Nucleosynthetic Nd isotope anomalies in primitive enstatite chondrites

Abstract

We carried out stepwise dissolutions of four primitive enstatite chondrites (EC) belonging to the EH subgroup. Large Nd isotope anomalies are found in the most refractory phases, dissolved using strong acids. Residues are characterized by excesses in 142Nd and deficits in 145Nd, 148Nd and 150Nd isotopes. The Nd anomalies measured in the ALHA77295 residue are even greater than those measured in the Murchison carbonaceous chondrite (CC) using a similar analytical technique (Qin et al., 2011). Once corrected for a common Sm/Nd evolution, the 142Nd excess in the ALHA77295 residue is equal to 700ppm relative to the terrestrial standard value. The Nd isotope patterns measured in EC and CC residues can be adjusted to coincide by adding a small amount of an s-process-rich carrier phase such as SiC and 0.075% is required to fit the ALHA7795 residue. Small isotope differences still persist between these residues even if they can be considered similar within error. In enstatite chondrites, residues have a deficit in 150Nd similar to or smaller than that measured in 148Nd, whereas in SiC extracted from carbonaceous chondrites or in whole rock, the deficit in 150Nd is always greater than that in 148Nd. Moreover in a binary 142Nd–148Nd diagram, the best-fit lines obtained for leachates and residues from carbonaceous chondrites and enstatite chondrites have slightly different slopes. For the same 148Nd/144Nd ratio, the anomalous component in an enstatite chondrite has a higher 142Nd/144Nd ratio compared to carbonaceous chondrites, a feature already observed at the whole rock scale. Our results suggest that different chondrite groups sample different reservoirs of presolar grains formed in different environments. Assuming that the carrier of this anomalous component measured in residues of enstatite chondrites are SiC, our results may suggest that different meteorite parent bodies sample reservoirs of presolar SiC formed in different stellar environments. This could explain why ALHA77295, the sample which is the most enriched in presolar grains, has a bulk 142Nd isotope composition similar to the terrestrial value. Further investigation of enstatite chondrites is needed to test whether the isotope composition of the most refractory phases is similar to that measured in carbonaceous chondrites and in particular the 144Sm that is a p-process isotope only. Finally this study highlights the difficulty of interpreting the 142Nd excess in terrestrial samples relative to chondrites since incomplete mixing of nucleosynthetic material in the solar nebula creates significant 142Nd variation, as shown by ALHA77295.