Early volatile depletion on planetesimals inferred from C-S systematics of iron meteorite parent bodies.

ABSTRACT: During the formation of terrestrial planets, volatile loss may occur through nebular processing, planetesimal differentiation, and planetary accretion. We investigate iron meteorites as an archive of volatile loss during planetesimal processing. The carbon contents of the parent bodies of magmatic iron meteorites are reconstructed by thermodynamic modeling. Calculated solid/molten alloy partitioning of C increases greatly with liquid S concentration, and inferred parent body C concentrations range from 0.0004 to 0.11 wt%. Parent bodies fall into two compositional clusters characterized by cores with medium and low C/S. Both of these require significant planetesimal degassing, as metamorphic devolatilization on chondrite-like precursors is insufficient to account for their C depletions. Pla

SUBMITTER: Hirschmann MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8020667 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature