Hydrogen Isotopes of Glassy and Phyllosilicate Spherules in Al Rais (CR) and Orgueil (CI) Chondrites

Abstract

Abstract The hydroxyl in phyllosilicate minerals is the most common occurrence of water in primitive meteorites. Direct hydrogen isotopic analysis of this water component using an ion microprobe has been made in some glassy or phyllosilicate spherules from the Al Rais (CR) and Orgueil (CI) chondrites. The spherules from Al Rais show large deuterium excesses (δD = +200 – +800‰) relative to terrestrial standards, whereas deuterium‐enrichments in the spherules from Orgueil are much smaller (δD = +40 – +130‰). The phyllosilicate spherules are products of aqueous alteration of glassy precursors. In Al Rais the phyllosilicate spherules have relatively higher δD values than the glassy ones, indicating that water introduced during aqueous alteration was deuterium‐enriched. The deuterium‐enrichments in the phyllosilicate spherules from Orgueil could result from isotopic exchange under thermodynamic conditions within the solar nebula. The much larger δD excesses of the Al Rais spherules, however, cannot be attributed to the similar process; instead, an interstellar origin needs to be invoked.