Carbonaceous meteorites, carbon

Robert F, Epstein S (1982) The concentration and isotopic composition of hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen carbonaceous meteorites. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 46 81-95 Robert F, Merlivat L, Javoy M (1978) Water and deuterium content in ordinary chondrites. Mete-oritics 12 349-354... 

Fig. 7 Membranes can be formed by components of carbonaceous meteorites [69,70]. a The Murchison meteorite contains approximately 2% organic carbon by weight, b Organic compounds can be extracted from the meteorite by a lipid solvent system (chloroform-methanol), then separated by two-dimensional chromatography. Polycyclic compounds in the mixture produce fluorescent spots, c The organic acid fraction from the TLC plate readily assembles into membranous vesicles when exposed to dilute aqueous solutions buffered at pH 8-9. The vesicles were photographed by their autofluorescence. Scale bar shows 20 im...

Smith J. W. and Kaplan 1. R. (1970) Endogenous carbon in carbonaceous meteorites. Science 167, 1367-1370. 

The primitive carbonaceous meteorites, which include the hydrated CI and CM meteorites and mostly-anhydrous meteorites such as the Allende CV meteorite [69], reach Earth from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Asteroid reflectance properties display a remarkably systematic distribution as a function of heliocentric distance for asteroids in this belt, and hence meteorite types, with the most primitive ones located farthest from the sun. Asteroid hydration occurred when internal heating melted (water) ice that had co-accreted with dust, chondrules and refractory inclusions in the solar nebula. These asteroids form the IR spectroscopic C-class with clays, carbon and organics at the surface similar to CI and CM meteorite parent bodies [70]. They and the Allende CV parent body, which apparently did not accrete (much) ice, are from the same zone of the asteroid belt. Even more primitive asteroids closer to Jupiter still contain co-accreted ices, organic materials and silicate dust. They define the IR spectroscopic primitive (P)-and dark (D)-class [70] bodies that include comet nuclei and many near-Earth asteroids [10]. 

Non-volatile materials in asteroids included 1. presolar (interstellar) dust, and 2. dust condensed from a chondritic vapor in the inner solar system where presolar silicate and carbon dusts had evaporated at 2000 K during a thermal flare-up phase of the young Sun [71]. Evidence for both dust sources can be found in carbonaceous meteorites albeit they were modified by aqueous alteration below 400 K, or thermal alteration up to 800 K in their parent bodies [69,72,73]. When metastable carbynes were not obliterated by parent body alteration, these particular meteorites would be candidates for searches of carbynes formed (probably by condensation) around C-rich YSOs (interstellar dust), in the inner solar system, or both. 

So far, no carbynes were reported in the completely hydrated CI carbonaceous meteorites. It is likely that pervasive hydration had destroyed metastable carbons originally present. If so, they should still be present in the anhydrous proto-CI materials, which are not yet recognized among the collected meteorites. 

The formation of ether-type polar lipids that occur in the membranes of Archaea remains elusive. The enantiomeric glycerol-phosphate backbone, ether linkages, and isoprenoid chains are distinguishing features of archaeal lipids. Carbonaceous meteorites contain up to several percent of their mass as organic carbon, mainly polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Material extracted from the Murchison meteorite by organic solvents contains amphiphiles that form membrane-like vesicles in aqueous solution. 

The discovery of presolar grains was made possible by the development of chemical procedures in which carbonaceous meteorites were subjected to a stringent acid digestion regime. Carbon compounds such as diamonds, SiC and graphite were isolated in this manner and identified through their distinctive pattern and anomalous noble gas component. These carbonaceous phases are samples of interstellar matter which provide a window into the prehistory of the Solar System. 

Water and carbon play critical roles in many of the Earth s chemical and physical cycles and yet their origin on the Earth is somewhat mysterious. Carbon and water could easily form solid compounds in the outer regions of the solar nebula, and accordingly the outer planets and many of their satellites contain abundant water and carbon. The type I carbonaceous chondrites, meteorites that presumably formed in the asteroid belt between the terrestrial and outer planets, contain up to 5% (m/m) carbon and up to 20% (m/m) water of hydration. Comets may contain up to 50% water ice and 25% carbon. The terrestrial planets are comparatively depleted in carbon and water by orders of magnitude. The concentration of water for the whole Earth is less that 0.1 wt% and carbon is less than 500 ppm. Actually, it is remarkable that the Earth contains any of these compounds at all. As an example of how depleted in carbon and water the Earth could have been, consider the moon, where indigenous carbon and water are undetectable. Looking at Fig. 2-4 it can be seen that no water- or carbon-bearing solids should have condensed by equilibrium processes at the temperatures and pressures that probably were typical in the zone of fhe solar... 

Carbonaceous chondrites (C-chondrites) account for only 2-3% of the meteorites so far found, but the amount of research carried out on them is considerable. C-chondrites contain carbon both in elemental form and as compounds. They are without doubt the oldest relicts of primeval solar matter, which has been changed only slightly or not at all by metamorphosis. C-chondrites contain all the components of the primeval solar nebula, apart from those which are volatile they are often referred to as primitive meteorites . 

The Murchison meteorite shown in Figure 6.7, like all meteorites, is named after the place from which it was recovered and in this case it is the town of Murchison, Victoria in Australia about 100 km north of Melbourne. The fall occurred in 1969 and was followed by an analysis of the chemical composition in some considerable detail. The Murchison meteorite is a carbonaceous chondrite containing about 2 per cent carbon, some as inorganic carbonates, and some as soluble compounds such as amino acids but the bulk as a macromolecular heterogeneous material referred to as kerogen. 

Carbonaceous chondrite A meteorite containing once-molten globules of rock called chondrules that are surrounded by carbon-containing species. 

Another recent interesting finding is that previously unknown organic polymers or "amorphous carbon," which are noble gas carriers in meteorites, are actually carbynes. Five different carbynes have been identified in the Murchison and Allende carbonaceous... 

The careful study of at least five different carbonaceous chondrites establishes the fact that these meteorites contain carbon compounds of extraterrestrial origin and of great significance in chemical evolution. Their presence confirms that the chemical reaction paths producing biologically important monomer molecules occur in the far reaches of our solar system. 

Garvie, L. A. J. and Buseck, P. R. (2004). Nanosized carbon-rich grains in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 184, 9-21. 

Carbonaceous chondrites are members of a class of stony meteorites called chondrites. As is clearly indicated by their name, carbonaceous chondrites contain carbon. This carbon itself is present as elemental carbon and also as components of organic molecules. 

The presence of organic molecules in samples of extraterrestrial matter has been known for more than a century. Some of the greatest chemists of the nineteenth century were involved in the analysis of samples of meteoritic material. They were able to show that carbonaceous chondrites (as they are now named) contain organic molecules. The first to detect carbon in a meteoritic sample was Thenard, in 1806, by analysis of a sample of the Alais meteorite. This result was confirmed in 1834 by Berzelius, who was also the first to detect the presence of water of crystallisation. Working on a sample of the Kaba meteorite, Wohler (1858) confirmed the presence of organic matter, and in a paper dated 1859 said, I am still convinced that besides free carbon this meteorite contains a low-melting point, carbon containing substance which seems to be similar to certain fossil hydrocarbon-like substances... . 

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