Compositional heterogeneity of insoluble organic matter extracted from asteroid Ryugu samples
Eric Quirico, Lydie Bonal, Yoko Kebukawa, Kana Amano, Hikaru Yabuta, Van T. H. Phan, Pierre Beck, Laurent Rémusat, Emmanuel Dartois, Cecile Engrand, Zita Martins, Laure Bejach, Alexandre Dazzi, Ariane Deniset-Besseau, Jean Duprat, Jérémie Mathurin, Gilles Montagnac, Jens Barosch, George D. Cody, Bradley De Gregorio, Yuma Enokido, Minako Hashiguchi, Kanami Kamide, David Kilcoyne, Mutsumi Komatsu, Megumi Matsumoto, Smail Mostefaoui, Larry Nittler, Takuji Ohigashi, Taiga Okumura, Scott Sandford, Miho Shigenaka, Rhonda Stroud, Hiroki Suga, Yoshio Takahashi, Yasuo Takeichi, Yusuke Tamenori, Maximilien Verdier-Paoletti, Daisuke Wakabayashi, Shohei Yamashita, Tomoki Nakamura, Hiroshi Naraoka, Takaaki Noguchi, Ryuji Okazaki, Hisayoshi Yurimoto, Kanako Sakamoto, Shogo Tachibana, Sei-Ichiro Watanabe, Yuichi Tsuda, Toru Yada, Masahiro Nishimura, Aiko Nakato, Akiko Miyazaki, Kasumi Yogata, Masanao Abe, Tatsuaki Okada, Tomohitro Usui, Makoto Yoshikawa, Takanao Saiki, Satoshi Tanaka, Fuyuto Terui, Satoru Nakazawa
MAPS
Version of Record online: 13 November 2023
“We report a Fourier transform infrared analysis of functional groups in insoluble organic matter (IOM) extracted from a series of 100–500 μm Ryugu grains collected during the two touchdowns of February 22 and July 11, 2019. IOM extracted from most of the samples is very similar to IOM in primitive CI, CM, and CR chondrites, and shows that the extent of thermal metamorphism in Ryugu regolith was, at best, very limited. One sample displays chemical signatures consistent with a very mild heating, likely due to asteroidal collision impacts. We also report a lower carbonyl abundance in Ryugu IOM samples compared to primitive chondrites, which could reflect the accretion of a less oxygenated precursor by Ryugu. The possible effects of hydrothermal alteration and terrestrial weathering are also discussed. Last, no firm conclusions could be drawn on the origin of the soluble outlier phases, observed along with IOM in this study and in the preliminary analysis of Ryugu samples. However, it is clear that the HF/HCl residues presented in this publication are a mix between IOM and the nitrogen-rich outlier phase.”
