Shock features in carbonates from CM carbonaceous chondrites

Abstract

We have investigated different carbonate minerals (calcite, aragonite, and ankerite) from two meteorites with different shock metamorphic stages (Boriskino, CM2 − ∼ S3-S4 and Murchison CM2.5–2.2 − S1-S2) using various electron microscope techniques. Our detailed transmission electron microscopy study shows that carbonates are valuable recorders of the shock metamorphic environment and help interpret shock metamorphic conditions on the chondrite parent asteroids. We show the occurrence of fine-scale complex microstructures (dislocations, modulations, mosaic blocks, and microfractures) in all carbonates analyzed, indicating that they were modified during deformation processes at a variable degree. The presence of shock features in all generations of carbonates (Type 0, 1, and 2) indicates that shock deformation event/(s) occurred after the precipitation of all types of carbonates. In Boriskino, the most shocked meteorite analyzed, carbonates record very distinct microstructures compared to Murchison, an unshocked or very weakly shocked sample. We divided these microstructures into two different categories as a function of the degrees of deformation, and several features could be used as diagnostic tools for low and high shock pressures in meteorites. Deformation features are pervasive in calcites, aragonites (Type 1 and 2 Ca carbonates), and ankerites from Boriskino. However, the abundance and distribution of these deformation features are minimal in all calcite crystals analyzed from Murchison and one Type 0 Ca carbonate from Boriskino. This suggests the presence of a correlation between these microstructural features and the degree of shock metamorphic stages of the samples analyzed. The low amount of deformation features in the Type 0 calcite from Boriskino could indicate that the least altered lithologies from Boriskino were not subject to high-intensity impacts.