@article{b707c49b041b4e1eb5de4bb8abec29a9,
title = "Hydrothermal fluid activity on asteroid Itokawa",
abstract = "Carbonaceous chondrites contain widespread mineralogical evidence for water–rock interactions, indicating that the C-type asteroids from which they are derived had active hydrothermal systems. In comparison, ordinary chondrites contain secondary minerals that are predominantly anhydrous, suggesting that their parent S-type asteroids were relatively dry. The returned particles from the Hayabusa Mission allow us to probe directly the alteration history of S-type asteroid Itokawa. Here we report nanometre-sized NaCl crystals identified in the interior of an Itokawa particle. These crystals are intimately associated with secondary albitic plagioclase, indicating coupled formation. The NaCl most likely formed through precipitation from an aqueous fluid prior to complete metamorphic dehydration on asteroid Itokawa. Our results therefore imply that asteroid Itokawa supported an active hydrothermal system and suggest that the once-hydrated S-type asteroids could have potentially delivered water to terrestrial planets.",
author = "Shaofan Che and Zega, {Thomas J.}",
note = "Funding Information: This research was supported by the NASA Laboratory Analysis of Returned Samples grant no. 80NSSC19K0509 awarded to T.J.Z. We acknowledge NASA grant no. NNX12AL47G and no. NNX15AJ22G, and NSF grant no. 1531243 and no. 0619599 for funding the instrumentation in the KMICF at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, UA. We thank R. Downs in the Department of Geosciences, UA for the loan of the terrestrial albite sample. We greatly appreciate members of the Planetary Materials Research Group at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory for very helpful feedback and suggestions. S.C. would like to thank P.-M. Zanetta for helpful conversations on quantification of EDS spectra and L. Keller, J. Lewis and M. Zolotov for useful information and discussions. S.C. also appreciates Z. Zeszut, T. Ramprasad and Y.-J. Chang for their assistance with FIB and TEM operations. Funding Information: This research was supported by the NASA Laboratory Analysis of Returned Samples grant no. 80NSSC19K0509 awarded to T.J.Z. We acknowledge NASA grant no. NNX12AL47G and no. NNX15AJ22G, and NSF grant no. 1531243 and no. 0619599 for funding the instrumentation in the KMICF at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, UA. We thank R. Downs in the Department of Geosciences, UA for the loan of the terrestrial albite sample. We greatly appreciate members of the Planetary Materials Research Group at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory for very helpful feedback and suggestions. S.C. would like to thank P.-M. Zanetta for helpful conversations on quantification of EDS spectra and L. Keller, J. Lewis and M. Zolotov for useful information and discussions. S.C. also appreciates Z. Zeszut, T. Ramprasad and Y.-J. Chang for their assistance with FIB and TEM operations. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",
year = "2023",
month = sep,
doi = "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-02012-x",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "7",
pages = "1063--1069",
journal = "Nature Astronomy",
issn = "2397-3366",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",
number = "9",
}