Phyllosilicates with embedded Fe-based nanophases in Ryugu and Orgueil
Hugues Leroux, Corentin Le Guillou, Maya Marinova, Sylvain Laforet, Jean-Christophe Viennet, Bahae-Eddine Mouloud, Adrien Teurtrie, Francisco de la Peña, Damien Jacob, Daniel Hallatt, Mario Pelaez Fernandez, David Troadec, Takaaki Noguchi, Toru Matsumoto, Akira Miyake, Yohei Igami, Mitsutaka Haruta, Hikaru Saito, Satoshi Hata, Yusuke Seto, Masaaki Miyahara, Naotaka Tomioka, Hope A. Ishii, John P. Bradley, Kenta K. Ohtaki, Elena Dobrică, Falko Langenhorst, Dennis Harries, Pierre Beck, Thi H. V. Phan, Rolando Rebois, Neyda M. Abreu, Jennifer Gray, Thomas Zega, Pierre-M. Zanetta, Michelle S. Thompson, Rhonda Stroud, Kate Burgess, Brittany A. Cymes, John C. Bridges, Leon Hicks, Martin R. Lee, Luke Daly, Phil A. Bland, Michael E. Zolensky, David R. Frank, James Martinez, Akira Tsuchiyama, Masahiro Yasutake, Junya Matsuno, Shota Okumura, Itaru Mitsukawa, Kentaro Uesugi, Masayuki Uesugi, Akihisa Takeuchi, Mingqi Sun, Satomi Enju, Aki Takigawa, Tatsuhiro Michikami, Tomoki Nakamura, Megumi Matsumoto, Yusuke Nakauchi, Masanao Abe, Satoru Nakazawa, Tatsuaki Okada, Takanao Saiki, Satoshi Tanaka, Fuyuto Terui, Makoto Yoshikawa, Akiko Miyazaki, Aiko Nakato, Masahiro Nishimura, Tomohiro Usui, Toru Yada, Hisayoshi Yurimoto, Kazuhide Nagashima, Noriyuki Kawasaki, Naoya Sakamotoa, Ryuji Okazaki, Hikaru Yabuta, Hiroshi Naraoka, Kanako Sakamoto, Shogo Tachibana, Sei-Ichiro Watanabe, Yuichi Tsuda
MAPS
Version of Record online: 14 November 2023
“Samples were recently collected from the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu, by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Hayabusa2 mission. They resemble CI chondrites material, thus showing clear evidence of extensive aqueous alteration attested by the widespread presence of a mixture of serpentine and saponite. We present here a scanning transmission electron microscopy study of the Ryugu dominant lithology of the phyllosilicate matrix at the nanometer scale, which we compare with that of the Orgueil CI chondrite. In both objects, the phyllosilicates are of comparable nature and texture, consisting of a mixture of small-sized crystallites of serpentine and saponite. At the micrometer scale or less, the texture is an alternation of fine and coarse domains. The fine-grained regions are dominated by saponite. In Ryugu, they enclose numerous Fe,Ni nanosulfides, whereas in Orgueil, S- and Ni-rich ferrihydrite is abundant. The coarse-grained regions contain more serpentine and no or little Fe,Ni sulfides or ferrihydrite. Scanning transmission x-ray microscopy at the Fe-L3 edge also reveals that iron valency of phyllosilicates is higher and more homogeneous in Orgueil (~70% Fe3+) than in Ryugu (<50% Fe3+). We interpret the observed textures as being mostly a consequence of aqueous alteration, likely resulting from the replacement by phyllosilicates of submicrometric components, initially agglomerated by a primary accretion. The fine-grained domains may result from the replacement of GEMS (GEMS—glass with embedded metal and sulfides) objects or from other types of nanometric assemblages of silicate and Fe-based nanophases. On the other hand, the coarse-grained regions may correspond to the replacement of anhydrous crystalline silicates of the olivine and pyroxene type. The major difference is the presence of Fe,Ni sulfides in Ryugu and of ferrihydrite and higher iron valency of phyllosilicates in Orgueil. This might be due to long-term terrestrial weathering that would have destabilized the nanosulfides. We also explore an alternative scenario involving more oxidizing hydrothermal conditions on the Orgueil parent body.”
