Noble-gas-rich separates from ordinary chondrites

Acid-resistant residues were prepared by HCl-HF demineralization of three H-type ordinary chondrites: Brownfield 1937 (H3), Dimmitt (H3,4), and Estacado (H6). These residues were found to contain a large proportion of the planetary-type trapped Ar, Kr, and Xe in the meteorites. The similarity of these acid residues to those from carbonaceous chondrites and LL-type ordinary chondrites suggests that the same phase carries the trapped noble gases in all these diverse meteorite types. Because the H group represents a large fraction of all meteorites, this result indicates that the gas-rich carrier phase is as universal as the trapped noble-gas component itself. When treated with an oxidizing etchant, the acid residues lost almost all their complement of noble gases. In addition, the Xe in at least one oxidized residue, from Dimmitt, displayed isotopic anomalies of the type known as CCFX or DME-Xe, which is characterized by simultaneous excesses of both the lightest and heaviest isotopes. The anomaly in the Dimmitt sample differs from that observed in carbonaceous-chondrite samples, however, in the relative proportions of the light- and heavy-isotope excesses.The results of this study do not show an inverse correlation between trapped ${}^{20}\text{Ne}{}^{36}\text{Ar}$ and trapped ³⁶Ar abundance, as has been reported for acid-resistant residues from LL-chondrites. The results of this work therefore fail to support the hypothesis that meteoritic trapped noble gas abundances were established at the time of condensation.