D-depleted organic matter and graphite in the Abee enstatite chondrite

Abstract

A combination of NanoSIMS and High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) imaging along with Raman spectroscopy was used to characterize the carbonaceous phases in HF/HCl residue of the Abee enstatite chondrite. This acid residue hosts a very D-depleted component (δD=−480‰). This residue is a mixture of graphite and highly disordered insoluble organic matter. The latter exhibits a significant mesoporosity (i.e., 200–500nm scale), and also shows concentric and elongated stacks of polyaromatic layers. Insoluble organic matter is shown to be the most D-depleted component in Abee. We also determined, by using NanoSIMS, carbon isotopic composition of graphite and insoluble organic matter in the acid residue (δ13C=−11.3±2.9‰ and −28.4±2.2‰, respectively).We identified graphite in metal-rich clasts and in the matrix of Abee, associated with enstatite, sulfide and metal, but we could not localize highly disordered organic matter in our section. Regardless, given the vulnerability of organic matter to thermal degradation, we suggest that it was added to Abee parent body during the latest stage of its formation, after any thermal metamorphism or partial melting of Abee parent body.A genetic link between organic matter and graphite in Abee is excluded based on our HRTEM and carbon isotopic data. The differences in carbon isotopic compositions between these phases are consistent with previous data obtained by stepwise heating experiments and indicate that graphite is not derived from a pure thermal solid-state graphitization of the organic matter. Rather, we suggest that graphite precipitated from a melt rich in C during the partial melting of the Abee parent body. Insoluble organic matter in Abee has the lowest D/H ratio among the extraterrestrial organics. Organics in most carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites are believed to have been subjected to irradiations in low temperature environments, resulting in a dramatic isotopic fractionation through exchange and reaction with gaseous molecular hydrogen during their synthesis. In contrast, Abee organic matter was likely synthesized in a neutral (i.e., not ionized) environment where thermodynamic processes at equilibrium most likely controlled its isotopic composition.This organic matter could have been accreted in a minor component of Abee like the dark inclusions without (or prior to) exposure to the radiation responsible for D enrichments in other meteoritic organics. During the last brecciation events that have affected the Abee parent body, these inclusions could have been mixed with other Abee components. The properties of this organic matter can be interpreted as an indication that thermodynamic processes acted in the synthesis of organic matter in the protosolar disk, in addition to ion/molecule and gas/grains reaction witnessed by the D-rich insoluble organic matter contained in carbonaceous chondrites.