Ru isotope heterogeneity in the solar protoplanetary disk

Nucleosynthetic isotope anomalies in bulk chondrites and differentiated meteorites reflect variable proportions of isotopically diverse presolar components in bulk planetary bodies, but the origin of these heterogeneities is not well understood. Here, the Ru isotope composition of a comprehensive suite of iron meteorites and bulk samples of ordinary, enstatite and carbonaceous chondrites, as well as acid leachates and an insoluble residue of the Allende chondrite are examined using newly developed multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry techniques. Except for IAB iron meteorites and enstatite chondrites, all investigated meteorites show well-resolved Ru isotope anomalies. Of these, within-group Ru isotopic variations observed for samples from a given chemical group of iron meteorites reflect secondary neutron capture induced during prolonged cosmic ray-exposure. After correction of these cosmogenic effects using Pt isotopes as a neutron-dose monitor, the remaining Ru isotope anomalies are nucleosynthetic in nature and are consistent with a deficit in s-process Ru in iron meteorite parent bodies. Similarly, Ru isotope anomalies in bulk ordinary and carbonaceous chondrites also reflect a deficiency in s-process Ru. The sequential dissolution of Allende reveals the presence of an HF-soluble s-process carrier, which is either an unidentified presolar phase or a component that incorporated s-process Ru liberated from SiC grains during nebular or parent body processes. We show that varying proportions of the s-process carrier identified in Allende resulted in the correlated Ru isotope anomalies observed for bulk meteorites, and that all meteorites (except possibly IAB irons and enstatite chondrites) are depleted in this s-process component relative to Ru from the Earth’s mantle. Bulk meteorites exhibit correlated Ru and Mo isotope anomalies, reflecting variable deficits of a common s-process component, but some iron meteorites and carbonaceous chondrites appear to deviate from this correlation. This may reflect unaccounted cosmic effects on Mo isotopes in iron meteorites, sample heterogeneities in carbonaceous chondrites or nebular and parent body processes acting differently on presolar Mo and Ru components.

The identification of s-deficits in Ru isotopes in almost all iron meteorites and chondrites investigated so far implies that meteorites do not seem to represent the material delivered to the Earth’s mantle as a late veneer after cessation of core formation. However, additional analyses of a more comprehensive set of chondrites are necessary to firmly arrive at this conclusion.