Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Apr 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004psrd.repte..81t&link_type=abstract
Planetary Science Research Discoveries
Mathematics
Logic
Meteorites, Chondrites, Asteroids, Shock Heating
Scientific paper
Almost all meteorites are chips of asteroids. Their mineralogical and chemical properties show that they have been heated to varying amounts, from a little (only 25 degrees C or so) to melting at more than 1100 degrees C. Isotopic dating shows that meteorites formed near the beginning of the solar system 4.55 billion years ago. What was the source of energy to heat them? The leading candidate is the decay of short-lived radioactive isotopes such as aluminum-26. This isotope has a short half-life, only 700 thousand years. It decays rapidly, releasing heat as it does so. Studies of chondritic meteorites prove that aluminum-26 was present when the solar system formed, so it is the logical source of heat to warm up and even melt asteroids.
Parts of asteroids have also been heated by the impact of other asteroids. Alan Rubin (UCLA) has been studying the effects of shock in chondrites for a long time. He has documented what this generally messy process does to chondrites and other stony meteorites whose ages show that they were affected by impacts long after aluminum-26 had decayed completely away. He now reports that some of the features common to shocked chondrites (those clearly affected by impact) are also abundant in apparently unshocked chondrites. This leads him to suggest that impacts played an important role in heating chondrites. If correct, this conclusion has great implications for the early history of the asteroid belt. The idea is controversial, however, and will be debated by meteoriticists.
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