A meteorite links an asteroid’s metal core and rocky mantle

Minerals and chemical signatures in the Aletai iron meteorite match those in rocky meteorites thought to come from a differentiated asteroid.

Editorial illustration — not from the study.

Researchers report a genetic link between IIIE iron meteorites and HED meteorites, which come from differentiated asteroids. Their analysis focused on silicate material inside the Aletai IIIE iron meteorite and compared its mineral and chemical signatures with those of HED meteorites.

The results indicate that the iron meteorite’s metal and rocky materials came from related reservoirs in an early planetesimal. Mineral chemistry and thermodynamic modelling also point to changes that occurred as a molten-rock ocean crystallized and lighter material separated from it.

Matching meteorite signatures

The silicates in the Aletai IIIE meteorite show iron-to-manganese and iron-to-magnesium relationships, oxygen-isotope compositions and strongly separated rare-earth-element patterns consistent with those found in HED meteorites. An especially low europium signal in the mineral orthopyroxene marks the start of plagioclase formation and the buoyant separation of material during the early crystallization of a molten-rock ocean. Thermodynamic modelling supports this interpretation. Together, the results indicate that IIIE irons and HEDs share a common genetic heritage and may have formed from related differentiated planetesimal material.

Why the link matters

Differentiated planetesimals developed metal-rich cores and rocky mantles, but direct evidence that these reservoirs were connected has been limited. By linking an iron meteorite to HED meteorites, the study provides physical evidence that metal and rocky materials in an early Solar System body could share a common origin.

Evidence and limits

The study combines mineralogical, oxygen-isotope and rare-earth-element analyses of a silicate-bearing inclusion in the Aletai IIIE iron meteorite with comparisons to HED meteorites. Thermodynamic modelling supports the interpretation of the mineral chemistry. The evidence comes from meteorite samples rather than direct observations of the original asteroid, and the abstract does not give the number of samples analyzed or establish how widely the result applies to other asteroids.

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