Phosphorus-bearing sulfides and their associations in CM chondrites

Abstract

Phosphorus-bearing Fe and Ni sulfides represent a new type of phosphorus compounds and are characteristic accessory phases of CM chondrites. The proportions of atoms in the sulfides can be approximated by the equation (Fe + Ni)/P = 0.965 ± 0.003 (1σ) · S/P + 1.255 ± 0.036 (1σ). Sulfides with high S/P ratios are systematically richer in Fe and poorer in Ni compared with low-S/P sulfides. Their characteristic minor elements are Cr, Ca, Co, K, and Na. The contents of Cr and Ca may reach several weight percent, but their incorporation does not affect the relation between (Fe + Ni)/P and S/P. This is also true of light elements (O and H), which probably occur in the P-bearing sulfides in certain amounts. The sulfides are usually associated with schreibersite, barringerite, eskolaite, and daubreelite. A negative correlation was observed between the Fe/Ni ratios of coexisting P-bearing sulfides and phosphides. Metallic iron was never found in association with the sulfides. It can be suggested that P-bearing sulfide is a primary phase rather than a secondary alteration product formed under the conditions of the CM chondrite parent body. This phase had to be stable in the solar nebula after the formation of Ca-Al inclusions and before the condensation of Fe-Ni metal. At high temperatures, P-bearing sulfide with low Fe/Ni and S/P ratios coexists with schreibersite in the solar gas. During condensation schreibersite is replaced by barringerite, which is accompanied by a decrease in the Fe/Ni ratio of phosphides and an increase in the S/P and Fe/Ni ratios of P-bearing sulfides. Trace element data suggest that the P-bearing sulfides could be formed in the solar nebula by the sulfidization of a precursor phase of extrasolar origin.