SREL Reprint #2300

Oxygen isotopic record of silicate alteration in the Shergotty-Nakhla-Chassigny meteorite Lafayette

Christopher S. Romanek1, Eugene C. Perry2, Allan H. Treiman3, Richard A. Socki4, John H. Jones5,
and Everett K. Gibson, Jr.5

1Department of Geology and Savannah River Ecology Lab, University of Georgia,
Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29802, USA
2Department of Geology, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, Illinois 60115, USA
3Lunar and Planetary Institute, 3600 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77058, USA
4Lockheed Martin, Mail Code C23, 2400 NASA Road 1, Houston, Texas 77058, USA
5SN4, Planetary Sciences, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas 77058, USA

Abstract: Samples from a suite of Shergotty-Nakhla-Chassigny (SNC) meteorites were analyzed for their O isotopic ratios by a modified version of the laser fluorination technique. Measured isotopic ratios (17O/16O and 18O/16O) from bulk samples of the Shergottites, EETA79001, Shergotty and Zagami; the Nakhlite Lafayette; and Chassigny are similar to those reported in the literature, as are those from olivine and pyroxene mineral separates from Lafayette.

Iddingsite, a preterrestrial alteration product of Lafayette, was measured for the first time as a separate phase. Oxygen isotopic ratios increase with the percentage of iddingsite in a sample to a maximum δ18O of 14.4‰ for a ~90% separate. Based on these measurements, end-member iddingsite has a δ18O of 15.6‰, which places it among other 18O-enriched secondary phases (carbonate and silica) observed in SNC meteorites. The relatively large difference in δ18O between iddingsite and the olivine and pyroxene it replaces (~11‰) is typical of low-temperature alteration products.

A range of crustal fluid δ18O values can be interpreted from the δ18O for end-member iddingsite, assuming isotopic equilibrium was achieved during low-temperature hydrous alteration (<100ºC; Treiman et al., 1993). The calculated range of values, -15 to 5‰, depends on many factors including: (1) the modal mineralogy of iddingsite, (2) potential isotopic exchange among other O-bearing phases such as host silicate and carbonate, and (3) exchange with evolved or exotic O reservoirs on Mars. Despite the lack of constraints, the calculated range is consistent with isotopic exchange, and possibly equilibria, among components of the CO2-carbonate-iddingsite-H2O system at low temperature.

The SNC meteorite samples in this study have ∆17O values that are indistinguishable from bulk Mars (0.30‰), except for a single, small sample of iddingsite that has an anomalous ∆17O of ~1.4‰. While analytical difficulties make isotopic measurements for this sample problematic, the ∆17O is similar in direction to ∆17O reported for waters extracted from bulk samples of Lafayette (Karlsson et al., 1992). If the ∆17O for iddingsite is confirmed, it can be concluded that evolved or exotic fluids on Mars have contributed volatiles to the O reservoir from which iddingsite formed 130 to 700 Ma ago.

SREL Reprint #2300

Romanek, C.S., E.C. Perry, A.H. Treiman, R.A. Socki, J.H. Jones, and E.K. Gibson, Jr. 1998. Oxygen isotopic record of silicate alteration in the Shergotty-Nakhla-Chassigny meteorite Lafayette. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 33:775-784.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).