Lithium- and oxygen-isotope compositions of chondrule constituents in the Allende meteorite

Abstract

We report in situ ion-microprobe analyses of Li- and O-isotope compositions for olivine, low-Ca pyroxene, high-Ca pyroxene, and chondrule mesostasis/plagioclase in nine chondrules from the Allende CV3 chondrite. Based on their mineralogy and O-isotope compositions, we infer that the chondrule mesostasis/plagioclase and ferroan olivine rims were extensively modified or formed during metasomatic alteration and metamorphism on the Allende parent asteroid. We excluded these minerals in order to determine the correlations between Li and both O and the chemical compositions of olivines and low-Ca pyroxenes in the chondrules and their igneous rims. Based on the O-isotope composition of the olivines, nine chondrules were divided into three groups. Average Δ17O of olivines (Fo>65) in group 1 and 2 chondrules are −5.3 ± 0.4 and −6.2 ± 0.4‰, respectively. Group 3 chondrules are characterized by the presence of 16O-rich relict grains and the Δ17O of their olivines range from −23.7 to −6.2‰. In group 1 olivines, as Fa content increases, variation of δ7Li becomes smaller and δ7Li approaches the whole-rock value (2.4‰; Seitz et al., 2012), suggesting nearly complete Li-isotope equilibration. In group 2 and 3 olivines, variation of δ7Li is limited even with a significant range of Fa content. We conclude that Li-isotope compositions of olivine in group 1 chondrules were modified not by an asteroidal process but by an igneous-rim formation process, thus chondrule olivines retained Li-isotope compositions acquired in the protosolar nebula. In olivines of the group 3 chondrule PO-8, we observed a correlation between O and Li isotopes: In relict 16O-rich olivine grains with Δ17O of ∼−25 to −20‰, δ7Li ranges from −23 to −3‰; in olivine grains with Δ17O > −20‰, δ7Li is nearly constant (−8 ± 4‰). Based on the Li-isotope composition of low-Ca pyroxenes, which formed from melt during the crystallization of host chondrules and igneous rims, the existence of a gaseous reservoir with a δ7Li ∼ −11‰ is inferred.