Evidence from 162173 Ryugu for the influence of freeze-thaw on the hydration of asteroids
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Genge, Matthew J
Almeida, Natasha V
van Ginneken, Matthias
Pinault, Lewis
Wozniakiewicz, Penelope J
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Hydrated asteroids are likely to be main source of water for the terrestrial planets. The controls on the extent of asteroid hydration, however, are poorly understood. Here we report the discovery of multiple fracture and vein sets in a sample from the C-type asteroid 162173 Ryugu that acted as pathways for the migration of distal fluids during its aqueous alteration. Early veins in Ryugu are decorated with framboidal magnetite, while later veins caused metasomatism of wall rocks. Both veins and fractures have cuspate geometries and complex intersecting geometries consistent with freeze–thaw fractures formed during experiments. We show that freeze–thaw is effective in fracturing C-type asteroids to up to 300 km in diameter and is thus crucial in the outwards migration of fluids in ice-bearing asteroids. Freeze–thaw is likely, therefore, to determine the distribution of mineral-hosted water in asteroids throughout the Cosmos.
Date Issued
2024-12-01
Date Acceptance
2024-08-22
Citation
Nature Astronomy, 2024, 8 (12), pp.1544-1552
ISSN
2397-3366
Publisher
Nature Research
Start Page
1544
End Page
1552
Journal / Book Title
Nature Astronomy
Volume
8
Issue
12
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
10.1038/s41550-024-02369-7
Subjects
Astronomy & Astrophysics
CI
IMPACT
METEORITE
Physical Sciences
Science & Technology
WATER
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2024-09-26