Mn-Cr chronology of five IIIAB iron meteorites

Abstract

Mn-Cr systematics in phosphates (sarcopside, graftonite, beusite, galileiite, and johnsomervilleite) in IIIAB iron meteorites were investigated by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). In most cases, excesses in delta-53Cr are found and 53Cr is well correlated with Mn/Cr ratios, suggesting that 53Mn was alive at the time of IIIAB iron formation. The inferred Mn-Cr "ages" are different for different phosphate minerals. This is presumably due to a combined effect of the slow cooling rates of IIIAB iron meteorites and the difference in the diffusion properties of Cr and Mn in the phosphates. The ages of sarcopside are the same for the IIIAB iron meteorites. Johnsomervilleite shows apparent old ages, probably because of a gain of Cr enriched in 53Cr during the closure process. Apparently, old Mn-Cr ages reported in previous studies can also be explained in a similar way. Therefore, the IIIAB iron meteorites probably experienced identical thermal histories and thus derived from the core of a parent body. Thermal histories of the parent body of IIIAB iron meteorites that satisfy the Mn-Cr chronology and metallographic cooling rates were constructed by computer simulation. The thermal history at an early stage (<10 Ma after CAI formation) is well determined,though later history may be more model-dependent. It is suggested that relative timing of various events in the IIIAB parent body may be estimated with the aid of the thermal history. There is a systematic difference in Mn and Cr concentrations in various minerals (phosphates, sulfide, etc.) among the IIIAB iron meteorites, which seems to be mainly controlled by redox conditions.