Actinide microdistributions in the enstatite meteorites

Oldhamite is a major Th and U bearing phase in the enstatite meteorites. Oldhamite from E-6 chondrites has mean Th and U abundances of 1550 ± 80 ppb Th and 410 ± 20 ppb U, with $\text{Th}\text{U}\text{= 3.8 ± .2}$. With the exception of ferroan alabandite which contains 25 ± 1 ppb U, no other Th or U enriched phases were located in the E-6 chondrites, and nearly all of the total rock Th and U can be accounted for by oldhamite. In Khairpur (E6), excess fossil fission tracks were observed in enstatite grains in contact with oldhamite which indicates the presence of ²⁴⁴Pu in oldhamite. Oldhamite from St. Mark's (E5) and Abee (E4) also shows actinide enrichments but at levels about half the E-6 results. Niningerite in Abee contains 45 ± 5 ppb U and due to its high reported modal abundance is an important U reservoir in Abee. The U content of oldhamite from the aubrite Peña Blanca Spring is 1920 ± 100 ppb. All $\text{Th}\text{U}$ values measured in this study cluster tightly around a value of 4 which indicates a lack of ThU fractionation in both oldhamite and in the enstatite meteorites, themselves. This lack of fractionation, along with the presence of ²⁴⁴Pu in oldhamite and reported rare earth enrichments also in oldhamite, suggests that the enstatite chondrites may be well-suited for PuU chronology and for providing the initial PuU value in the early solar system.