An evaporite sequence from ancient brine recorded in Bennu samples

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Mccoy, T. J.; Russell, S. S.; Zega, T. J.; Thomas-Keprta, K. L.; Singerling, S. A.; Brenker, F. E.; Timms, N. E.; Rickard, W. D. A.; Barnes, J. J.; Libourel, G.; Ray, S.; Corrigan, C. M.; Haenecour, P.; Gainsforth, Z.; Dominguez, G.; King, A. J.; Keller, L. P.; Thompson, M. S.; Sandford, S. A.; Jones, R. H.; Yurimoto, H.; Righter, K.; Eckley, S. A.; Bland, P. A.; Marcus, M. A.; Dellagiustina, D. N.; Ireland, T. R.; Almeida, N. V.; Harrison, C. S.; Bates, H. C.; Schofield, P. F.; Seifert, L. B.; Sakamoto, N.; Kawasaki, N.; Jourdan, F.; Reddy, S. M.; Saxey, D. W.; Ong, I. J.; Prince, B. S.; Ishimaru, K.; Smith, L. R.; Benner, M. C.; Kerrison, N. A.; Portail, M.; Guigoz, V.; Zanetta, P. -m.; Wardell, L. R.; Gooding, T.; Rose, T. R.; Salge, T.; Le, L.; Tu, V. M.; Zeszut, Z.; Mayers, C.; Sun, X.; Hill, D. H.; Lunning, N. G.; Hamilton, V. E.; Glavin, D. P.; Dworkin, J. P.; Kaplan, H. H.; Franchi, I. A.; Tait, K. T.; Tachibana, S.; Connolly Jr, H. C.; Lauretta, D. S.
• 署名单位: Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History; Natural History Museum London; University of Arizona; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA); NASA Johnson Space Center; Curtin University; Curtin University; Universite Cote d'Azur; Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); University of California System; University of California Berkeley; California State University System; California State University San Marcos; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA); Purdue University System; Purdue University; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA); NASA Ames Research Center; University of Manchester; Hokkaido University; University of Rochester; United States Department of Energy (DOE); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; University of Queensland; Hokkaido University; Universite Cote d'Azur; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale (Inserm); Southwest Research Institute; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA); NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; Open University - UK; Royal Ontario Museum; University of Tokyo; Rowan University; American Museum of Natural History (AMNH); United States Department of Energy (DOE); Los Alamos National Laboratory
• 刊物名称: Nature
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0028-3345
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08495-6
• 发表日期: 2025-01-30
• 关键词: water; enceladus; EVOLUTION; minerals

摘要

Evaporation or freezing of water-rich fluids with dilute concentrations of dissolved salts can produce brines, as observed in closed basins on Earth1 and detected by remote sensing on icy bodies in the outer Solar System2,3. The mineralogical evolution of these brines is well understood in regard to terrestrial environments4, but poorly constrained for extraterrestrial systems owing to a lack of direct sampling. Here we report the occurrence of salt minerals in samples of the asteroid (101955) Bennu returned by the OSIRIS-REx mission5. These include sodium-bearing phosphates and sodium-rich carbonates, sulfates, chlorides and fluorides formed during evaporation of a late-stage brine that existed early in the history of Bennu's parent body. Discovery of diverse salts would not be possible without mission sample return and careful curation and storage, because these decompose with prolonged exposure to Earth's atmosphere. Similar brines probably still occur in the interior of icy bodies Ceres and Enceladus, as indicated by spectra or measurement of sodium carbonate on the surface or in plumes2,3.