Chondritic meteorites chemical evolution

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. 

Meteorites provide perhaps the best record of the chemical evolution of small bodies in the Solar System, and this record is supplemented by asteroidal spectroscopy. Meteorites show progressive degrees of thermal processing on their parent asteroids, from primitive carbonaceous chondrites that contain percent-level quantities of water, through ordinary chondrites that show a wide range of degree of thermal metamorphism, to the achondrites that have been melted and differentiated. 

The elements of the chondritic meteorites, and hence of the terrestrial planets, were formed in previous generations of stars. Their relative abundances represent the result of the general chemical evolution of the galaxy, possibly enhanced by recent local additions from one or more specific sources just prior to collapse of the solar nebula —4.56 Gyr ago. A volumetrically minor, but nevertheless highly significant part of this chemical inventory, is comprised of radioactive elements, from which this age estimate is derived. The famihar long-lived radionuclides, such as Th, Rb, K, and others,... 

The Sm-Nd method can be used to date mafic igneous rocks (basalt and gabbro) which are not suitable for dating by the Rb-Sr method. Magma of basaltic chemical composition originates by decompression melting in the mantle of the Earth which contains radiogenic Nd that has formed by decay of Sm. The isotopic evolution of Nd in the mantle of the Earth is represented by a model in Fig. 3.19 that is based on the isotope composition of neodymium in chondrite meteorites and which is therefore known as the Chondritic Uniform Reservoir (CHUR). The present value of the Nd/ Nd ratio in CHUR is ... 

Many asteroids are dry, as evidenced by meteorites in which water is virtually absent. These samples include many classes of chondrites, as well as melted chunks of the crusts, mantles, and cores of differentiated objects. Anhydrous bodies were important building blocks of the rocky terrestrial planets, and their chemical compositions reveal details of processes that occurred within our own planet on a larger scale. The distributions of these asteroids within the solar system also provide insights into their formation and evolution. 

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