Sulfur contents of the parental metallic cores of magmatic iron meteorites |
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Authors: | Nancy L Chabot |
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Institution: | Department of Geology, 112 A. W. Smith Bldg., Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7216, USA |
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Abstract: | Magmatic
iron meteorites are thought to be samples of the central metallic cores
of asteroid-sized parent bodies. Sulfur is believed to have been an
important constituent of these parental cores, but due to the low
solubility of S in solid metal, initial S-contents for the magmatic
groups cannot be determined through direct measurements of the iron
meteorites. However, experimental solid metal-liquid metal partition
coefficients show a strong dependence on the S-content of the metallic
liquid. Thus, by using the experimental partition coefficients to model
the fractional crystallization trends within magmatic iron meteorite
groups, the S-contents of the parental cores can be indirectly
estimated. Modeling the Au, Ga, Ge, and Ir fractionations in four of
the largest magmatic iron meteorite groups leads to best estimates for
the S-contents of the parental cores of 12 ± 1.5 wt% for
the IIIAB group, 17 ± 1.5 wt% for the IIAB group, and 1
± 1 wt% for the IVB group. The IVA elemental
fractionations are not adequately fit by a simple fractional
crystallization model with a unique initial S-content. These S-content
estimates are much higher than those recently inferred from
crystallization models involving trapped melt. The discrepancy is due
largely to the different partition coefficients that are used by the
two models. When only partition coefficients that are consistent with
the experimental data are used, the trapped melt model, and the low
S-contents it advocates, cannot match the Ge and Ir fractionations that
are observed in IIIAB iron
meteorites. |
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