Oxygen Isotopic Composition of an Enstatite Ribbon of Probable Cometary Origin

Abstract

Filamentary enstatite crystals are found in interplanetary dust particles of likely cometary origin but are very rare or absent in meteorites. Crystallographic characteristics of filamentary enstatites indicate that they condensed directly from vapor. We measured the O isotopic composition of an enstatite ribbon from a giant cluster interplanetary dust particle to be ${\delta }^{18}\mathrm{O}=25\pm 55$, ${\delta }^{17}\mathrm{O}=-19\pm 129$, ${\Delta }^{17}\mathrm{O}=-32\pm 134$ (2$\sigma$ errors), which is inconsistent at the 2$\sigma$ level with the composition of the Sun inferred from the Genesis solar wind measurements. The particle's O isotopic composition, consistent with the terrestrial composition, implies that it condensed from a gas of non-solar O isotopic composition, possibly as a result of vaporization of disk region enriched in ${}^{16}$O-depleted solids. The relative scarcity of filamentary enstatite in asteroids compared to comets implies either that this crystal condensed from dust vaporized \textit{in-situ} in the outer Solar System where comets formed, or it condensed in the inner Solar System and was subsequently transported outward to the comet-forming region.

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