Journal article
In situ analysis of Refractory Metal Nuggets in carbonaceous chondrites
L Daly, PA Bland, KA Dyl, LV Forman, KA Evans, PW Trimby, S Moody, L Yang, H Liu, SP Ringer, CG Ryan, M Saunders
Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta | PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD | Published : 2017
Abstract
Micrometre to sub-micrometre-scale alloys of platinum group elements (PGEs) known as Refractory Metal Nuggets (RMNs) have been observed in primitive meteorites. The Australian Synchrotron X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) beamline, in tandem with the Maia detector, allows rapid detection of PGEs in concentrations as low as 50–100 ppm at 2 μm resolution. Corroborating these analyses with traditional electron microscopy techniques, RMNs can be rapidly identified in situ within carbonaceous chondrites. These results dispute the assumption of most previous studies: that RMNs are unique to Ca–Al-rich inclusions (CAIs). We find that RMNs are, in fact, observed within all components of carbonaceous chondrit..
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Funding Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the Australian Research Council via their Australian Laureate Fellowship program. This research was undertaken on the XFM beamline at the Australian Synchrotron, Victoria, Australia. The authors acknowledge the facilities, and the scientific and technical assistance, of the Australian Microscopy & Microanalysis Research Facility at the Australian Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, the University of Sydney and the Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis, University of Western Australia. The authors would also like to thank the rest of the Desert Fireball Network research group as well as Mr. Timmons Erikson, Mr. Mark Daly, Ms. Mary Munroe, Ms. Sarah Hayes and Ms. Jennifer Porter for their assistance. Finally the authors would like to thank the three reviewers, as well as associate editor Nicolas Dauphas for their constructive comments and suggestions which significantly improved this manuscript.