Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Planetary materials show systematic variations in their nucleosynthetic isotope compositions that resonate with orbital distance. The origin of this pattern remains debated, limiting how these isotopic signatures can be used to trace the precursors of terrestrial planets. Here we test the hypothesis that interstellar ices carried supernova-produced nuclides by searching for a supernova nucleosynthetic fingerprint in aqueous alteration minerals from carbonaceous and non-carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. We focus on zirconium, a refractory element that includes the neutron-rich isotope 96 Zr formed in core-collapse supernovae. Leaching experiments reveal extreme 96 Zr enrichments in alteration minerals, showing that they incorporated supernova material hosted in interstellar ices. We show that the Solar System’s zirconium isotope variability reflects mixing between these ices and an ice-free rocky component. Finally, the presence of supernova nuclides in a volatile carrier supports models where the Solar System’s nucleosynthetic variability was imparted by thermal processing of material in the protoplanetary disk and during planetary accretion.
Source: Nature Communications
Authors: Martin Bizzarro, Martin Schiller, Jesper Holst, Laura Bouvier, Miroslav Groen, Frédéric Moynier, Elishevah M. M. E. van Kooten, Maria Schönbächler, Troels Haugbølle, Darach Watson, Anders Johansen, James N. Connelly, Emil Bizzarro
Language: English
Topic: Astro and Planetary Science
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $6,990
OpenAlex ID: W4416758702