Antarctic primitive achondrites Yamato-74025, -75300, and -75305:Their mineralogy, thermal history and the relevance to winonaite

Three Antarctic primitive achondrites, Yamato (Y)-74025,-75300,and -75305 were mineralogically and chemically studied. They consist of anhedral to subhedral silicate and opaque minerals. The major constituent minerals are typical of equilibrated ordinary chondrites. However, they do not have any relic of chondrule, and the presence of various accessory minerals, such as K-feldspar, schreibersite, daubreelite, phosphate, Nb-bearing rutile, and magnesiochromite, characterizes these meteorites. Y-75305 has a composite grain containing Cu, Mn, and S, probably consisting of alabandite, an unknown Mn-bearing Cu-sulfide, and digenite. Y-74025 has a REE pattern typical of chondrite. Siderophile elements in Y-74025 are depleted relative to Cl chondrites, which is consistent with poor abundance of Fe-Ni metal in Y-74025. Holocrystalline texture, homogeneous mineral compositions, and high equilibration temperatures for pyroxenes, suggest that these primitive achondrites experienced high-temperature metamorphism. Mineralogical and chemical characteristics suggest that they resemble Winona-like meteorites (winonaites). The compositions of pyroxene and olivine, and accessory minerals suggest that winonaites formed under an intermediate redox condition between E-chondrites and Acapulco-like primitive achondrites. The abundance of troilite and Fe-Ni metal varies widely. The metal-sulfide fractions of winonaites probably melted and fractionated, although silicate fractions of winonaites do not have any evidence for melting

Influx of nitrogen-rich material from the outer Solar System indicated by iron nitride in Ryugu samples

Large amounts of nitrogen compounds, such as ammonium salts, may be stored in icy bodies and comets, but the transport of these nitrogen-bearing solids into the near-Earth region is not well understood. Here, we report the discovery of iron nitride on magnetite grains from the surface of the near-Earth C-type carbonaceous asteroid Ryugu, suggesting inorganic nitrogen fixation. Micrometeoroid impacts and solar wind irradiation may have caused the selective loss of volatile species from major iron-bearing minerals to form the metallic iron. Iron nitride is a product of nitridation of the iron metal by impacts of micrometeoroids that have higher nitrogen contents than the CI chondrites. The impactors are probably primitive materials with origins in the nitrogen-rich reservoirs in the outer Solar System. Our observation implies that the amount of nitrogen available for planetary formation and prebiotic reactions in the inner Solar System is greater than previously recognized

Four‐dimensional‐STEM analysis of the phyllosilicate‐rich matrix of Ryugu samples

Ryugu asteroid grains brought back to the Earth by the Hayabusa2 space mission are pristine samples containing hydrated minerals and organic compounds. Here, we investigate the mineralogy of their phyllosilicate-rich matrix with four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM). We have identified and mapped the mineral phases at the nanometer scale (serpentine, smectite, pyrrhotite), observed the presence of Ni-bearing pyrrhotite, and identified the serpentine polymorph as lizardite, in agreement with the reported aqueous alteration history of Ryugu. Furthermore, we have mapped the d-spacings of smectite and observed a broad distribution of values, ranging from 1 to 2 nm, with an average d-spacing of 1.24 nm, indicating significant heterogeneity within the sample. Such d-spacing variability could be the result of either the presence of organic matter trapped in the interlayers or the influence of various geochemical conditions at the submicrometer scale, suggestive of a range of organic compounds and/or changes in smectite crystal chemistry

A dehydrated space-weathered skin cloaking the hydrated interior of Ryugu

Without a protective atmosphere, space-exposed surfaces of airless Solar System bodies gradually experience an alteration in composition, structure and optical properties through a collective process called space weathering. The return of samples from near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu by Hayabusa2 provides the first opportunity for laboratory study of space-weathering signatures on the most abundant type of inner solar system body: a C-type asteroid, composed of materials largely unchanged since the formation of the Solar System. Weathered Ryugu grains show areas of surface amorphization and partial melting of phyllosilicates, in which reduction from Fe3+ to Fe2+ and dehydration developed. Space weathering probably contributed to dehydration by dehydroxylation of Ryugu surface phyllosilicates that had already lost interlayer water molecules and to weakening of the 2.7 µm hydroxyl (–OH) band in reflectance spectra. For C-type asteroids in general, this indicates that a weak 2.7 µm band can signify space-weathering-induced surface dehydration, rather than bulk volatile loss

Three-dimensional microstructure of samples recovered from asteroid 25143 Itokawa: Comparison with LL5 and LL6 chondrite particles

In this study, the three-dimensional (3-D) microstructure of 48 Itokawa regolith particles was examined by synchrotron microtomography at SPring-8 during the preliminary examination of Hayabusa samples. Moreover, the 3-D microstructure of particles collected from two LL6 chondrites (Ensisheim and Kilabo meteorites) and an LL5 chondrite (Tuxtuac meteorite) was investigated by the same method for comparison. The modal abundances of minerals, especially olivine, bulk density, porosity, and grain size are similar in all samples, including voids and cracks. These results show that the Itokawa particles, which are surface materials from the S-type asteroid Itokawa, are consistent with the LL chondrite materials in terms of not only elemental and isotopic composition of the minerals but also 3-D microstructure. However, we could not determine whether the Itokawa particles are purely LL5, LL6, or a mixture of the two. No difference between the particles collected from Rooms A and B of the sample chamber, corresponding to the sampling sequence of the spacecraft's second and first touchdowns, respectively, was detected because of the statistically small amount of particles from Room B

Neutron Activation Analysis of a Particle Returned from Asteroid Itokawa

A single grain (~3 micrograms) returned by the Hayabusa spacecraft was analyzed by neutron activation analysis. This grain is mainly composed of olivine with minor amounts of plagioclase, troilite, and metal. Our results establish that the Itokawa sampl