Oxygen isotope exchange between refractory inclusion in Allende and solar nebula gas

Science. 1998 Dec 4;282(5395):1874-7.

Abstract

A calcium-aluminum-rich inclusion (CAI) from the Allende meteorite was analyzed and found to contain melilite crystals with extreme oxygen-isotope composition (approximately 5 percent oxygen-16 enrichment relative to terrestrial oxygen-16). Some of the melilite is also anomalously enriched in oxygen-16 compared with oxygen isotopes measured in other CAIs. The oxygen isotopic variation measured among the minerals (melilite, spinel, and fassaite) indicates that crystallization of the CAI started from oxygen-16-rich materials that were probably liquid droplets in the solar nebula, and oxygen isotope exchange with the surrounding oxygen-16-poor nebular gas progressed through the crystallization of the CAI. Additional oxygen isotope exchange also occurred during subsequent reheating events in the solar nebula.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Crystallization
  • Meteoroids*
  • Oxygen / analysis*
  • Oxygen Isotopes / analysis*
  • Solar System*

Substances

  • Oxygen Isotopes
  • Oxygen