Discovery of primitive CO<sub>2</sub>-bearing fluid in an aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrite.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 33883146.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.abg9707 and PMC identifier 8059924.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
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Abstract
Water is abundant as solid ice in the solar system and plays important roles in its evolution. Water is preserved in carbonaceous chondrites as hydroxyl and/or H<sub>2</sub>O molecules in hydrous minerals, but has not been found as liquid. To uncover such liquid, we performed synchrotron-based x-ray computed nanotomography and transmission electron microscopy with a cryo-stage of the aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrite Sutter's Mill. We discovered CO<sub>2</sub>-bearing fluid (CO<sub>2</sub>/H<sub>2</sub>O > ~0.15) in a nanosized inclusion incorporated into a calcite crystal, appearing as CO<sub>2</sub> ice and/or CO<sub>2</sub> hydrate at 173 K. This is direct evidence of dynamic evolution of the solar system, requiring the Sutter's Mill's parent body to have formed outside the CO<sub>2</sub> snow line and later transportation to the inner solar system because of Jupiter's orbital instability.