Temperatures of aqueous alteration and evidence for methane generation on the parent bodies of the CM chondrites |
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| Authors: | Weifu Guo John M Eiler |
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| Institution: | Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA |
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| Abstract: | Aqueous alteration of primitive meteorites was among the earliest geological processes during the evolution of our solar system. ‘Clumped-isotope’ thermometry of carbonates in the CM chondrites, Cold Bokkeveld, Murray, and Murchison, demonstrates that they underwent aqueous alteration at 20-71 °C from a fluid with δ18OVSMOW of 2.0‰ to 8.1‰ and δ17OVSMOW of −0.1‰ to 3.0‰. The δ13CVPDB values of these carbonates exhibit a negative correlation with the δ18OVSMOW of their formation waters, consistent with formation and escape of 13C-depleted CH4 during aqueous alteration. Methane generation under these conditions implies that the alteration fluid was characterized by an Eh ? −0.67 and pH ? 12.5 (or lower at the highest alteration temperatures). Our findings suggest that methane generation may have been a widespread consequence of planetesimal and planetary aqueous alteration, perhaps explaining the occurrence of methane on Titan, Triton, Pluto, and other Kuiper-belt objects. |
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