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Published January 6, 2021 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Heating events in the nascent solar system recorded by rare earth element isotopic fractionation in refractory inclusions

Creators

  • 1. University of Chicago
  • 2. Victoria University of Wellington
  • 3. Université Pierre et Marie Curie
  • 4. Argonne National Laboratory

Description

Equilibrium condensation of solar gas is often invoked to explain the abundance of refractory elements in planets and meteorites. This is partly motivated, by the observation that the depletions in both the least and most refractory rare earth elements (REEs) in meteoritic group II calcium-aluminum–rich inclusions (CAIs) can be reproduced by thermodynamic models of solar nebula condensation. We measured the isotopic compositions of Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, Er, and Yb in eight CAIs to test this scenario. Contrary to expectation for equilibrium condensation, we find light isotope enrichment for the most refractory REEs and more subdued isotopic variations for the least refractory REEs. This suggests that group II CAIs formed by a two-stage process involving fast evaporation of preexisting materials, followed by near-equilibrium recondensation. The calculated time scales are consistent with heating in events akin to FU Orionis– or EX Lupi–type outbursts of eruptive pre–main-sequence stars.

Data availability

The OL-REE series of isotope standards used in this study are stored at the Origins Laboratory, The University of Chicago and are available upon request from J.Y.H. or N.D. All data needed to evaluate the conclusions in the paper are present in the paper and/or the Supplementary Materials. Additional data related to this paper may be requested from the authors.

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sciadv.abc2962.pdf

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Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1126/sciadv.abc2962
Other
oai:uchicago.tind.io:10987

Related works

Is supplement to
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn5144 (URL)

Funding

National Science Foundation
EAR-2001098
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NNX17AE86G
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NNX17AE87G
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
80NSSC17K0744
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
80NSSC17K0251
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
80NSSC20K0821

UChicago Information

Division(s)
Physical Sciences Division
Department(s)
Enrico Fermi Institute, Geophysical Sciences
Center(s) or Institute(s)
Chicago Center for Cosmochemistry