Pristine extraterrestrial material with unprecedented nitrogen isotopic variation
Open Access
- 30 June 2009
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
- Vol. 106 (26), 10522-10527
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0901546106
Abstract
Pristine meteoritic materials carry light element isotopic fractionations that constrain physiochemical conditions during solar system formation. Here we report the discovery of a unique xenolith in the metal-rich chondrite Isheyevo. Its fine-grained, highly pristine mineralogy has similarity with interplanetary dust particles (IDPs), but the volume of the xenolith is more than 30,000 times that of a typical IDP. Furthermore, an extreme continuum of N isotopic variation is present in this xenolith: from very light N isotopic composition (δ15NAIR = −310 ± 20‰), similar to that inferred for the solar nebula, to the heaviest ratios measured in any solar system material (δ15NAIR = 4,900 ± 300‰). At the same time, its hydrogen and carbon isotopic compositions exhibit very little variation. This object poses serious challenges for existing models for the origin of light element isotopic anomalies.Keywords
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