Neutron-rich isotopes with masses near that of iron are produced in type Ia and II supernovae. Traces of such nucleosynthesis are found in primitive meteorites in the form of variations in the isotopic abundance of 54 Cr, the most neutron-rich stable isotope of chromium.The hosts of these isotopic anomalies must be presolar grains that condensed in the outflows of supernovae, offering the opportunity to study the nucleosynthesis of iron-peak nuclei in ways that complement spectroscopic observations and can inform models of stellar evolution. However, despite almost two decades of extensive search, the carrier of 54 Cr anomalies is still unknown, presumably because it is fine-grained and is chemically labile. Here we identify in the primitive meteorite Orgueil the carrier of 54 Cr-anomalies as nanoparticles, most likely spinels that show large enrichments in 54 Cr relative to solar composition ( 54 Cr/ 52 Cr ratio >3.6×solar). Such large enrichments in 54 Cr can only be produced in supernovae. The mineralogy of the grains supports condensation in the O/Ne-O/C zones of a type II supernova, although a type Ia origin cannot beexcluded. We suggest that planetary materials incorporated different amounts of these nanoparticles, possibly due to late injection by a nearby supernova that also delivered 26 Al and 60 Fe to the solar system. This idea explains why the relative abundance of 54 Cr and other neutronrich isotopes vary between planets and meteorites. We anticipate that future isotopic studies of the grains identified here will shed new light on the birth of the solar system and the conditions in supernovae.

Pyrolysis with and without tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH), vacuum pyrolysis, and solid state 15 N nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) were used to examine the macromolecular insoluble organic matter (IOM) from the Orgueil and Murchison meteorites. Conventional pyrolysis reveals a set of poorly functionalized aromatic compounds, ranging from one to four rings and with random methyl substitutions. These compounds are in agreement with spectroscopic and pyrolytic results previously reported. For the first time, TMAH thermochemolysis was used to study extraterrestrial material. The detection of aromatics bearing methyl esters and methoxy groups reveals the occurrence of ester and ether bridges between aromatic units in the macromolecular network.No nitrogen-containing compounds were detected with TMAH thermochemolysis, although they are a common feature in terrestrial samples. Along with vacuum pyrolysis results, thermochemolysis shows that nitrogen is probably sequestered in condensed structures like heterocyclic aromatic rings, unlike oxygen, which is mainly located within linkages between aromatic units. This is confirmed by solid state 15 N NMR performed on IOM from Orgueil, showing that nitrogen is present in pyrrole, indole, and carbazole moieties.These data show that amino acids are neither derived from the hydrolysis of IOM nor from a common precursor. In order to reconcile the literature isotopic data and the present molecular results, it is proposed that aldehydes and ketones (1) originated during irradiation of ice in space and (2) were then mobilized during the planetesimal hydrothermalism, yielding the formation of amino acids. If correct, prebiotic molecules are the products of the subsurface chemistry of planetesimals and are thus undetectable through astronomical probes.

No abstract

Northwest Africa 7533, a polymict Martian breccia, consists of fine‐grained clast‐laden melt particles and microcrystalline matrix. While both melt and matrix contain medium‐grained noritic‐monzonitic material and crystal clasts, the matrix also contains lithic clasts with zoned pigeonite and augite plus two feldspars, microbasaltic clasts, vitrophyric and microcrystalline spherules, and shards. The clast‐laden melt rocks contain clump‐like aggregates of orthopyroxene surrounded by aureoles of plagioclase. Some shards of vesicular melt rocks resemble the pyroxene‐plagioclase clump‐aureole structures. Submicron size matrix grains show some triple junctions, but most are irregular with high intergranular porosity. The noritic‐monzonitic rocks contain exsolved pyroxenes and perthitic intergrowths, and cooled more slowly than rocks with zoned‐pyroxene or fine grain size. Noritic material contains orthopyroxene or inverted pigeonite, augite, calcic to intermediate plagioclase, and chromite to Cr‐bearing magnetite; monzonitic clasts contain augite, sodic plagioclase, K feldspar, Ti‐bearing magnetite, ilmenite, chlorapatite, and zircon. These feldspathic rocks show similarities to some rocks at Gale Crater like Black Trout, Mara, and Jake M. The most magnesian orthopyroxene clasts are close to ALH 84001 orthopyroxene in composition. All these materials are enriched in siderophile elements, indicating impact melting and incorporation of a projectile component, except for Ni‐poor pyroxene clasts which are from pristine rocks. Clast‐laden melt rocks, spherules, shards, and siderophile element contents indicate formation of NWA 7533 as a regolith breccia. The zircons, mainly derived from monzonitic (melt) rocks, crystallized at 4.43 ± 0.03 Ga (Humayun et al. ) and a 147Sm‐143Nd isochron for NWA 7034 yielding 4.42 ± 0.07 Ga (Nyquist et al. ) defines the crystallization age of all its igneous portions. The zircon from the monzonitic rocks has a higher Δ17O than other Martian meteorites explained in part by assimilation of regolith materials enriched during surface alteration (Nemchin et al. ). This record of protolith interaction with atmosphere‐hydrosphere during regolith formation before melting demonstrates a thin atmosphere, a wet early surface environment on Mars, and an evolved crust likely to have contaminated younger extrusive rocks. The latest events recorded when the breccia was on Mars are resetting of apatite, much feldspar and some zircons at 1.35–1.4 Ga (Bellucci et al. ), and formation of Ni‐bearing pyrite veins during or shortly after this disturbance (Lorand et al. ).

No abstract

No abstract

Insoluble organic matter (IOM) in primitive carbonaceous meteorites has preserved its chemical composition and isotopic heterogeneity since the solar system formed ∼4.567 billion years ago. We have identified the carrier moieties of isotopically anomalous hydrogen in IOM isolated from the Orgueil carbonaceous chondrite. Data from high spatial resolution, quantitative isotopic NanoSIMS mapping of Orgueil IOM combined with data from electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy reveals that organic radicals hold all the deuterium excess (relative to the bulk IOM) in distinct, micrometer-sized, D-rich hotspots. Taken together with previous work, the results indicate that an isotopic exchange reaction took place between pre-existing organic compounds characterized by low D/H ratios and D-rich gaseous molecules, such as H 2 D + or HD 2 +. This exchange reaction most likely took place in the diffuse outer regions of the proto-planetary disk around the young Sun, offering a model that reconciles meteoritic and cometary isotopic compositions of organic molecules.

No abstract