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At least 73 records · Page 4
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NASA NTRS2026

Distribution of Extraterrestrial Nucleobases, Other N-Heterocycles, and Their Precursors in A Sample From Asteroid Bennu

The recent discovery of all five canonical nucleobases in samples from Bennu provides compelling evidence that some of life’s ingredients were synthesized abiotically in the parent body of this asteroid and/or its precedent components. However, due to the sample availability and the limited method for the analysis, the detailed distribution of nucleobases in the samples remains elusive. Here we report the concentrations of a diverse suite of nitrogen (N)-heterocycles including nucleobases extracted by 2% and 20% hydrochloric acid from a homogenized Bennu sample. The detection of both canonical and non-canonical nucleobase pairs confirms that these biologically important compounds are extraterrestrial. Pyrimidines are more abundant than purines—like the Orgueil meteorite, but unlike the Murchison meteorite and asteroid Ryugu samples—suggesting preferential synthesis in ammonia-rich ices from the outer Solar System. The distribution of other N-heterocycles is consistent with extensive aqueous alteration on the parent body. High concentrations of urea underscore its role in N-heterocycle synthesis. Our findings offer important information on the prebiotic inventory of N-heterocycles in the Solar System.

Yasuhiro Oba↗
DOE OSTI2026

Triple oxygen and hydrogen stable isotope composition of hydroxyl water in Orgueil (CI-type) and Tagish Lake (C2-type) carbonaceous chondrites

The primitive carbonaceous chondrites are of interest to cosmochemical science because they contain relatively large amounts of ‘water’ (H 2 O and/or OH – ) within phyllosilicate minerals. This water is evidence for the accretion of ices by their parent planetesimals, and thus represents an archive of the isotopic compositions of H 2 O in the protoplanetary environments. Here, in this study, we used thermogravimetry-enabled laser spectroscopy (TGA-IRIS) analyses of the Orgueil and Tagish Lake meteorites to make δ 2 H, δ 18 O, and Δ′ 17 O measurements of the H 2 O and OH – contained in the different hydrous minerals that comprise each meteorite. In Orgueil, we measured mass-weighted averages of OH – in the saponite and serpentine phyllosilicate matrix to be δ 2 H = 192 ‰, δ 18 O = 1.5 ‰, which are unquestionably of extraterrestrial origin with Δ′ 17 O = 1.0 ‰. For Tagish Lake, analogous values of OH– in the saponite and serpentine phyllosilicate matrix are δ 2 H = 704 ‰, δ 18 O = 11.3 ‰, and are similarly unambiguously extraterrestrial with Δ′ 17 O = 0.82 ‰. We estimate that the parent H 2 O involved in aqueous alteration of Orgueil had δ 18 O value ≥ +23 ‰. In Orgueil, we interpret the phyllosilicate petrographic relationships, and the δ 18 O values of OH – in saponite and serpentine to indicate that saponite formed first, at a lower temperature by 35 to 53 °C than serpentine. This suggests that the Orgueil parent body experienced increasing temperature during the phase of active aqueous alteration (prograde) which set the δ 18 O OH values of the serpentine and saponite. In the case of Tagish Lake, serpentine formed at a lower temperature by 32 to 60 °C than saponite, for the simplest case with constant δ 18 O H2O values. If serpentine formed first, followed by saponite formation at 32 to 60 °C °C higher temperature, this suggests that Tagish Lake sample TL1 underwent prograde aqueous alteration as the parent body heated up. We find evidence that the parent H 2 O for Orgueil, Tagish Lake sample TL1, and Murchison (based on data from a previous study) may have had Δ′ 17 O values of >0.64 ‰.

Aqueous alteration↗
NASA NTRS1989

PAH in the laboratory and interstellar space

The theory that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a constituent of the interstellar medium, and a source of the IR emission bands at 3.3, 6.2, 7.7, 8.6, and 11.3 microns is being studied using PAH containing acid insoluble residue of the Orgueil CI meteorite and coal tar. FTIR spectra of Orgueil PAH material that has undergone thermal treatment, and a solvent insoluble fraction of coal tar that has been exposed to hydrogen plasma are presented. The UV excided luminescence spectrum of a solvent soluble coal tar film is also shown. Comparison of the lab measurements with observations appears to support the interstellar PAH theory, and shows the process of dehydrogenation expected to take place in the interstellar medium.

Wdowiak, Thomas J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Volatiles in interplanetary dust particles: A comparison with CI and CM chondrites

In an effort to classify and determine the origin of interplanetary dust particles (IDPs), 14 of these particles were studied using a laser microprobe/mass spectrometer. The mass spectra for these particles varied dramatically. Some particles released hydroxide or water which probably originated in hydroxide-bearing minerals or hydrates. Others produced spectra which included a number of hydrocarbons and resembled meteorite spectra. However, none of the individual IDPs gave spectra which could be matched identically with a particular meteorite type such as a CI or CM carbonaceous chondrite. We believe this was due to the fact that 10-20 micron size IDPs are too small to be representative of the parent body. To verify that the diversity was due primarily to the small particle sizes, small grains of approximately the same size range as the IDPs were obtained from two primitive meteorites, Murchison and Orgueil, and these small meteorite particles were treated exactly like the IDPs. Considerable diversity was observed among individual grains, but a composite spectrum of all the grains from one meteorite closely resembled the spectrum obtained from a much larger sample of that meteorite. A composite spectrum of the 14 IDPs also resembled the spectra of the CM and CI meteorites, pointing to a possible link between IDPs and carbonaceous chondrites. This also illustrates that despite the inherent diversity in particles as small as 10-20 micron, conclusions can be drawn about the possible origin and overall composition of such particles by looking not only at results from individual particles but also by including many particles in a study and basing conclusions on some kind of composite data.

Bustin, Roberta↗
NASA NTRS2010

The Effects of Parent Body Processes on Amino Acids in Carbonaceous Chondrites

To investigate the effect of parent body processes on the abundance, distribution, and enantiomeric composition of amino acids in carbonaceous chondrites, the water extracts from nine different powdered Cl, CM, and CR carbonaceous chondrites were analyzed for amino acids by ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection and time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-FD/ToF-MS). Four aqueously altered type 1 carbonaceous chondrites including Orgueil (C11), Meteorite Hills (MET) 01070 (CM1), Scott Glacier (SCO) 06043 (CM1), and Grosvenor Mountains (GRO) 95577 (CR1) were analyzed using this technique for the first time. Analyses of these meteorites revealed low levels of two- to five-carbon acyclic amino alkanoic acids with concentrations ranging from -1 to 2,700 parts-per-billion (ppb). The type 1 carbonaceous chondrites have a distinct distribution of the five-carbon (C5) amino acids with much higher relative abundances of the gamma- and delta-amino acids compared to the type 2 and type 3 carbonaceous chondrites, which are dominated by a-amino acids. Much higher amino acid abundances were found in the CM2 chondrites Murchison, Lonewolf Nunataks (LON) 94102, and Lewis Cliffs (LEW) 90500, the CR2 Elephant Moraine (EET) 92042, and the CR3 Queen Alexandra Range (QUE) 99177. For example, a-aminoisobutyric acid ((alpha-AIB) and isovaline were approximately 100 to 1000 times more abundant in the type 2 and 3 chondrites compared to the more aqueously altered type 1 chondrites. Most of the chiral amino acids identified in these meteorites were racemic, indicating an extraterrestrial abiotic origin. However, non-racemic isovaline was observed in the aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrites Murchison, Orgueil, SCO 06043, and GRO 95577 with L-isovaline excesses ranging from approximately 11 to 19%, whereas the most pristine, unaltered carbonaceous chondrites analyzed in this study had no detectable L-isovaline excesses. These results are consistent with the theory that aqueous alteration played an important role in amplification of small initial left handed isovaline excesses on the parent bodies.

Glavin, Daniel P.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Evidence for Microfossils in Ancient Rocks and Meteorites

The McKay et all. detection of chemical biomarkers and possible microfossils in an ancient meteorite from Mars (ALH84001) stimulated research in several areas of importance to the newly emerging field of Astrobiology. Their report resulted in a search for additional evidence of microfossils in ancient terrestrial rocks and meteorites. These studies of ancient rocks and meteorites were conducted independently (and later collaboratively) in the United States and Russia using the SEM, Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope (ESEM), and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM). We have encountered in-situ in freshly broken carbonaceous chondrites a large number of complex microstructures that appear to be lithified microbial forms. The meteoritic microstructures have characteristics similar to the lithified remains of filamentous cyanobacteria and bacterial microfossils we have found in ancient phosphorites, ancient graphites and oil shales. Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and Link microprobe analysis shows the possible microfossils have a distribution of chemical elements characteristic of the meteorite rock matrix, although many exhibit a superimposed carbon enhancement. We have concluded that the mineralized bodies encountered embedded in the rock matrix of freshly fractured meteoritic surfaces can not be dismissed as recent surface contaminants. Many of the forms found in-situ in the Murchison, Efremovka, and Orgueil carbonaceous meteorites are strikingly similar to microfossils of coccoid bacteria, cyanobacteria and fungi such as we have found in the Cambrian phosphorites of Khubsugul, Mongolia and high carbon Phanerozoic and Precambrian rocks of the Siberian and Russian Platforms.

Hoover, Richard B.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Amino Acid Chemistry as a Link Between Small Solar System Bodies and Carbonaceous Chondrites

Establishing chemical links between meteorites and small solar system bodies, such as comets and asteroids, provides a tool for investigating the processes that occurred during the formation of the solar system. Carbonaceous meteorites are of particular interest, since they may have seeded the early Earth with a variety of prebiotic organic compounds including amino acids, purines and pyrimidines, which are thought to be necessary for the origin of life. Here we report the results of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) based amino acid analyses of the acid-hydrolyzed hot water extracts from pristine interior pieces of the CI carbonaceous chondrites Orgueil and Ivuna and the CM meteorites Murchison and Murray. We found that the CI meteorites Orgueil and Ivuna contained high abundances of beta-alanine and glycine, while only traces of other amino acids like alanine, alpha-amino-n-butryic acid (ABA) and alpha-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB) were detected in these meteorites. Carbon isotopic measurements of beta-alanine and glycine in Orgueil by gas chromatography combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry clearly indicate an extraterrestrial origin of these amino acids. The amino acid composition of Orgueil and Ivuna was strikingly different from the CM chondrites Murchison and Murray. The most notable difference was the high relative abundance of B-alanine in Orgueil and Ivuna compared to Murchison and Murray. Furthermore, AIB, which is one of the most abundant amino acids found in Murchison and Murray, was present in only trace amounts in Orgueil and Ivuna. Our amino acid data strongly suggest that the CI meteorites Orgueil and Ivuna came from a different type of parent body than the CM meteorites Murchison and Murray, possibly from an extinct comet. It is generally thought that carbonaceous meteorites are fragments of larger asteroidal bodies delivered via near Earth objects (NEO). Orbital and dynamic studies suggest that both fragments of main belt asteroids and comets replenish the NEO population, therefore extinct comets may contribute up to half of all NEO's. A comparison of an amino acid analysis of a returned NEO sample to CI and CM carbonaceous chondrites would help establish a link between small solar system bodies and meteorites. Based on our amino acid measurements of CI and CM chondrites, amino acid chemistry can be included as an additional set of criteria to constrain the nature of meteorite parent bodies.

Glavin, Daniel P.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Formation of iron sulphide in solar nebula

Noting that the iron sulfide in the Orgueil carbonaceous meteorite is an Fe-deficient monosulfide (pyrrhotite), it is suggested that such mineral chemistry is inconsistent with equilibrium condensation of the solar nebula and that the course of condensation may have been modified by kinetic effects. The effect of Ni on the reaction between Fe and S to produce FeS is examined, and possible reasons are considered for the fact that the cited meteorite differs in both crystal structure and Ni content from the predictions of equilibrium condensation. It is proposed that sulfide formation in the solar nebula may have been inhibited by sluggish diffusion, so that sulfur began to react with previously condensed troilite to form pyrrhotite. On this basis, observations of the Orgueil sulfides are shown to suggest that the course of solar-system condensation was modified by kinetic effects below about 700 K and that equilibrium may not have been achieved.

Kerridge, J. F.↗
NASA NTRS1987

13C NMR spectroscopy of the insoluble carbon of carbonaceous chondrites

13C NMR spectra have been obtained of the insoluble carbon residues resulting from HF-digestion of three carbonaceous chondrites, Orgueil (C1), Murchison (CM2), and Allende (CV3). Spectra obtained using the cross polarization magic-angle spinning technique show two major features attributable respectively to carbon in aliphatic/olefinic structures. The spectrum obtained from the Allende sample was weak, presumably as a consequence of its low hydrogen content. Single pulse excitation spectra, which do not depend on 1H-13C polarization transfer for signal enhancement were also obtained. These spectra, which may be more representative of the total carbon in the meteorite samples, indicate a greater content of carbon in aromatic/olefinic structures. These results suggest that extensive polycyclic aromatic sheets are important structural features of the insoluble carbon of all three meteorites. The Orgueil and Murchison materials contain additional hydrogenated aromatic/olefinic and aliphatic groups.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS1976

Are the oldest 'fossils', fossils

A comparative statistical study has been carried out on populations of modern algae, Precambrian algal microfossils, the 'organized elements' of the Orgueil carbonaceous meteorite, and the oldest microfossil-like objects now known (spheroidal bodies from the Fig Tree and Onverwacht Groups of the Swaziland Supergroup, South Africa). The distribution patterns exhibited by the more than 3000 m.y.-old Swaziland microstructures bear considerable resemblance to those of the abiotic 'organized elements' but differ rather markedly from those exhibited by younger, assuredly biogenic, populations. Based on these comparisons, it is concluded that the Swaziland spheroids could be, at least in part, of nonbiologic origin; these oldest known fossil-like microstructures should not be regarded as constituting firm evidence of Archean life.

Schopf, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Filamentous Trichomic Prokaryotes in Carbonaceous Meteorites: Indigenous Microfossils, Minerals, or Modern Bio-Contaminants?

Large complex filaments have been detected in freshly fractured interior surfaces of a variety of carbonaceous meteorites. Many exhibit the detailed morphological and morphometric characteristics of known filamentous trichomic prokaryotic microorganisms. In this paper we review prior studies of filamentous microstructures encountered in the meteorites along with the elemental compositions and characteristics of the, fibrous evaporite minerals and filamentous cyanobacteria and homologous trichomic sulfur bacteria. The meteorite images and elemental compositions will compared with data obtained with the same instruments for abiotic microstructures and living and fossil microorganisms in order to evaluate the relative merits of the alternate hypotheses that have been advanced to explain the nature and characteristics of the meteorite filaments. The possibiility that the filaments found in the meteorites may be comprise modern bio-contaminants will be evaluated in light of their observed elemental compositions and data by other researchers on the detection of indigenous complex organic biosignatures, and extraterrestrial amino acids and nucleobases found in the Murchison CM2 and the Orgueil CI1 carbonaceous meteorites.

Hoover, Richard B.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Oxygen isotopes in circumstellar Al203 grains from meteorites and stellar nucleosynthesis

We have found a approximately 3 micrometer Al2O3 grain (B39) in the Bishunpur LL3.1 chondrite that is enriched in 0-17 by a factor of approximately 6.8 (0-16/0-17 = 385 +/- 9) and depleted in 0-18 by almost 60% (0-16/0-18 = 853 +/- 30) relative to solar system oxygen and has an initial Al-26/Al-27 = 1.7 +/- 0.2 x 10 (exp 3), approximately 34 times greater than the initial solar system value. The isotopic compositions of B39 and two other Al2O3 grains previously reported from the Orgueil and Murchison meteorites show that these grains formed directly from the ejecta of low-mass AGB stars with C/O less than 1. A simple theoretical analysis is presented showing that the oxygen systematics of the grains are a natural consequence of main-sequence evolution followed by first dredge-up Al-26 is the result of third dredge-up. Circumstellar Al2O3 grains provide very precise isotopic data for stellar ejecta that complement spectroscopic observations of oxygen-rich stars. Isotopic differences indicate that the Al2O3 grains come from separate stars of different mass and intital oxygen composition that originated in molecular clouds different from the one in which the solar system formed.

Huss, Gary R.↗