NWA 7822

Achondrite-ungrouped
(dunite, CV-clan-related)

Purchased February 2013
no coordinates recorded A single fusion-crusted stone weighing 45.8 g was found in the Sahara Desert region and later sold to G. Hupé at the 2013 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. This meteorite was analyzed at the University of Washington in Seattle (A. Irving and S. Kuehner) and NWA 7822 was determined to be a dunitic lithology with olivine FeO/MnO ratios and O-isotopic values consistent with many other diverse meteorites hypothesized to belong to an extensive CV-clan (see the O-isotopic plot; K. Ziegler, UNM). In their continued analyses of this meteorite, Sanborn et al. (2015) demonstrated that NWA 7822 plots close to the CV chondrites on a Δ17O vs. ε54Cr coupled diagram (see diagram below). This meteorite is composed predominantly of pale-yellow olivine (>90 vol%) with a small component of interstitial clinopyroxene and plagioclase, along with low abundances of the typical opaque phases (taenite, troilite, and chromite).

Collisional Disruption of a Primary Planetary Body

It has been posited by some investigators that numerous large planetary bodies accreted very early in Solar System history, many of which fatefully suffered catastrophic collisional disruption soon thereafter. As an example, Blackburn et al. (2017) and Edwards et al. (2017) calculated the timing of the catastrophic disruption of the H- and L-chondrite parent bodies to be ~60 m.y. after CAIs. This timing is consistent with two competing dating techniques—Pb–Pb (and Hf–W) chronometry and metallographic cooling rates (Ni diffusion profiles in Fe-metal)—which record cooling associated with both an onion shell structure prior to disruption and a rubble pile after disruption, respectively. In addition, it was proposed by Irving et al. (2009) that the diverse meteorite lithologies with similar O-isotopic compositions to the HED clan of meteorites, generally considered to be derived from the asteroid 4 Vesta, were once part of an even larger former differentiated planetary body that they named "Opis" (the mother of Vesta in Greek mythology).

Another such hypothesized collisionally-disaggregated planetary body (here named "Antaeus") was conceived by Irving et al. (2004) to have comprised many diverse lithologies, here expanded upon to include the following: a metallic core region composed of IIF-type iron like Del Rio (Kracher et al., 1980), IVB-type iron like Santa Clara and/or South Byron trio-type iron (Corrigan et al., 2017; Hilton et al., 2018); a core–mantle boundary or upper mantle impact-melted zone composed of a metal+silicate assemblage that corresponds to the Milton pallasite (Sanborn et al., 2018), along with the NWA 176 (related to Bocaiuva; Liu, 2001) silicated iron; a dunitic mantle zone possibly represented by NWA 7822; an intensely thermally-metamorphosed stratigraphy resembling the NWA 3133 and NWA 10503 metachondrites (Irving et al., 2004; Irving et al., 2016; Sanborn et al., 2018); and a thick insulating crust (~20 km; Davison et al., 2013), possibly involving a late accetionary stage, comprising a primitive chondrule–CAI-rich regolith consisting of several distinct lithological zones comprising reduced Allende-like, oxidized Allende-like, and highly aqueously-altered Bali-like material. The detailed petrogenetic sequences by which each of these meteorites acquired their present form, and the question as to whether these events occurred before, during, or after a catastrophic disruption of the primary planetary body (or were associated with post-disruption daughter objects), are subjects that are still under investigation.

Importantly, the O- and Cr-isotopic signatures of Eagle Station have been utilized to establish an early formation age of 4.557 b.y., or 11 m.y. years after CAI formation. According to Dauphas et al. (2005), application of the Hf–W isotopic chronometer to Eagle Station also gives a relatively late metal–silicate segregation for Eagle Station of ~10 m.y. after differentiation of the HED parent body 4 Vesta (which occurred as early as 1.3 m.y. after CAI formation; Schiller et al., 2010). Since it has been calculated that melting and core–mantle differentiation due to radiogenic heating should cease after ~7–8 m.y. (Sahijpal et al., 2007), it may be inferred that heating of the Eagle Station asteroid continued until after all radiogenic 26Al and 60Fe was extinct, and that such late heating would have been generated through large impact events. In support of that reasoning, John T. Wasson (2016) presented evidence that the slow heating generated entirely by the decay of 26Al is insufficient to melt asteroids, and that an additional heat source would have been required; e.g., the rapid heating incurred from major impact events. He determined that the canonical 26Al/27Al ratio of 0.000052 is much too low to cause any significant melting, and that a minimum ratio of 0.00001 would be required to produce a 20% melt fraction on a well-insulated body having a significant concentration of 26Al. For example, the initial ratio of 0.0000004–0.0000005 calculated for the angrites Sah 99555 and D’Orbigny based on their 26Al–26Mg isochrons is too low to have generated any significant melting without an additional heat source. Therefore, impacts were a major source of heating in early solar system history.

Likewise, the formation scenario envisioned for the silicated irons NWA 176 and Bocaiuva is consistent with impact-heating events on a small-sized asteroid. The final mixing event was accompanied by an initial rapid-cooling stage beginning at the metal–silicate equilibrium temperature of ~1100°C, and was sustained down to ~600°C. This was followed by a slow cooling stage in which a Thomson (Widmanstätten) structure was formed (Desnoyers et al., 1985). Another fast cooling stage was initiated between approximately 600°C and 300°C as indicated by the absence of tetrataenite and other petrographic features (Araujo et al., 1983). There are major structural similarities between the NWA 176 and Bocaiuva silicated irons and those silicated iron members of the IIE and IAB complex iron groups. This suggests that similar impact processes, such as a catastrophic breakup event, occurred on each of these relatively small, nonmagmatic parent bodies; however, only the IIF irons and the Eagle Station pallasites share any significant geochemical similarities with NWA 176 and Bocaiuva (Bunch et al., 1970; Curvello et al., 1983). Notably, NWA 176, Bocaiuva, and the Eagle Station pallasites, as well as other distinct meteorite lithologies, have similar O- and/or Cr-isotopic compositions to the CV chondrites (Clayton and Mayeda., 1996; Liu et al, 2001; Shukolyukov and Lugmair, 2001). Taking the many similarities into account, it seems likely that these otherwise disparate meteorites originated on a common chondritic precursor parent body (Malvin et al., 1985).

In an effort to better resolve potential genetic relationships that might exist among the meteorites mentioned above associated with the hypothetical Antaeus, a Cr-isotopic analysis of olivine from the Milton pallasite was conducted by Sanborn et al. (2018). It is demonstrated on a coupled Δ17O vs. ε54Cr diagram (shown below) that Milton plots among the CV clan and plausibly shares a genetic relationship, but also that Eagle Station plots closer to the CK (or CO) chondrite group. It could be inferred that both the CV and CK planetesimals experienced a similar petrogenetic history in a similar isotopic reservoir of the nascent solar system. Chromium vs. Oxygen Isotope Plot

click on image for a magnified view

Diagram credit: Sanborn et al., 49th LPSC, #1780 (2018) Notably, a formation scenario for pallasites was proposed by Asphaug et al. (2006) and Danielson et al. (2009) in which the wide variation in metal–silicate textures and bulk compositions that is observed among MG pallasite members is the result of a grazing collision between partially molten planetary embryos. They assert that such a collision resulted in the formation of a chain of smaller objects having diverse compositions. It might be more than coincidental that the O-isotopic composition of the Milton pallasite plots proximate to the trend line of the Eagle Station group pallasites (now termed the Allende Mixing line: slope = 0.94 ±0.01). Both of these rapidly-cooled pallasites contain high concentrations of the refractory siderophile element Ir relative to main-group (MG) pallasites (Jones et al., 2003), and they both have overlapping Fe and Ni abundances (wt%) in their metal component; however, significant variations observed in their minor and trace element concentrations indicate that they each experienced different crystallization processes (Hillebrand, 2004). Still, there is a good possibility that one or both of these pallasites did share a common precursor parent body with the CV clan of meteorites, at least prior to any collisional disruption event.
Diagram adapted from Korochantsev et al., 2013 With the advent of better investigative techniques, scientists have explored the possibility of a genetic relationship between IVB irons and other meteorite groups based on O-isotopic analyses. Utilizing chromite grains from IVB irons Warburton Range and Hoba, Corrigan et al. (2017) found that IVB irons share close similarities to the South Byron trio irons (Babb’s Mill [Troost’s], South Byron, and Inland Forts [ILD] 83500)–Milton pallasite grouping (MSB in diagram below). Moreover, the O-isotopic compositions of the IVB irons and the South Byron trio–Milton grouping fall within the range of the oxidized CV and CK chondrites.
Diagram credit: Corrigan et al., 48h LPSC, #2556 (2017) Subsequent to the catastrophic disruption of the primary planetary body that is envisioned here, and the sorting and re-accretion of material into a number of daughter objects, multiple impacts onto these small asteroids could have led to the formation of sub-surface melt pools tens of meters in size. Differentiation of these melt pools would have resulted in cumulus olivine sequestered above a metal layer, and an olivine residuum that had drained below this metal layer—a complex assemblage from which associated pallasitic and silicated-iron lithologies could be derived thereafter during less-energetic, rapidly-cooled impact events (Malvin et al., 1985). The anomalously-high Ir contents measured in some of the associated metal–silicate mixtures (e.g., Eagle Station grouplet, Milton) and segregated metal regions (IIF irons, South Byron trio) would be consistent with metal that crystallized at the lowest levels of the melt chamber. Such late-stage, rapidly-cooled, impact-heating events could have allowed for the retention of the original O- and Cr-isotopic composition of the primary planetary body (Humayun and Weiss, 2011 and references therein). The differences that exist in δ54Cr between chromite and olivine in the Eagle Station pallasite, but which are not observed in CV chondrites, could be the result of a distinct Cr source associated with impact projectile(s) which eventually led to the formation of the Eagle Station-type pallasites and other related lithologies (Papanastassiou and Chen (2011).

On an oxygen three-isotope diagram (see example below), the CO chondrites plot along the Allende Mixing trend line (former CCAM line), overlapping near the middle of the CV chondrite field. There is a possibility that the CO chondrite group, of which Isna is a marginally equilibrated example (type 3.75), is also implicated in the sequence of events that led to the formation of the diverse CV clan of meteorites as outlined above—perhaps as another of the daughter objects that accreted after a catastrophic disruption of the primary planetary body. It could be deduced that subsequent impacts involving many of these daughter objects sent fragments into storage orbits within the outer asteroid belt. Further fragmentation events (collisional cascade processes), along with the Yarkovsky effect, would have delivered samples into mean motion resonances with some fragments eventually achieving Earth-crossing orbits.
click on image for a magnified view

Diagram credit: Irving et al., 79th MetSoc, #6461 (2016) The hypothesis of multiple daughter objects being formed following the catastrophic disruption of a large, partially differentiated, primary planetary body could allow for the potential inclusion of several less closely-related meteorites. These may include the high-Ni irons of the South Byron trio (South Byron, ILD 83500, and Babb’s Mill), which have metallographic compositions (especially siderophile element patterns) and structures similar to the metal in Milton, including kamacite spindles and associated schreibersite, consistent with their formation on the same parent body (Reynolds et al., 2006). These three irons and the metal component in Milton experienced a similar oxidation history during formation; they each have similar depletions of easily oxidized elements as well as similar abundances of siderophiles (McCoy et al., 2008). In addition to the irons mentioned above, several other ungrouped ataxites may be genetically related to this high-Ni iron group, including El Qoseir, Illinois Gulch, Morradal, Nordheim, and Tucson (Kissin, 2010). However, significant differences that exist between their refractory element contents compared to those of the South Byron trio requires further work to establish a specific relationship.

The metal in each of these high-Ni iron meteorites and in Milton is consistent with early crystallization from a metallic-melt phase that experienced a low degree of fractionation. Similarly, the FeNi-metal component of one member of the Eagle Station grouplet, Itzawisis, was derived from a metallic-melt source consistent with that of a differentiated, oxidized-CV source before 20% fractionation had occurred. In a like manner, the metal in Eagle Station derives from a 20% fractionated source (Humayun and Weiss, 2011), while another member of the grouplet, Cold Bay, was shown to derive from a melt source that crystallized after 40% fractionation. The most recent member of the Eagle Station grouplet to be analyzed, Karavannoe, crystallized from an even more evolved metallic-melt that had undergone >60% fractionation—though still not as evolved as the source melt from which MG pallasite metal crystallized. Karavannoe FeNi-metal has a lower Ni content than the other members of the grouplet (Korochantsev et al., 2013), and measurements show that its Ir content is intermediate between that of Eagle Station and Milton.

Further evidence for a large differentiated planetary body having CV-trends lies in the fact that CV chondrites acquired a strong unidirectional natural remanent magnetization ~9 m.y. after CAI formation, reflecting the existence of an internal core dynamo (e.g., Weiss et al., 2010; Elkins-Tanton et al., 2011; Carporzen et al., 2010, 2011; Gattacceca et al., 2013, 2016). Employing multiple investigation techniques, Shah et al. (2017) investigated the paleointensity of 19 Vigarano chondrules and found values of 1.1–150 µT. The observed magnetic remanence is considered to have been acquired during brecciation events that occurred ~7 m.y. after initial parent body accretion, with impact shock pressures reaching 10–20 GPa. Therefore, they reason that the original paleofield would have been ~40 µT, which is too high to be attributable to the solar wind field, but is in the range of that expected for a planetary core dynamo. As research continues, further evidence for the catastrophic disruption of this former primary body could advance this hypothesis (see the Allende page for further paleomagnetic information). The photo shown above is a 1.0 g partial slice of the dunite NWA 7822, while photos of a complete slice and the original stone are shown below.

Photos courtesy of Greg Hupé—Nature’s Vault