The oxygen isotopic composition of water from Tagish Lake: Its relationship to low-temperature phases and to other carbonaceous chondrites

Abstract

The fall and recovery of the Tagish Lake meteorite in British Columbia in January 2000 provided a unique opportunity to study relatively pristine samples of carbonaceous chondrite material. Measurements of the oxygen isotopic composition of water extracted under stepped pyrolysis from a bulk sample of this meteorite have allowed us to make comparisons with similar data obtained from CI and CM chondrites and so further investigate any relationships that may exist between these meteorites. The much lower yield of water bearing a terrestrial signature in Tagish Lake is indicative of the pristine nature of the meteorite. The relationship between the isotopic composition of this water and reported isotopic values for carbonates, bulk matrix and whole rock, have been used to infer the extent and conditions under which parent body aqueous alteration occurred. In Tagish Lake the difference in Delta-17O isotopic composition between the water and other phases is greater than that found in either CMs or CIs suggesting that reaction and isotopic exchange between components was more limited. This in turn suggests that in the case of Tagish Lake conditions during the processes of aqueous alteration on the parent body, which ultimately controlled the formation of new minerals, were distinct from those on both CI and CM parent bodies.