Extreme H isotopic anomalies in chondritic organic matter

Extract from introduction: We have conducted ionprobe (IMS6f and NanoSIMS) imaging studies of various samples for H, D, C, 14N and 15N. These will ultimately be correlated with micro-analytic techniques such as FIB/TEM or STXM/XANES. We analyzed matrix fragments from Bells (CM2), Al Rais (CR2) and Tagish Lake (unique) [2], high purity insoluble organic matter (IOM) [3] extracted from EET92042 (“EET”, CR2), Bells, Murchison (CM2), Allende (CV3), Krymka (LL3.1) and, for comparison, 3 IDPs

Magnesium and Silicon Isotopes in HASP Glasses from Apollo 16 Lunar Soil 61241

The high-Al (>28 wt %), silica-poor (<45 wt %) (HASP) feldspathic glasses of Apollo 16 are widely regarded as the evaporative residues of impacts in the lunar regolith [1-3]. By virtue of their small size, apparent homogeneity, and high inferred formation temperatures, the HASP glasses appear to be good samples in which to study fractionation processes that may accompany open system evaporation. Calculations suggest that HASP glasses with present-day Al2O3 concentrations of up to 40 wt% may have lost 19 wt% of their original masses, calculated as the oxides of iron and silicon, via evaporation [4]. We report Mg and Si isotope abundances in 10 HASP glasses and 2 impact-glass spherules from a 64-105 m grain-size fraction taken from Apollo 16 soil sample 61241

Overview of the results of the organics PET Study of the cometary samples returned from comet Wild 2 by the Stardust mission

This presenation will provide an overview of the efforts and results produced by the Organics Preliminary Examination Team during their studies of the samples returned from comet Wild 2 by the Stardust spacecraft

Organics Captured from Comet Wild 2 by the Stardust Spacecraft

Organics found in Comet Wild 2 samples show a heterogeneous and unequilibrated distribution in abundance and composition. Some organics are similar, but not identical, to those in interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) and carbonaceous meteorites. A class of aromatic-poor organic material is also present. The organics are rich in O and N compared to meteoritic organics. Aromatic compounds are present, but the samples tend to be relatively poorer in aromatics than meteorites and IDPs. D and {sup 15}N suggest that some organics have an interstellar/protostellar heritage. While the variable extent of modification of these materials by impact capture is not yet fully constrained, a remarkably diverse suite of organic compounds is present and identifiable within the returned samples. Comets are small bodies that accreted in the outer Solar System during its formation (1) and thus may consist of preserved samples of the ''starting materials'' from which the Solar System was made. Organic materials are expected to be present in cometary samples (2) and may include molecules made and/or modified in stellar outflows, the interstellar medium, and the protosolar nebula, as well as by parent body processing within the comet. The presence of organic compounds in comets and their ejecta is of astrobiological interest since their delivery to the early Earth may have played an important role in the origin of life on Earth (3). An overview of the Stardust Mission and the collection and recovery of Wild 2 samples is provided elsewhere (4,5). We describe the results obtained from the returned samples by the Stardust Organics Preliminary Examination Team (PET). Samples were studied using a wide range of analytical techniques, including two-step laser desorption laser ionization mass spectrometry (L{sub 2}MS), Liquid Chromatography with UV Fluorescence Detection and Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (LC-FD/TOF-MS), Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscopy (STXM), X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy (XANES), infrared and Raman spectroscopy, Ion Chromatography with conductivity detection (IC), Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS), and Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) (6). These techniques provide a wealth of information about the chemical nature and relative abundance of the organics in the samples. Our results are compared to organic materials found in primitive meteorites and interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) collected in the stratosphere, well as to astronomical and spacecraft observations of comets. Despite some uncertainties associated with the presence of contaminants and alteration of the samples during the capture process, considerable information about the nature of the organics in the samples can be determined