'Catastrophic collisions and planetary habitability': the Kaidun meteorite as a unique record of early solar system dynamics and delivery of volatiles to the terrestrial planets
Lead Supervisor: Helen Williams, Department of Earth Sciences
Co-supervisors: Ross Findlay, Department of Earth Sciences; Mahesh Anand, Department of Physical Sciences, The Open University; Richard Greenwood, Department of Physical Sciences, The Open University; Mike Zolensky, ARES, NASA Johnson Space Centre
Brief summary
Whereas meteorites often contain diverse fragments from the same meteorite group, it is rare for meteorites to contain material belonging to different meteorite groups. Kaidun, a ‘meteorite collection in one stone’ [1. 2], contains many diverse meteorite types including rare aqueously altered, enstatite chondrites and alkaline igneous clasts, preserving a record of collisions between a differentiated planetesimal/planet and the evolution and alteration of primitive inner/outer solar system material. This project will characterise the nature, number and chemistry of the Kaidun lithologies with a view to understanding how interactions between inner and outer solar system primitive asteroids and differentiated planets influenced planetary habitability.
Importance of the area of research concerned
Collisions between planetary precursor meteorites characterised the evolution of our solar system, determining the chemistry and likely habitability of the terrestrial planets. However, direct records of these chaotic cosmic events are rarely preserved, limiting our understanding of their role in the development of habitable terrestrial planets and exoplanets.
Meteorites provide the only direct record of early solar system events and permit a glimpse of the material central to planetary origins and the delivery of life-essential water/volatiles to planetary bodies. The Kaidun meteorite is an exceptional melange of altered ordinary, enstatite and carbonaceous chondritic meteorite fragments with rare igneous clasts and preserves a unique record of early solar system mixing and collisions. This project will explore the origins and chemistry of Kaidun’s meteorite clasts, using this meteorite as a natural laboratory to constrain the role that solar system dynamics and planetary collisions played in the creation of habitable terrestrial planets.
What will the student do?
Using SEM and clean geochemistry facilities at Cambridge and The OU, the student will undertake a petrographic and isotopic characterisation of Kaidun and address the following questions:
- What brought Kaidun’s inner and outer solar system lithologies together: is Kaidun a record of the planetary migration events? Can we use Kaidun to constrain the nature and timing of these events and potentially volatile element delivery to terrestrial planets?
- No combination of meteorites convincingly reproduces the Earth’s geochemical signatures. Are the clasts in Kaidun identical to known meteorites or are they unique? If the latter, could they be the ‘missing building blocks’ of Earth?
- Kaidun’s asteroid must have interacted with a differentiated body, potentially originating from Mars’ moon Phobos. If a link can be established, Phobos (Kaidun) may have captured Martian fragments during impacts. Can these clasts therefore provide insights into early Mars and the evolution of its surface?
References
[1] Macpherson, G. J., Mittlefehldt, D. W., Lipschutz, M. E., Clayton, R. N., Bullock, E. S., Ivanov, A. V., Mayeda, T. K. & Wang, M.-S. 2009. The Kaidun chondrite breccia: Petrology, oxygen isotopes, and trace element abundances. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 73, 5493-5511.
[2] Zolensky, M. & Ivanov, A. 2003. The Kaidun microbreccia meteorite: A harvest from the inner and outer asteroid belt. Geochemistry, 63, 185-246.
[3] Kuramoto, K., Kawakatsu, Y., Fujimoto, M., Araya, A., Barucci, M. A., Genda, H., Hirata, N., Ikeda, H., Imamura, T. & Helbert, J. 2022. Martian moons exploration MMX: sample return mission to Phobos elucidating formation processes of habitable planets. Earth, Planets and Space, 74, 12.
Requirements as to the educational background of candidates that would be suitable for the project
This project will suit an enthusiastic and highly motivated individual, preferably with a degree in geoscience, cosmochemistry of planetary science, or someone with relevant laboratory experience.
The student will be supported and mentored to undertake and disseminate cutting edge research in the internationally competitive field of meteoritics. This project will present an excellent opportunity for the candidate to gain extensive training and analytical skills in the area of extraterrestrial sample science and to work with some of our key collaborators nationally and abroad, including colleagues at The Open University and at the Johnson Space Centre, and position them competitively to participate in preparing for the Mars Moons Explorer mission, scheduled by JAXA to return material from the Martian moon Phobos from 2028 [3].
Applying
You can find out about applying for this project on the Leverhulme Centre for Life in the Universe widening participation PhD Studentships page.