, E., Korth, A., Le Roy, L., Mall, U., Mousis, O., Owen, T., Reme, H., Rubin, M., Semon, T., Tzou, C.Y., Waite, J.H., Wurz, P. (2017) Xenon isotopes in 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko show that comets contributed to Earth’s atmosphere. Science 356, 1069–1072. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aal3496

), we observe an anti-correlation of their 127I content and the 129Xe excess (Fig. 3a), regardless of the available iodine dataset used (Fig. S-4). As previously noticed (Mazor et al., 1970

Mazor, E., Heymann, D., Anders, E. (1970) Noble gases in carbonaceous chondrites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 34, 781–824. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(70)90031-1

; Gilmour et al., 2001

Gilmour, J.D., Whitby, J.A., Turner, G. (2001) Negative correlation of iodine-129/iodine-127 and xenon-129/xenon-132: Product of closed-system evolution or evidence of a mixed component. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 36, 1283–1286. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2001.tb01961.x

), such an inverse correlation could not result from the heterogeneous 129I distribution in the early solar system as the absolute concentrations of radiogenic 129Xe* vary by only a factor of ∼4 among CCs, while relative 129Xe* enrichments differ by a factor of 400.

CCs contains variable amounts of carbon with Tarda, Tagish Lake, CI and CM chondrites showing the highest concentrations (Fig. 3b; Kerridge, 1985

Kerridge, J.F. (1985) Carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen in carbonaceous chondrites: Abundances and isotopic compositions in bulk samples. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 49, 1707–1714. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(85)90141-3

; Vacher et al., 2020

Vacher, L.G., Piani, L., Rigaudier, T., Thomassin, D., Florin, G., Piralla, M., Marrocchi, Y. (2020) Hydrogen in chondrites: Influence of parent body alteration and atmospheric contamination on primordial components. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 281, 53–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2020.05.007

; Marrocchi et al., 2021

Marrocchi, Y., Avice, G., Barrat, J.-A. (2021) The Tarda Meteorite: A Window into the Formation of D-type Asteroids. The Astrophysical Journal Letters 913, 8. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/abfaa3

). With the exception of Tarda and Tagish Lake, the carbon content of CCs is directly related to the abundance of fine grained matrix (see Fig. 3 in Alexander et al., 2018

Alexander, C.M.O’D., McKeegan, K.D., Altwegg, K. (2018) Water Reservoirs in Small Planetary Bodies: Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets. Space Science Reviews 214, 47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-018-0474-9

). Interestingly, the 129Xe* excess is also anti-correlated with the bulk C content of CCs (Fig. 3b), thus implying that the (i) 129I carrier was located in the CC matrices, and (ii) variations of 129Xe* excesses observed in CCs result from a dilution effect by trapped Xe located in phase Q. Such an effect can be summarised as follows: the less carbon, the less phase Q, the less trapped 129Xe, the more the effect of 129I decay is visible (and vice versa). This also indicates that the initial Xe budget (and likely that of other noble gases) in CCs is directly controlled by the abundance of matrix (Fig. 3c). Of note, similar 129Xe*-C anti-correlations are also observed within several CC groups (see Fig. S-5).

Although both Tarda and Tagish Lake are depleted in fine grained matrix relative to CI chondrites (65–80 vs. 100 vol. %, Fig. 3c; Alexander et al., 2018

Alexander, C.M.O’D., McKeegan, K.D., Altwegg, K. (2018) Water Reservoirs in Small Planetary Bodies: Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets. Space Science Reviews 214, 47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-018-0474-9

), they appear enriched in C (i.e.  ∼4 vs. 3.3 wt. %, Fig. 3b; Vacher et al., 2020

Vacher, L.G., Piani, L., Rigaudier, T., Thomassin, D., Florin, G., Piralla, M., Marrocchi, Y. (2020) Hydrogen in chondrites: Influence of parent body alteration and atmospheric contamination on primordial components. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 281, 53–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2020.05.007

; Marrocchi et al., 2021

Marrocchi, Y., Avice, G., Barrat, J.-A. (2021) The Tarda Meteorite: A Window into the Formation of D-type Asteroids. The Astrophysical Journal Letters 913, 8. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/abfaa3

). This excess has been attributed to the unusual abundance of carbonates in some highly altered lithologies of Tagish Lake (Alexander et al., 2018

Alexander, C.M.O’D., McKeegan, K.D., Altwegg, K. (2018) Water Reservoirs in Small Planetary Bodies: Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets. Space Science Reviews 214, 47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-018-0474-9

). However, the bulk C content of Tagish Lake is relatively homogenous (Marrocchi et al., 2021

Marrocchi, Y., Avice, G., Barrat, J.-A. (2021) The Tarda Meteorite: A Window into the Formation of D-type Asteroids. The Astrophysical Journal Letters 913, 8. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/abfaa3

) regardless of the abundance of carbonates (i.e.  4.1 ± 0.1 wt. %). In addition, Tarda shows a carbon content similar to Tagish Lake whereas no specific carbonate-rich lithology has been described so far (Marrocchi et al., 2021

Marrocchi, Y., Avice, G., Barrat, J.-A. (2021) The Tarda Meteorite: A Window into the Formation of D-type Asteroids. The Astrophysical Journal Letters 913, 8. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/abfaa3

and references therein). This thus requires an additional source of carbon for accounting for the diluted 129Xe* excesses observed in both Tarda and Tagish Lake (Figs. 2, 3a). It has been recently proposed that peculiar carbon isotopic compositions of carbonates in Tagish Lake (i.e.  δ13C ≈ 70 ‰; Fujiya et al., 2019

Fujiya, W., Hoppe, P., Ushikubo, T., Fukuda, K., Lindgren, P., Lee, M.R., Koike, M., Shirai, K., Sano, Y. (2019) Migration of D-type asteroids from the outer Solar System inferred from carbonate in meteorites. Nature Astronomy 460, 364. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-019-0801-4

) cannot be explained without invoking the accretion of large amounts of 13C-rich CO2 cometary ices. This implies that the parent body of Tagish Lake (and Tarda) formed beyond 10 au, in regions of the protoplanetary disk that were cold enough for CO2 to condense.

top

Conclusions

Abstract | Introduction | Material and Methods | Results of Noble Gas Measurements and Cosmic-ray Exposure Ages | Discussion | Conclusions | Author Contributions | Acknowledgements | References | Supplementary Information


Results obtained in this study demonstrate that Tarda and Tagish Lake, in addition to C, H, N isotope systematics (Marrocchi et al., 2021

Marrocchi, Y., Avice, G., Barrat, J.-A. (2021) The Tarda Meteorite: A Window into the Formation of D-type Asteroids. The Astrophysical Journal Letters 913, 8. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/abfaa3

), present very similar compositions for noble gases. This implies that those meteorites are genetically related and may have sampled similar environments of the accretion disk. A key feature of xenon present in these two meteorites is a very low excess of radiogenic 129Xe*. When compared to literature data of carbonaceous chondrites, these carbon-rich meteorite samples present inverse correlations between 129Xe* and carbon or iodine content. We interpret these anti-correlations as evidence for a dilution effect of radiogenic 129Xe* by primordial xenon trapped in organic matter.

top

Author Contributions

Abstract | Introduction | Material and Methods | Results of Noble Gas Measurements and Cosmic-ray Exposure Ages | Discussion | Conclusions | Author Contributions | Acknowledgements | References | Supplementary Information


GA and YM designed the study. GA performed the measurements. MM reconstructed the cosmic histories. All authors worked on the data and on the manuscript.

top

Acknowledgements

Abstract | Introduction | Material and Methods | Results of Noble Gas Measurements and Cosmic-ray Exposure Ages | Discussion | Conclusions | Author Contributions | Acknowledgements | References | Supplementary Information


Matthieu Gounelle is warmly thanked for fruitful discussions on iodine nucleosynthesis. We acknowledge the financial support of the “Programme National de Planétologie” (PNP). We thank Wataru Fujiya and Henner Busemann for helpful reviews, and Maud Boyet for editorial handling.

Editor: Maud Boyet

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References

Abstract | Introduction | Material and Methods | Results of Noble Gas Measurements and Cosmic-ray Exposure Ages | Discussion | Conclusions | Author Contributions | Acknowledgements | References | Supplementary Information

Alexander, C.M.O’D., Bowden, R., Fogel, M.L., Howard, K.T., Herd, C.D.K., Nittler, L.R. (2012) The Provenances of Asteroids, and Their Contributions to the Volatile Inventories of the Terrestrial Planets. Science 337, 721–723. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1223474
Show in context

Some rare CMs show similar 129Xe/132Xe but suffered from significant heating (Alexander et al., 2012; Krietsch et al., 2021).
View in article


Alexander, C.M.O’D., McKeegan, K.D., Altwegg, K. (2018) Water Reservoirs in Small Planetary Bodies: Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets. Space Science Reviews 214, 47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-018-0474-9
Show in context

The average δ129XeSW is plotted as a function of (a) the 127I content (data from Clay et al., 2017), (b) the carbon content (data from Vacher et al., 2020 and Marrocchi et al., 2021), and (c) the matrix abundance (data from Alexander et al., 2018).
View in article
With the exception of Tarda and Tagish Lake, the carbon content of CCs is directly related to the abundance of fine grained matrix (see Fig. 3 in Alexander et al., 2018).
View in article
Although both Tarda and Tagish Lake are depleted in fine grained matrix relative to CI chondrites (65–80 vs. 100 vol. %, Fig. 3c; Alexander et al., 2018), they appear enriched in C (i.e.  ∼4 vs. 3.3 wt. %, Fig. 3b; Vacher et al., 2020; Marrocchi et al., 2021).
View in article
This excess has been attributed to the unusual abundance of carbonates in some highly altered lithologies of Tagish Lake (Alexander et al., 2018).
View in article


Avice, G., Moreira, M., Gilmour, J.D. (2020) Xenon Isotopes Identify Large-scale Nucleosynthetic Heterogeneities across the Solar System. The Astrophysical Journal 889, 68. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab5f0c
Show in context

The former has been attributed as resulting from the contribution of parentless 129Xe and the latter of a mixture of two nucleosynthetic processes (i.e. s- and r-process; Marty et al., 2017) different from the one measured for most inner solar system material (Avice et al., 2020).
View in article


Busemann, H., Baur, H., Wieler, R. (2000) Primordial noble gases in “phase Q” in carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites studied by closed-system stepped etching. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 35, 949–973. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2000.tb01485.x
Show in context

Although these elements are present in different carriers contained in meteorites (including presolar SiC, diamonds, graphite; Ott, 2014), they are mainly hosted in a phase − referred to as phase Q − whose nature is still poorly characterised (Busemann et al., 2000).
View in article
Thanks to its extreme sensitivity to oxidation, the xenon isotopic composition of phase Q has been precisely determined, revealing a mass dependent isotopic fractionation relative to solar wind (SW-Xe) in favour of the heavy isotopes relative to the light ones (Wieler et al., 1991; Busemann et al., 2000; Gilmour, 2010).
View in article
However, the commonly used Xe-Q isotopic composition hinges on the average of measurements of several carbonaceous chondrites (CCs) showing distinct Xe isotopic compositions between and within each group, especially for 129Xe (Busemann et al., 2000).
View in article
This value is 8.3 ± 3.4 ‰ lower than the 129Xe/130Xe measured for Q-Xe (Busemann et al., 2000).
View in article
Isotopic ratios are normalised to Q-Xe (Busemann et al., 2000) and expressed with the delta notation (δiXeQ = ((iXe/130Xe)sample/(iXe/130Xe)Q − 1) × 1000).
View in article


Clay, P.L., Burgess, R., Busemann, H., Ruzié-Hamilton, L., Joachim, B., Day, J.M.D., Ballentine, C.J. (2017) Halogens in chondritic meteorites and terrestrial accretion. Nature 551, 614–618. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature24625
Show in context

The average δ129XeSW is plotted as a function of (a) the 127I content (data from Clay et al., 2017), (b) the carbon content (data from Vacher et al., 2020 and Marrocchi et al., 2021), and (c) the matrix abundance (data from Alexander et al., 2018).
View in article
In addition, when combining data from all CCs and the comet 67P (Mazor et al., 1970; Clay et al., 2017; Marty et al., 2017), we observe an anti-correlation of their 127I content and the 129Xe excess (Fig. 3a), regardless of the available iodine dataset used (Fig. S-4).
View in article


Desch, S.J., Kalyaan, A., Alexander, C.M.O’D. (2018) The Effect of Jupiter’s Formation on the Distribution of Refractory Elements and Inclusions in Meteorites. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 238, 11. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4365/aad95f
Show in context

This is however not observed in Orgueil, Tarda and Tagish Lake (Fig. 2) whereas they are generally thought to have formed in the outer solar system, at large heliocentric distances >10 au (Desch et al., 2018; Fujiya et al., 2019; Marrocchi et al., 2021).
View in article


Fujiya, W., Hoppe, P., Ushikubo, T., Fukuda, K., Lindgren, P., Lee, M.R., Koike, M., Shirai, K., Sano, Y. (2019) Migration of D-type asteroids from the outer Solar System inferred from carbonate in meteorites. Nature Astronomy 460, 364. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-019-0801-4
Show in context

This is however not observed in Orgueil, Tarda and Tagish Lake (Fig. 2) whereas they are generally thought to have formed in the outer solar system, at large heliocentric distances >10 au (Desch et al., 2018; Fujiya et al., 2019; Marrocchi et al., 2021).
View in article
It has been recently proposed that peculiar carbon isotopic compositions of carbonates in Tagish Lake (i.e.  δ13C ≈ 70 ‰; Fujiya et al., 2019) cannot be explained without invoking the accretion of large amounts of 13C-rich CO2 cometary ices.
View in article


Gilmour, J.D. (2010) “Planetary” noble gas components and the nucleosynthetic history of solar system material. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 74, 380–393. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2009.09.015
Show in context

Thanks to its extreme sensitivity to oxidation, the xenon isotopic composition of phase Q has been precisely determined, revealing a mass dependent isotopic fractionation relative to solar wind (SW-Xe) in favour of the heavy isotopes relative to the light ones (Wieler et al., 1991; Busemann et al., 2000; Gilmour, 2010).
View in article


Gilmour, J.D., Whitby, J.A., Turner, G. (2001) Negative correlation of iodine-129/iodine-127 and xenon-129/xenon-132: Product of closed-system evolution or evidence of a mixed component. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 36, 1283–1286. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2001.tb01961.x
Show in context

As previously noticed (Mazor et al., 1970; Gilmour et al., 2001), such an inverse correlation could not result from the heterogeneous 129I distribution in the early solar system as the absolute concentrations of radiogenic 129Xe* vary by only a factor of ∼4 among CCs, while relative 129Xe* enrichments differ by a factor of 400.
View in article


Hiroi, T., Zolensky, M.E., Pieters, C.M. (2001) The Tagish Lake Meteorite: A Possible Sample from a D-Type Asteroid. Science 293, 2234–2236. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1063734
Show in context

Carbonaceous chondrites are pristine witnesses of the formation of the solar system. Among them, the carbon-rich Tarda and Tagish Lake meteorites are thought to have sampled very distant regions of the outer circumsolar disk (Hiroi et al., 2001).
View in article
Interestingly, the carbon-rich primitive chondrites Tagish Lake and Tarda are thought to originate from D-type asteroids (Hiroi et al., 2001; Marrocchi et al., 2021) considered to have formed at large heliocentric distances beyond the current orbit of Saturn, and potentially as far as the Kuiper Belt (i.e. 30–50 astronomical units = au; Levison et al., 2009).
View in article


Huss, G.R., Lewis, R.S. (1994) Noble gases in presolar diamonds I: Three distinct components and their implications for diamond origins. Meteoritics 29, 791–810. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.1994.tb01094.x
Show in context

Most heating steps show a similar 20Ne/132Xe ratio (average value of 22 ± 4), slightly lower than the range reported for the HL component (50 ± 20; Huss and Lewis, 1994).
View in article
Data points of heating steps of Tarda and Tagish Lake samples plot slightly below a mixing line defined by Ne-HL (Huss and Lewis, 1994) and cosmogenic neon (Supplementary Information).
View in article
In the three isotope diagram, the neon isotopic compositions of bulk chondrites plot within a space defined by cosmogenic Ne, Ne-Q and a pole with (20Ne/22Ne) slightly below that of Ne-HL carried by presolar nanodiamonds (Fig. 1; Huss and Lewis, 1994; Krietsch et al., 2021).
View in article


Jeffery, P.M., Reynolds, J.H. (1961) Origin of excess Xe129 in stone meteorites. Journal of Geophysical Research 66, 3582–3583. https://doi.org/10.1029/JZ066i010p03582
Show in context

Such 129Xe excesses result from the decay of extinct 129I (t1/2 = 16 Myr), which was producing radiogenic 129Xe* during the first ∼100 million years of the solar system (Jeffery and Reynolds, 1961).
View in article


Kerridge, J.F. (1985) Carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen in carbonaceous chondrites: Abundances and isotopic compositions in bulk samples. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 49, 1707–1714. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(85)90141-3
Show in context

CCs contains variable amounts of carbon with Tarda, Tagish Lake, CI and CM chondrites showing the highest concentrations (Fig. 3b; Kerridge, 1985; Vacher et al., 2020; Marrocchi et al., 2021).
View in article


Krietsch, D., Busemann, H., Riebe, M.E.I., King, A.J., Alexander, C.M.O’D., Maden, C. (2021) Noble gases in CM carbonaceous chondrites: Effect of parent body aqueous and thermal alteration and cosmic ray exposure ages. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 310, 240–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2021.05.050
Show in context

However, the 40Ar/36Ar ratios range from 3 to 43, well below the atmospheric value (≈300, Ozima and Podosek, 2002), but typical for trapped argon contained in carbonaceous chondrites (Krietsch et al., 2021).
View in article
The isotopic ratios of Kr and Xe are distinct from those of air, as well, and are similar again, to those measured for bulk carbonaceous chondrites (e.g., Krietsch et al., 2021).
View in article
Neon three isotope plot for bulk samples of Tarda, Tagish Lake and Orgueil. The compositions of Ne-Q, Air, Ne-HL, Ne-E and cosmogenic (purple range) are also shown for comparison (see Ott, 2014 and Krietsch et al., 2021 and refs. therein).
View in article
In the three isotope diagram, the neon isotopic compositions of bulk chondrites plot within a space defined by cosmogenic Ne, Ne-Q and a pole with (20Ne/22Ne) slightly below that of Ne-HL carried by presolar nanodiamonds (Fig. 1; Huss and Lewis, 1994; Krietsch et al., 2021).
View in article
Some rare CMs show similar 129Xe/132Xe but suffered from significant heating (Alexander et al., 2012; Krietsch et al., 2021).
View in article


Kuga, M., Marty, B., Marrocchi, Y., Tissandier, L. (2015) Synthesis of refractory organic matter in the ionized gas phase of the solar nebula. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112, 7129–7134. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1502796112
Show in context

Noble gases trapped in primitive meteorites (chondrites) allow quantification of the physical processes that operated during the evolution of the protoplanetary disk (e.g., Kuga et al., 2015).
View in article


Levison, H.F., Bottke, W.F., Gounelle, M., Morbidelli, A., Nesvorný, D., Tsiganis, K. (2009) Contamination of the asteroid belt by primordial trans-Neptunian objects. Nature 460, 364–366. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08094
Show in context

Interestingly, the carbon-rich primitive chondrites Tagish Lake and Tarda are thought to originate from D-type asteroids (Hiroi et al., 2001; Marrocchi et al., 2021) considered to have formed at large heliocentric distances beyond the current orbit of Saturn, and potentially as far as the Kuiper Belt (i.e. 30–50 astronomical units = au; Levison et al., 2009).
View in article


Lewis, R.S., Srinivasan, B., Anders, E. (1975) Host Phase of a Strange Xenon Component in Allende. Science 190, 1251–1262.
Show in context

Notwithstanding this uncertainty, it has been shown that phase Q dominates the heavy noble gas budget of chondrites and is closely associated with carbonaceous material that survives HF/HCl attack of bulk meteorites (Lewis et al., 1975).
View in article


Marrocchi, Y., Avice, G., Barrat, J.-A. (2021) The Tarda Meteorite: A Window into the Formation of D-type Asteroids. The Astrophysical Journal Letters 913, 8. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/abfaa3
Show in context

Interestingly, the carbon-rich primitive chondrites Tagish Lake and Tarda are thought to originate from D-type asteroids (Hiroi et al., 2001; Marrocchi et al., 2021) considered to have formed at large heliocentric distances beyond the current orbit of Saturn, and potentially as far as the Kuiper Belt (i.e. 30–50 astronomical units = au; Levison et al., 2009).
View in article
Based on multiple isotopic systems (i.e. H, C, N and O), it has recently been proposed that Tarda and Tagish Lake could be genetically related (Marrocchi et al., 2021).
View in article
Altogether, our results thus reinforce the genetic link between Tarda and Tagish Lake, which share similar isotopic signatures for elements having drastically different geochemical behaviour (Marrocchi et al., 2021).
View in article
The average δ129XeSW is plotted as a function of (a) the 127I content (data from Clay et al., 2017), (b) the carbon content (data from Vacher et al., 2020 and Marrocchi et al., 2021), and (c) the matrix abundance (data from Alexander et al., 2018).
View in article
This is however not observed in Orgueil, Tarda and Tagish Lake (Fig. 2) whereas they are generally thought to have formed in the outer solar system, at large heliocentric distances >10 au (Desch et al., 2018; Fujiya et al., 2019; Marrocchi et al., 2021).
View in article
CCs contains variable amounts of carbon with Tarda, Tagish Lake, CI and CM chondrites showing the highest concentrations (Fig. 3b; Kerridge, 1985; Vacher et al., 2020; Marrocchi et al., 2021).
View in article
Although both Tarda and Tagish Lake are depleted in fine grained matrix relative to CI chondrites (65–80 vs. 100 vol. %, Fig. 3c; Alexander et al., 2018), they appear enriched in C (i.e.  ∼4 vs. 3.3 wt. %, Fig. 3b; Vacher et al., 2020; Marrocchi et al., 2021).
View in article
However, the bulk C content of Tagish Lake is relatively homogenous (Marrocchi et al., 2021) regardless of the abundance of carbonates (i.e.  4.1 ± 0.1 wt. %).
View in article
In addition, Tarda shows a carbon content similar to Tagish Lake whereas no specific carbonate-rich lithology has been described so far (Marrocchi et al., 2021 and references therein).
View in article
Results obtained in this study demonstrate that Tarda and Tagish Lake, in addition to C, H, N isotope systematics (Marrocchi et al., 2021), present very similar compositions for noble gases.
View in article


Marty, B. Altwegg, K., Balsiger, H., Bar-Nun, A., Bekaert, D.V., Berthelier, J.J., Bieler, A., Briois, C., Calmonte, U., Combi, M., De Keyser, J., Fiethe, B., Fuselier, S.A., Gasc, S., Gombosi, T.I., Hansen, K.C., Hässig, M., Jackel, A., Kopp, E., Korth, A., Le Roy, L., Mall, U., Mousis, O., Owen, T., Reme, H., Rubin, M., Semon, T., Tzou, C.Y., Waite, J.H., Wurz, P. (2017) Xenon isotopes in 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko show that comets contributed to Earth’s atmosphere. Science 356, 1069–1072. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aal3496
Show in context

The measurement of xenon isotopes in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko revealed extreme 129Xe enrichment relative to 132Xe and the solar composition (Marty et al., 2017).
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As this large monoisotopic excess would require unlikely 129I enrichment, it has been interpreted as originating from a specific nucleosynthetic process producing 129Xe that was sampled by icy bodies formed in the outer solar system (Marty et al., 2017).
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Average 129Xe* excesses relative to SW-Xe (expressed in δ notation with δ129XeSW = (129Xe/132Xe)bulk/(129Xe/132Xe)SW − 1 × 1000) for the different types of chondrites and the comet 67P/C-G (data from Mazor et al., 1970; Marty et al., 2017 and this study).
View in article
Xenon in the Jupiter-family comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P/C-G) presents a 129Xe excess and important, tens of percent 134−136Xe deficits relative to SW-Xe (Marty et al., 2017).
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The former has been attributed as resulting from the contribution of parentless 129Xe and the latter of a mixture of two nucleosynthetic processes (i.e. s- and r-process; Marty et al., 2017) different from the one measured for most inner solar system material (Avice et al., 2020).
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In addition, when combining data from all CCs and the comet 67P (Mazor et al., 1970; Clay et al., 2017; Marty et al., 2017), we observe an anti-correlation of their 127I content and the 129Xe excess (Fig. 3a), regardless of the available iodine dataset used (Fig. S-4).
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Mazor, E., Heymann, D., Anders, E. (1970) Noble gases in carbonaceous chondrites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 34, 781–824. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(70)90031-1
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Elemental abundances of Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe in Tarda, Tagish Lake and Orgueil are similar to those reported for other volatile-rich carbonaceous chondrites (Table S-1; Mazor et al., 1970).
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Average 129Xe* excesses relative to SW-Xe (expressed in δ notation with δ129XeSW = (129Xe/132Xe)bulk/(129Xe/132Xe)SW − 1 × 1000) for the different types of chondrites and the comet 67P/C-G (data from Mazor et al., 1970; Marty et al., 2017 and this study).
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These meteorites are even showing among the weakest 129Xe* excesses measured in CCs (Fig. 3a; Mazor et al., 1970).
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In addition, when combining data from all CCs and the comet 67P (Mazor et al., 1970; Clay et al., 2017; Marty et al., 2017), we observe an anti-correlation of their 127I content and the 129Xe excess (Fig. 3a), regardless of the available iodine dataset used (Fig. S-4).
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As previously noticed (Mazor et al., 1970; Gilmour et al., 2001), such an inverse correlation could not result from the heterogeneous 129I distribution in the early solar system as the absolute concentrations of radiogenic 129Xe* vary by only a factor of ∼4 among CCs, while relative 129Xe* enrichments differ by a factor of 400.
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Ott, U. (2002) Noble gases in meteorites - Trapped Components. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 47, 71–100. https://doi.org/10.2138/rmg.2002.47.3
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For argon, 38Ar/36Ar ratios are compatible with either the atmospheric 38Ar/36Ar ratio (≈0.188; Ozima and Podosek, 2002) or the 38Ar/36Ar ratio of argon in phase Q (≈0.187; Ott, 2002).
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Ott, U. (2014) Planetary and pre-solar noble gases in meteorites. Chemie der Erde - Geochemistry 74, 519–544. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemer.2014.01.003
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Although these elements are present in different carriers contained in meteorites (including presolar SiC, diamonds, graphite; Ott, 2014), they are mainly hosted in a phase − referred to as phase Q − whose nature is still poorly characterised (Busemann et al., 2000).
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Neon three isotope plot for bulk samples of Tarda, Tagish Lake and Orgueil. The compositions of Ne-Q, Air, Ne-HL, Ne-E and cosmogenic (purple range) are also shown for comparison (see Ott, 2014 and Krietsch et al., 2021 and refs. therein).
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Ozima, M., Podosek, F.A. (2002) Noble Gas Geochemistry. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
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For argon, 38Ar/36Ar ratios are compatible with either the atmospheric 38Ar/36Ar ratio (≈0.188; Ozima and Podosek, 2002) or the 38Ar/36Ar ratio of argon in phase Q (≈0.187; Ott, 2002).
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However, the 40Ar/36Ar ratios range from 3 to 43, well below the atmospheric value (≈300, Ozima and Podosek, 2002), but typical for trapped argon contained in carbonaceous chondrites (Krietsch et al., 2021).
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Riebe, M.E.I., Busemann, H., Alexander, C.M.O’D., Nittler, L.R., Herd, C.D.K., Maden, C., Wang, J., Wieler, R. (2020) Effects of aqueous alteration on primordial noble gases and presolar SiC in the carbonaceous chondrite Tagish Lake. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 55, 1257–1280. https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13383
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The latter is likely due to the presence of Ne-E from presolar SiC or graphite (Riebe et al., 2020).
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Vacher, L.G., Piani, L., Rigaudier, T., Thomassin, D., Florin, G., Piralla, M., Marrocchi, Y. (2020) Hydrogen in chondrites: Influence of parent body alteration and atmospheric contamination on primordial components. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 281, 53–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2020.05.007
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The average δ129XeSW is plotted as a function of (a) the 127I content (data from Clay et al., 2017), (b) the carbon content (data from Vacher et al., 2020 and Marrocchi et al., 2021), and (c) the matrix abundance (data from Alexander et al., 2018).
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CCs contains variable amounts of carbon with Tarda, Tagish Lake, CI and CM chondrites showing the highest concentrations (Fig. 3b; Kerridge, 1985; Vacher et al., 2020; Marrocchi et al., 2021).
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Although both Tarda and Tagish Lake are depleted in fine grained matrix relative to CI chondrites (65–80 vs. 100 vol. %, Fig. 3c; Alexander et al., 2018), they appear enriched in C (i.e.  ∼4 vs. 3.3 wt. %, Fig. 3b; Vacher et al., 2020; Marrocchi et al., 2021).
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Wieler, R., Anders, E., Baur, H., Lewis, R.S., Signer, P. (1991) Noble gases in “phase Q”: Closed-system etching of an Allende residue. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 55, 1709–1722. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(91)90141-Q
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Thanks to its extreme sensitivity to oxidation, the xenon isotopic composition of phase Q has been precisely determined, revealing a mass dependent isotopic fractionation relative to solar wind (SW-Xe) in favour of the heavy isotopes relative to the light ones (Wieler et al., 1991; Busemann et al., 2000; Gilmour, 2010).
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Supplementary Information

Abstract | Introduction | Material and Methods | Results of Noble Gas Measurements and Cosmic-ray Exposure Ages | Discussion | Conclusions | Author Contributions | Acknowledgements | References | Supplementary Information


The Supplementary Information includes:
  • Analytical Methods
  • Cosmogenic and Radiogenic Contributions
  • Tables S-1 and S-2
  • Figures S-1 to S-5
  • Supplementary Information References


  • Download Table S-1 (Excel).

    Download the Supplementary Information (PDF).
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    Figures



    Figure 1 Neon three isotope plot for bulk samples of Tarda, Tagish Lake and Orgueil. The compositions of Ne-Q, Air, Ne-HL, Ne-E and cosmogenic (purple range) are also shown for comparison (see Ott, 2014

    Ott, U. (2014) Planetary and pre-solar noble gases in meteorites. Chemie der Erde - Geochemistry 74, 519–544. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemer.2014.01.003

    and Krietsch et al., 2021

    Krietsch, D., Busemann, H., Riebe, M.E.I., King, A.J., Alexander, C.M.O’D., Maden, C. (2021) Noble gases in CM carbonaceous chondrites: Effect of parent body aqueous and thermal alteration and cosmic ray exposure ages. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 310, 240–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2021.05.050

    and refs. therein). The two dashed lines represent mixing arrays between Ne-Q and cosmogenic neon and Ne-HL and cosmogenic neon. Error bars (1σ) are smaller than the symbols.
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    Figure 2 Isotopic composition of total xenon extracted from bulk Tarda, Tagish Lake and Orgueil samples. Isotopic ratios are normalised to Q-Xe (Busemann et al., 2000

    Busemann, H., Baur, H., Wieler, R. (2000) Primordial noble gases in “phase Q” in carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites studied by closed-system stepped etching. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 35, 949–973. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2000.tb01485.x

    ) and expressed with the delta notation (δiXeQ = ((iXe/130Xe)sample/(iXe/130Xe)Q − 1) × 1000). Errors are at 1σ.
    Back to article


    Figure 3 Average 129Xe* excesses relative to SW-Xe (expressed in δ notation with δ129XeSW = (129Xe/132Xe)bulk/(129Xe/132Xe)SW − 1 × 1000) for the different types of chondrites and the comet 67P/C-G (data from Mazor et al., 1970

    Mazor, E., Heymann, D., Anders, E. (1970) Noble gases in carbonaceous chondrites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 34, 781–824. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(70)90031-1

    ; Marty et al., 2017

    Marty, B. Altwegg, K., Balsiger, H., Bar-Nun, A., Bekaert, D.V., Berthelier, J.J., Bieler, A., Briois, C., Calmonte, U., Combi, M., De Keyser, J., Fiethe, B., Fuselier, S.A., Gasc, S., Gombosi, T.I., Hansen, K.C., Hässig, M., Jackel, A., Kopp, E., Korth, A., Le Roy, L., Mall, U., Mousis, O., Owen, T., Reme, H., Rubin, M., Semon, T., Tzou, C.Y., Waite, J.H., Wurz, P. (2017) Xenon isotopes in 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko show that comets contributed to Earth’s atmosphere. Science 356, 1069–1072. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aal3496

    and this study). The average δ129XeSW is plotted as a function of (a) the 127I content (data from Clay et al., 2017

    Clay, P.L., Burgess, R., Busemann, H., Ruzié-Hamilton, L., Joachim, B., Day, J.M.D., Ballentine, C.J. (2017) Halogens in chondritic meteorites and terrestrial accretion. Nature 551, 614–618. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature24625

    ), (b) the carbon content (data from Vacher et al., 2020

    Vacher, L.G., Piani, L., Rigaudier, T., Thomassin, D., Florin, G., Piralla, M., Marrocchi, Y. (2020) Hydrogen in chondrites: Influence of parent body alteration and atmospheric contamination on primordial components. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 281, 53–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2020.05.007

    and Marrocchi et al., 2021

    Marrocchi, Y., Avice, G., Barrat, J.-A. (2021) The Tarda Meteorite: A Window into the Formation of D-type Asteroids. The Astrophysical Journal Letters 913, 8. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/abfaa3

    ), and (c) the matrix abundance (data from Alexander et al., 2018

    Alexander, C.M.O’D., McKeegan, K.D., Altwegg, K. (2018) Water Reservoirs in Small Planetary Bodies: Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets. Space Science Reviews 214, 47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-018-0474-9

    ). TTL = Tarda and Tagish Lake.
    Back to article

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