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Aims. Radiometric ages for chondritic meteorites and their components provide information on the accretion timescale of chondrite parent bodies, and on cooling paths within certain areas of these bodies. However, to use this age information for constraining the internal structure, and the accretion and cooling history of the chondrite parent bodies, the empirical cooling paths obtained by dating chondrites must be combined with theoretical models of the thermal evolution of planetesimals. Important parameters in such thermal models include the initial abundances of heat-producing short-lived radionuclides ( 26 Al and 60 Fe), which are determined by the accretion timescale and the terminal size, chemical composition and physical properties of the chondritic planetesimals. The major aim of this study is to assess the effects of sintering of initially porous material on the thermal evolution of planetesimals, and to constrain the values of basic parameters that determined the structure and evolution of the H chondrite parent body. Methods. We present a new code for modelling the thermal evolution of ordinary chondrite parent bodies that initially are highly porous and undergo sintering by hot pressing as they are heated by decay of radioactive nuclei. The pressure and temperature stratification in the interior of the bodies was calculated by solving the equations of hydrostatic equilibrium and energy transport. The decrease of porosity of the granular material by hot pressing due to self-gravity was followed by solving a set of equations for the sintering of powder materials. For the heat-conductivity of granular material we combined recently measured data for highly porous powder materials, relevant for the surface layers of planetesimals, with data for heat-conductivity of chondrite material, relevant for the strongly sintered material in deeper layers. Results. Our new model demonstrates that in initially porous planetesimals heating to central temperatures sufficient for melting can occur for bodies a few km in size, that is, a factor of ≈10 smaller than for compact bodies. Furthermore, for high initial 60 Fe abundances small bodies may differentiate even when they had formed as late as 3−4 Ma after CAI formation. To demonstrate the capability of our new model, the thermal evolution of the H chondrite parent body was reconstructed. The model starts with a porous body that is later compacted first by "cold pressing" at low temperatures and then by "hot pressing" for temperatures above ≈700 K, i.e., the threshold temperature for sintering of silicates. The thermal model was fitted to the well-constrained cooling histories of the two H chondrites Kernouvé (H6) and Richardton (H5). The best fit was obtained for a parent body with a radius of 100 km that accreted at t = 2.3 Ma after CAI formation, and had an initial 60 Fe/ 56 Fe = 4.1 × 10 −7 . Burial depths of 8.3 km and 36 km for Richardton and Kernouvé were able to reproduce their empirically determined cooling history. These burial depths are shallower ...

Context. The construction of models for the internal constitution and temporal evolution of large planetesimals, which are the parent bodies of chondrites, requires as accurate as possible information on the heat conductivity of the complex mixture of minerals and iron metal found in chondrites. The few empirical data points on the heat conductivity of chondritic material are severely disturbed by impact-induced microcracks modifying the thermal conductivity. Aims. We attempt to evaluate the heat conductivity of chondritic material with theoretical methods. Methods. We derived the average heat conductivity of a multi-component mineral mixture and granular medium from the heat conductivities of its mixture components. We numerically generated random mixtures of solids with chondritic composition and packings of spheres. We solved the heat conduction equation in high spatial resolution for a test cube filled with such matter. We derived the heat conductivity of the mixture from the calculated heat flux through the cube. Results. For H and L chondrites, our results are in accord with empirical thermal conductivity at zero porosity. However, the porosity dependence of heat conductivity of granular material built from chondrules and matrix is at odds with measurements for chondrites, while our calculations are consistent with data for compacted sandstone. The discrepancy is traced back to subsequent shock modification of the currently available meteoritic material resulting from impacts on the parent body over the last 4.5 Ga. This causes a structure of void space made of fractures/cracks, which lowers the thermal conductivity of the medium and acts as a barrier to heat transfer. This structure is different from the structure that probably exists in the pristine material where voids are represented by pores rather than fractures. The results obtained for the heat conductivity of the pristine material are used for calculating models for the evolution of the H chondrite parent body, which are fitted to the cooling data of a number of H chondrites. The fit to the data is good; likewise the fit is good with models assuming different porosity. This is an indication that more diagnostic meteorite data are needed to distinguish between porosity models.

Context. The cooling histories of individual meteorites can be empirically reconstructed by using ages obtained from different radioisotopic chronometers having distinct closure temperatures. For a given group of meteorites derived from a single parent body such data permit the detailed reconstruction of the cooling history of that body. Particularly suited for this purpose are H chondrites because (i) all of them are thought to derive from a single parent body (possibly asteroid (6) Hebe) and (ii) for several specimens precise radiometric ages over a wide range of closure temperatures are available. Aims. A thermal evolution model for the H chondrite parent body is constructed by using the cooling histories of all H chondrites for which at least three different precise radiometric ages are available. The thermal model thus obtained is then used to constrain some important basic properties of the H chondrite parent body. Methods. Thermal evolution models are calculated using our previously developed code, which incorporates the effects of sintering and uses new thermal conductivity data for porous materials. Several key parameters determining the thermal evolution of the H chondrite parent body are varied together with the unknown original location of the H chondrites within their parent body until an optimal fit between the radiometric age data and the properties of the model is obtained. The fit is performed in an automated way based on an "evolution algorithm" to allow for a simultaneous fit of a large number of data, which depend in a complex way on several parameters. Empirical data for the cooling history of H chondrites are taken from the literature and the thermal model is optimised for eight samples for which radiometric ages are available for at least three different closure temperatures. Results. A set of parameters for the H chondrite parent body is found that yields excellent agreement (within error bounds) between the thermal evolution model and empirical data for the cooling histories of six of the examined eight H chondrites. For two of the samples significant discrepancies exist between model and empirical data, most likely reflecting inconsistencies in the empirical cooling data. The new thermal model constrains the radius and formation time of the H chondrite parent body, and the initial burial depths of the individual H chondrites. In addition, the model provides an estimate for the average surface temperature of the body, the average initial porosity of the material the body accreted from, and the initial 60 Fe content of the H chondrite parent body.

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