arXiv subjects

Thorsten Kleine

Publications and source records attributed to Thorsten Kleine.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Earth's accretion inferred from iron isotopic anomalies of supernova nuclear statistical equilibrium origin

Nucleosynthetic Fe isotopic anomalies in meteorites may be used to reconstruct the early dynamical evolution of the solar system and to identify the origin and nature of the material that built planets. Using high-precision iron isotopic data of 23 iron meteorites from nine major chemical groups we show that all iron meteorites show the same fundamental dichotomy between non-carbonaceous (NC) and a carbonaceous (CC) meteorites previously observed for other elements. The Fe isotopic anomalies are predominantly produced by variation in 54Fe, where all CC iron meteorites are characterized by an excess in 54Fe relative to NC iron meteorites. This excess in 54Fe is accompanied by an excess in 58Ni observed in the same CC meteorite groups. Together, these overabundances of 54Fe and 58Ni are produced by nuclear statistical equilibrium either in type Ia supernovae or in the Si/S shell of core-collapse supernovae. The new Fe isotopic data reveal that Earth's mantle plots on or close to correlations defined by Fe, Mo, and Ru isotopic anomalies in iron meteorites, indicating that throughout Earth's accretion, the isotopic composition of its building blocks did not drastically change. While Earth's mantle has a similar Fe isotopic composition to CI chondrites, the latter are clearly distinct from Earth's mantle for other elements (e.g., Cr and Ni) whose delivery to Earth coincided with Fe. The fact that CI chondrites exhibit large Cr and Ni isotopic anomalies relative to Earth's mantle, therefore, demonstrates that CI chondrites are unlikely to have contributed significant Fe to Earth.

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arXiv2021

Nucleosynthetic Pt isotope anomalies and the Hf-W chronology of core formation in inner and outer solar system planetesimals

The 182Hf-182W chronology of iron meteorites provides crucial information on the timescales of accretion and differentiation of some of the oldest planetesimals of the Solar System. Determining accurate Hf-W model ages of iron meteorites requires correction for cosmic ray expo-sure (CRE) induced modifications of W isotope compositions, which can be achieved using in-situ neutron dosimeters such as Pt isotopes. Until now it has been assumed that all Pt isotope variations in meteorites reflect CRE, but here we show that some ungrouped iron meteorites display small nucleosynthetic Pt isotope anomalies. These provide the most appropriate starting composition for the correction of CRE-induced W isotope variations in iron meteorites from all major chemical groups, which leads to a ~1 Ma upward revision of previously reported Hf-W model ages. The revised ages indicate that core formation in non-carbonaceous (NC) iron meteorite parent bodies occurred at ~1-2 Ma after CAI formation, whereas most carbonaceous (CC) iron meteorite parent bodies underwent core formation ~2 Ma later. We show that the younger CC cores have lower Fe/Ni ratios than the earlier-formed NC cores, indicating that core formation under more oxidizing conditions occurred over a more protracted timescale. Thermal modeling of planetesimals heated by 26Al-decay reveals that this protracted core formation timescale is consistent with a higher fraction of water ice in CC compared to NC planetesimals, implying that in spite of distinct core formation timescales, NC and CC iron meteorite parent bodies accreted about contemporaneously within ~1 Ma after CAI formation, but at different radial locations in the disk.

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arXiv2021

Collisional mixing between inner and outer solar system planetesimals inferred from the Nedagolla iron meteorite

The ungrouped iron meteorite Nedagolla is the first meteorite with bulk Mo, Ru, and Ni isotopic compositions that are intermediate between those of the non-carbonaceous (NC) and carbonaceous (CC) meteorite reservoirs. The Hf-W chronology of Nedagolla indicates that this mixed NC-CC isotopic composition was established relatively late, more than 7 million years after Solar System formation. The mixed NC-CC isotopic composition is consistent with the chemical composition of Nedagolla, which combines signatures of metal segregation under more oxidizing conditions (relative depletions in Mo and W), characteristic for CC bodies, and more reducing conditions (high Si and Cr contents), characteristic for some NC bodies, in a single sample. These data combined suggest that Nedagolla formed as the result of collisional mixing of NC and CC core material, which partially re-equilibrated with silicate mantle material that predominantly derives from the NC body. These mixing processes might have occurred during a hit-and-run collision between two differentiated bodies, which also provides a possible pathway for Nedagolla's extreme volatile element depletion. As such, Nedagolla provides the first isotopic evidence for early collisional mixing of NC and CC bodies that is expected as a result of Jupiter's growth.

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arXiv2020

Are the Moon's nearside-farside asymmetries the result of a giant impact?

The Moon exhibits striking geological asymmetries in elevation, crustal thickness, and composition between its nearside and farside. Although several scenarios have been proposed to explain these asymmetries, their origin remains debated. Recent remote sensing observations suggest that (1) the crust on the farside highlands consists of two layers: a primary anorthositic layer with thickness of ~30-50 km and on top a more mafic-rich layer ~10 km thick; and (2) the nearside exhibits a large area of low-Ca pyroxene that has been interpreted to have an impact origin. These observations support the idea that the lunar nearside-farside asymmetries may be the result of a giant impact. Here, using quantitative numerical modeling, we test the hypothesis that a giant impact on the early Moon can explain the striking differences in elevation, crustal thickness, and composition between the nearside and farside of the Moon. We find that a large impactor, impacting the current nearside with a low velocity, can form a mega-basin and reproduce the characteristics of the crustal asymmetry and structures comparable to those observed on the current Moon, including the nearside lowlands and the farside's mafic-rich layer on top of a primordial anorthositic crust. Our model shows that the excavated deep-seated KREEP (potassium, rare-earth elements, and phosphorus) material, deposited close to the basin rim, slumps back into the basin and covers the entire basin floor; subsequent large impacts can transport the shallow KREEP material to the surface, resulting in its observed distribution. In addition, our model suggests that prior to the asymmetry-forming impact, the Moon may have had an 182W anomaly compared to the immediate post-giant impact Earth's mantle, as predicted if the Moon was created through a giant collision with the proto-Earth.

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arXiv2020

Early evolution of the solar accretion disk inferred from Cr-Ti-O isotopes in individual chondrules

Isotopic anomalies in chondrules hold important clues about the dynamics of mixing and transport processes in the solar accretion disk. These anomalies have been interpreted to indicate either disk-wide transport of chondrules or local heterogeneities of chondrule precursors. However, all previous studies relied on isotopic data for a single element (either Cr, Ti, or O), which does not allow distinguishing between source and precursor signatures as the cause of the chondrules isotope anomalies. Here we obtained the first combined O, Ti, and Cr isotope data for individual chondrules from enstatite, ordinary, and carbonaceous chondrites. We find that chondrules from non-carbonaceous (NC) chondrites have relatively homogeneous Δ17O, ε50Ti, and ε54Cr, which are similar to the compositions of their host chondrites. By contrast, chondrules from carbonaceous chondrites (CC) have more variable compositions. Although the compositions of the analyzed CC and NC chondrules may overlap for either ε50Ti, ε54Cr, or Δ17O, in multi-isotope space none of the CC chondrules plot in the compositional field of NC chondrites, and no NC chondrule plots within the field of CC chondrites. As such, our data reveal a fundamental isotopic difference between NC and CC chondrules, which is inconsistent with a disk-wide transport of chondrules across and between the NC and CC reservoirs. Instead, the isotopic variations among CC chondrules reflect local precursor heterogeneities, which most likely result from mixing between NC-like dust and a chemically diverse dust component that was isotopically similar to CAIs and AOAs.The same mixing processes, but on a larger, disk-wide scale, were likely responsible for establishing the distinct isotopic compositions of the NC and CC reservoirs, which represent in inner and outer disk, respectively.

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arXiv2020

Isotopic evolution of the inner Solar System inferred from molybdenum isotopes in meteorites

The fundamentally different isotopic compositions of non-carbonaceous (NC) and carbonaceous (CC) meteorites reveal the presence of two distinct reservoirs in the solar protoplanetary disk that were likely separated by Jupiter. However, the extent of material exchange between these reservoirs, and how this affected the composition of the inner disk are not known. Here we show that NC meteorites display broadly correlated isotopic variations for Mo, Ti, Cr, and Ni, indicating the addition of isotopically distinct material to the inner disk. The added material resembles bulk CC meteorites and Ca-Al-rich inclusions in terms of its enrichment in neutron-rich isotopes, but unlike the latter materials is also enriched in s-process nuclides. The comparison of the isotopic composition of NC meteorites with the accretion ages of their parent bodies reveals that the isotopic variations within the inner disk do not reflect a continuous compositional change through the addition of CC dust, indicating an efficient separation of the NC and CC reservoirs and limited exchange of material between the inner and outer disk. Instead, the isotopic variations among NC meteorites more likely record a rapidly changing composition of the disk during infall from the Sun's parental molecular cloud, where each planetesimal locks the instant composition of the disk when it forms. A corollary of this model is that late-formed planetesimals in the inner disk predominantly accreted from secondary dust that was produced by collisions among pre-existing NC planetesimals.

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arXiv2020

Heterogeneous accretion of Earth inferred from Mo-Ru isotope systematics

The Mo and Ru isotopic compositions of meteorites and the bulk silicate Earth (BSE) hold important clues about the provenance of Earth's building material. Prior studies have argued that non-carbonaceous (NC) and carbonaceous (CC) meteorite groups together define a Mo-Ru 'cosmic' correlation, and that the BSE plots on the extension of this correlation. These observations were taken as evidence that the final 10-15% of Earth's accreted material derived from a homogeneous inner disk reservoir with an enstatite chondrite-like isotopic composition. Here, using new Mo and Ru isotopic data for previously uninvestigated meteorite groups, we show that the Mo-Ru correlation only exists for NC meteorites, and that both the BSE and CC meteorites fall off this Mo-Ru correlation. These observations indicate that the final stages of Earth's accretion were heterogeneous and consisted of a mixture of NC and CC materials. The Mo-Ru isotope systematics are best accounted for by either an NC heritage of the late veneer combined with a CC heritage of the Moon-forming giant impactor, or by mixed NC-CC compositions for both components. The involvement of CC bodies in the late-stage accretionary assemblage of Earth is consistent with chemical models for core-mantle differentiation, which argue for the addition of more oxidized and volatile-rich material toward the end of Earth's formation. As such, this study resolves the inconsistencies between homogeneous accretion models based on prior interpretations of the Mo-Ru systematics of meteorites and the chemical evidence for heterogeneous accretion of Earth.

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arXiv2019

Elemental and isotopic variability in solar system materials by mixing and processing of primordial disk reservoirs

Isotope anomalies among planetary bodies provide key constraints on planetary genetics and the Solar System's dynamical evolution. However, to unlock the full potential of these anomalies for constraining the processing, mixing, and transport of material in the disk it is essential to identify the main components responsible for producing planetary-scale isotope variations, and to investigate how they relate to the isotopic heterogeneity inherited from the Solar System's parental molecular cloud. To address these issues we measured the Ti and Sr isotopic compositions of Ca,Al-rich inclusions (CAIs) from the Allende CV3 chondrite, as well as acid leachates and an insoluble residue from the Murchison CM2 chondrite, and combine these results with literature data for presolar grains, hibonites, chondrules, and bulk meteorites. Our analysis reveals that the mineral-scale nebular isotopic heterogeneity as sampled by leachates and presolar grains is largely decoupled from the planetary-scale isotope anomalies. Combining isotope anomaly data for a large number of elements reveals that the difference between non-carbonaceous (NC) and carbonaceous (CC) meteorites is the product of mixing between NC material and a nebular reservoir (termed IC) whose isotopic composition is similar to that of CAIs, but whose chemical composition is similar to bulk chondrites. In our preferred model, the distinct isotopic compositions of these two nebular reservoirs reflect an inherited heterogeneity of the solar system's parental molecular cloud core, which therefore has never been fully homogenized during collapse. Planetary-scale isotopic anomalies are thus caused by variable mixing of isotopically distinct primordial disk reservoirs, the selective processing of these reservoirs in different nebular environments, and the heterogeneous distribution of the thereby forming nebular products.

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arXiv2017

Mixing and transport of dust in the early solar nebula as inferred from titanium isotope variations among chondrules

Chondrules formed by the melting of dust aggregates in the solar protoplanetary disk and as such provide unique insights into how solid material was transported and mixed within the disk. Here we show that chondrules from enstatite and ordinary chondrites show only small 50Ti variations and scatter closely around the 50Ti composition of their host chondrites. By contrast, chondrules from carbonaceous chondrites have highly variable 50Ti compositions, which, relative to the terrestrial standard, range from the small 50Ti deficits measured for enstatite and ordinary chondrite chondrules to the large 50Ti excesses known from Ca-Al-rich inclusions (CAIs). These 50Ti variations can be attributed to the addition of isotopically heterogeneous CAI-like material to enstatite and ordinary chondrite-like chondrule precursors. The new Ti isotopic data demonstrate that isotopic variations among carbonaceous chondrite chondrules do not require formation over a wide range of orbital distances, but can instead be fully accounted for by the incorporation of isotopically anomalous nuggets into chondrule precursors. As such, these data obviate the need for disk-wide transport of chondrules prior to chondrite parent body accretion and are consistent with formation of chondrules from a given chondrite group in localized regions of the disk. Lastly, the ubiquitous presence of 50Ti-enriched material in carbonaceous chondrites, and the lack of this material in the non-carbonaceous chondrites support the idea that these two meteorite groups derive from areas of the disk that remained isolated from each other through the formation of Jupiter.

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arXiv2012

Thermal history modeling of the H chondrite parent body

The cooling histories of individual meteorites can be empirically reconstructed by using ages from different radioisotopic chronometers with distinct closure temperatures. For a group of meteorites derived from a single parent body such data permit the reconstruction of the cooling history and properties of that body. Particularly suited are H chondrites because precise radiometric ages over a wide range of closure temperatures are available. A thermal evolution model for the H chondrite parent body is constructed by using all H chondrites for which at least three different radiometric ages are available. Several key parameters determining the thermal evolution of the H chondrite parent body and the unknown burial depths of the H chondrites are varied until an optimal fit is obtained. The fit is performed by an 'evolution algorithm'. Empirical data for eight samples are used for which radiometric ages are available for at least three different closure temperatures. A set of parameters for the H chondrite parent body is found that yields excellent agreement (within error bounds) between the thermal evolution model and empirical data of six of the examined eight chondrites. The new thermal model constrains the radius and formation time of the H chondrite parent body (possibly (6) Hebe), the initial burial depths of the individual H chondrites, the average surface temperature of the body, the average initial porosity of the material the body accreted from, and the initial 60Fe content of the H chondrite parent body.

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arXiv2011

Thermal evolution and sintering of chondritic planetesimals

The major aim of this study is to assess the effects of sintering of initially porous material on the thermal evolution of planetesimals, and to constrain the values of basic parameters that determined the structure and evolution of the H chondrite parent body. A new code is presented for modeling the thermal evolution of ordinary chondrite parent bodies that initially are highly porous and undergo sintering by hot pressing as they are heated by decay of radioactive nuclei. The pressure and temperature stratification in the interior of the bodies is calculated by solving the equations of hydrostatic equilibrium and energy transport. The decrease of porosity of the granular material by hot pressing due to self-gravity is followed by solving a set of equations for the sintering of powder materials. For the heat conductivity of granular material we combine recently measured data for highly porous powder materials, relevant for the surface layers of planetesimals, with data for heat conductivity of chondrite material, relevant for the strongly sintered material in deeper layers. To demonstrate the capability of our new model, the thermal evolution of the H chondrite parent body was reconstructed. The model starts with a porous body that is later compacted first by 'cold pressing' at low temperatures and then by 'hot pressing' for temperatures above \approx 700 K, i.e., the threshold temperature for sintering of silicates. The thermal model was fitted to the well constrained cooling histories of the two H chondrites Kernouve (H6) and Richardton (H5).

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