Impact-induced chondrule flattening in the Allende CV3 carbonaceous chondrite: Shock experiments

Abstract— We have carried out shock-recovery experiments on the Allende CV3 carbonaceous chondrite using a single-stage propellant gun and succeeded in reproducing oriented, flattened chondrules like those observed in some natural CV3 chondrites. The Allende samples were shocked at equilibrium pressures of 11 and 21 GPa, which are close to the highest values in shock stages S2 and S3, respectively (Stöffler et al., 1991). Chondrules are flattened nearly perpendicular to the compaction axis with mean aspect ratios of 1.34 and 1.62 at pressures of 11 and 21 GPa, respectively; thus, the degree of chondrule flattening is proportional to the shock intensity. The chondrule flattening and foliation are mainly due to collapse of pores in the matrix under shock pressure. High matrix abundance of CV3 chondrites could result in much apparent chondrule flattening relative to ordinary chondrites. Optical and electron microscope observations show that textural and mineralogical characteristics of chondrules and matrix in the shock-loaded samples are very similar to those observed in naturally shocked CV3 chondrites. Our results provide strong support for the interpretation that the chondrule flattening and foliation in CV3 chondrites were caused by shock-induced pressure due to hypervelocity impacts on the meteorite parent bodies.     

An unusual porous,cryptocrystalline forsterite chondrule in Murchison

We describe a fragmented cryptocrystalline chondrule consisting solely of forsterite (Fo₉₈) in the Murchison CM2 chondrite, with a peculiar porous texture of enigmatic origin.     

Early Carboniferous HP metamorphism in the Hida Gaien Belt,Japan: Implications for the Palaeozoic tectonic history of proto‐Japan

We report two new eclogite localities (at Kanayamadani and Shinadani) in the high‐P (HP) metamorphic rocks of the Omi area in the western most region of Niigata Prefecture, Japan, which form part of the Hida Gaien Belt, and determine metamorphic conditions and pressure–temperature (P–T) paths. The metamorphic evolution of the eclogites is characterized by a tight hairpin‐shaped P–T path from prograde epidote–blueschist facies to peak eclogite facies and then retrograde blueschist facies. The prograde metamorphic stage is characterized by various amphibole (winchite, barroisite, glaucophane) inclusions in garnet, whereas the peak eclogite facies assemblage is characterized by omphacite, garnet, phengite and rutile. Peak P–T conditions of the eclogites were estimated to be ~600°C and up to 2.0 GPa by conventional cation‐exchange thermobarometry, Ti‐in‐zircon thermometry and quartz inclusion Raman barometry respectively. However, the Raman spectra of carbonaceous material thermometry of metapelites associated with the eclogites gave lower peak temperatures, possibly due to metamorphism at different conditions before being brought together during exhumation. The blueschist facies overprint following the peak of metamorphism is recognized by the abundance of glaucophane in the matrix. Zircon grains in blueschist facies metasedimentary samples from two localities adjacent to the eclogites have distinct oscillatory‐zoned cores and overgrowth rims. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry U–Pb ages of the detrital cores yield a wide range between 3,200 and 400 Ma, with a peak at 600–400 Ma. In the early Palaeozoic, proto‐Japan was located along the continental margin of the South China craton, providing the source of the older population of detrital zircon grains (3,200–600 Ma) deposited in the trench‐fill sediments. In addition, subduction‐related magmatism c. 500–400 Ma is recorded in the crust below proto‐Japan, which might have been the source for the younger detrital zircon grains. The peak metamorphic age was constrained by SHRIMP dating of the overgrowth rims, yielding Tournaisian ages of 347 ± 4 Ma, suggesting subduction in the early Carboniferous. Our results provide clear constraints on the initiation of subduction, accretion and the development of an arc‐trench system along the active continental margin of the South China craton and help to unravel the Palaeozoic tectonic history of proto‐Japan.     

Reconstruction of paleotemperatures in the Northwest Pacific over the past 3000 years from δO values of the micro-bivalvia Carditella iejimensis found in a submarine cave

We measured the δ¹⁸O values of the whole shells of the cavernicolous micro-bivalvia Carditella iejimensis obtained from sediments within a submarine cave (31 m water depth) at Ie Island (Okinawa Island, Japan) in the subtropical Northwest Pacific. Our results show no significant millennial-scale trend in the δ¹⁸O record, implying that both springtime temperature and the δ¹⁸O of sea water at 30 m depth around the Okinawa Islands have been stable for the past 3000 years at values similar to those of today. Moreover, we found one exceptionally light δ¹⁸O value from specimens spanning the past 250 years. The δ¹⁸O-derived temperature represents a departure of 2.1 °C from the average value for the past 250 years, being equal to the departure recorded during unusually high temperatures in the spring of 1998. This finding may imply that such high springtime sea surface temperature has been a rare event over the past 3000 years.     

A primitive dark inclusion with radiation‐damaged silicates in the Ningqiang carbonaceous chondrite

Abstract— A petrologic and TEM study of a remarkable dark inclusion (DI) in the Ningqiang CV3 chondrite reveals that it is a mixture of highly primitive solar nebula materials. The DI contains two lithologies. The first, lithology A, contains micron‐sized olivine and pyroxene grains rimmed by amorphous materials with compositions similar to the underlying crystalline grains. The second, lithology B, appears to preserve the mineralogy of lithology A before formation of the amorphous rims. Overall, the Ningqiang DI appears to record the following processes: 1) formation (condensation and Fe‐enrichment) of olivine crystals in the nebula with compositions of Fo_42–62; 2) irradiation, resulting in amorphitization of the olivine and pyroxene to varying degrees; 3) partial annealing, resulting in formation of fairly large, euhedral olivine and pyroxene grains with remnant amorphous sharply‐bounded rims; 4) in some cases, prolonged annealing, resulting in the formation of microcrystalline olivine or pyroxene rims. The latter annealing would have been a natural consequence of irradiation near the critical temperature for olivine; and 5) mixture of the above materials (lithology A) with nebular condensate high‐Ca pyroxene and olivine, which escaped nebular processing, to become lithology B. We suggest that the amorphous rims in lithology A formed in an energetic solar event such as a bi‐polar outflow or FU‐orionis flare.     

Noble gas isotopes and mineral assemblages of Antarctic micrometeorites collected at the meteorite ice field around the Yamato Mountains

Abstract— From November 1998 to January 1999, the 39th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) conducted a large‐scale micrometeorite collection at 3 areas in the meteorite ice field around the Yamato Mountains, Antarctica. The Antarctic micrometeorites (AMMs) collected were ancient cosmic dust particles. This is in contrast with the Dome Fuji AMMs, which were collected previously from fresh snows in 1996 and 1997 and which represent modern micrometeorites. To determine the noble gas concentrations and isotopic compositions of individual AMMs, noble gas analyses were carried out using laser‐gas extraction for 35 unmelted Yamato Mountains AMMs and 3 cosmic spherules. X‐ray diffraction analyses were performed on 13 AMMs before the noble gas measurement and mineral compositions were determined. AMMs are classified into 4 main mineralogical groups, defined from the heating they suffered during atmospheric entry. Heating temperatures of AMMs, inferred from their mineral compositions, are correlated with ⁴He concentrations and reflect the effect of degassing during atmospheric entry. Jarosite, an aqueous alteration product, is detected for 4 AMMs, indicating the aqueous alteration during long‐time storage in Antarctic ice. Jarosite‐bearing AMMs have relatively low concentrations of 4He, which is suggestive of loss during the alteration. High ³He/⁴He ratios are detected for AMMs with high ²⁰Ne/⁴He ratios, showing both cosmogenic ³He and preferential He loss. SEP (solar energetic particles)‐He and Ne, rather than the solar wind (SW), were dominant in AMMs, presumably showing a preferential removal of the more shallowly implanted SW by atmospheric entry heating. The mean ²⁰Ne/²²Ne ratio is 11.27 ± 0.35, which is close to the SEP value of 11.2. Cosmogenic ²¹Ne is not detected in any of the particles, which is probably due to the short cosmic ray exposure ages. Ar isotopic compositions are explained by 3‐component mixing of air, Q, and SEP‐Ar. Ar isotopic compositions can not be explained without significant contributions of Q‐Ar. SEP‐Ne contributed more than 99% of the total Ne. As for ³⁶Ar and ³⁸Ar, the abundance of the Q component is comparable to that of the SEP component. ⁸⁴Kr and ¹³²Xe are dominated by the primordial component, and solar‐derived Xe is almost negligible.     

Heavily metamorphosed clasts from the CV chondrite breccias Mokoia and Yamato‐86009

Abstract– Metamorphosed clasts in the CV carbonaceous chondrite breccias Mokoia and Yamato‐86009 (Y‐86009) are coarse‐grained, granular, polymineralic rocks composed of Ca‐bearing (up to 0.6 wt% CaO) ferroan olivine (Fa_34–39), ferroan Al‐diopside (Fs_9–13Wo_47–50, approximately 2–7 wt% Al₂O₃), plagioclase (An_37–84Ab_63–17), Cr‐spinel (Cr/(Cr + Al) = 0.19–0.45, Fe/(Fe + Mg) = 0.60–0.79), nepheline, pyrrhotite, pentlandite, Ca‐phosphate, and rare grains of Ni‐rich taenite; low‐Ca pyroxene is absent. Most clasts have triple junctions between silicate grains, indicative of prolonged thermal annealing. Based on the olivine‐spinel and pyroxene thermometry, the estimated metamorphic temperature recorded by the clasts is approximately 1100 K. Few clasts experienced thermal metamorphism to a lower degree and preserved chondrule‐like textures. The Mokoia and Y‐86009 clasts are mineralogically unique and different from metamorphosed chondrites of known groups (H, L, LL, R, EH, EL, CO, CK) and primitive achondrites (acapulcoites, brachinites, lodranites). On a three‐isotope oxygen diagram, compositions of olivine in the clasts plot along carbonaceous chondrite anhydrous mineral line and the Allende mass‐fractionation line, and overlap with those of the CV chondrule olivines; the Δ¹⁷O values of the clasts range from about ?4.3‰ to ?3.0‰. We suggest that the clasts represent fragments of the CV‐like material that experienced metasomatic alteration, high‐temperature metamorphism, and possibly melting in the interior of the CV parent asteroid. The lack of low‐Ca pyroxene in the clasts could be due to its replacement by ferroan olivine during iron‐alkali metasomatic alteration or by high‐Ca ferroan pyroxene during melting under oxidizing conditions.     

Invisible Gold from the Hishikari Epithermal Gold Deposit, Japan: Implication for Gold Distribution and Deposition

Abstract. The presence of invisible gold was confirmed in arsenian pyrite from the Hishikari epithermal gold deposit, Kagoshima, Japan, by means of EPMA and SIMS analyses. The relative concentration of invisible gold may be positively correlated with As contents (0.01 to 10.37 wt%) of fine-grained arsenian pyrite which commonly occurs in the auriferous quartz veins. Although arsenian pyrite occurs widely in any mineralization stage with electrum and other sulfide, sulfosalts, selenide or telluride minerals, arsenian pyrites having higher As contents accompanied by invisible gold occur dominantly in the middle stage of fine-adularia-quartz and in the late stage of coarse-quartz rather than in the early stage of columnar-adularia.     

Potential of submarine-cave sediments and oxygen isotope composition of cavernicolous micro-bivalve as a late Holocene paleoenvironmental record

A sediment layer (43 cm thick) and surface sediments (5 cm thick) in a submarine limestone cave (31 m water depth) on the fore-reef slope of Ie Island, off Okinawa mainland, Japan, were examined by visual, mineralogical and geochemical means. Oxygen isotope analysis was performed on the cavernicolous micro-bivalve Carditella iejimensis from both cored sediments and surface sediments, and the water temperature within the cave was recorded for nearly one year. These data show that: (1) water temperature within the cave is equal to that at 30 m deep in the open sea; (2) the biotic and non-biotic environments within the cave have persisted for the past 2000 years; (3) mud-size carbonate detritus is a major constituent of the submarine-cave deposit, and may have come mainly from the suspended carbonate mud produced on the emergent Holocene reef flat over the past two millennia; (4) the δ¹⁸O-derived temperature (T_δ18_O) of C. iejimensis suggests that the species grows between April and July; (5) the T_δ18_O of C. iejimensis from cored sediments implies that there were two warmer intervals, at AD 340 ± 40 and AD 1000 ± 40, which correspond to the Roman Warm Period and Medieval Warm Period, respectively. These suggest that submarine-cave sediments provide unique information for Holocene reef development. In addition, oxygen isotope records of cavernicolous C. iejimensis are a useful tool to reconstruct century-scale climatic variability for the Okinawa Islands during the Holocene.