Noble gases in oxidized residue prepared from the Saratov L4 chondrite and Raman spectroscopic study of residues to characterize phase Q

Matsuda, J.-i., Morishita, K., Nara, M. and Amari, S.

Meteoritics & Planetary Science. doi: 10.1111/maps.12587

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“We analyzed noble gases in an oxidized residue prepared from a HF-HCl residue of the Saratov L4 chondrite. The Ar, Kr, and Xe concentrations in the oxidized residue are two orders of magnitude lower than those in the HF-HCl residue, and they are close to concentrations in the bulk. The He and Ne concentrations are similar in the three samples. The Ne isotopic ratios are almost purely cosmogenic, indicating absence of presolar diamonds (the carrier of the HL component). Thus, Saratov contains phase Q without presolar diamond. A study of the Raman spectroscopic parameters for the HF-HCl residue and the oxidized residue shows large changes due to oxidation. The directions of these changes are the same as observed in Allende, except oxidation increased the ID/IG (intensity ratio of the D band to the G band) in Saratov but decreased in Allende. This difference may be attributed to the different crystalline stages of carbon in both meteorites. The shifts in the Raman parameters to a discrete and/or more expanded region suggest that (1) oxidation changes the crystalline condition of graphitic carbon, (2) phase Q is not a dissolved site, and (3) the release of Q-gas is simply related to the rearrangement of the carbon structure during oxidation.”