Nitrogen components in primitive ordinary chondrites

Abstract

Nitrogen and Ar in more than 20 primitive ordinary chondrites were studied by a stepped combustion method. Several N carriers that are characterized by N isotopic composition, N release pattern and trapped Ar release pattern are recognized in the primitive ordinary chondrites. Large fractions of anomalous N and associated Ar are removed by acid treatment in most cases. The N isotopic anomalies cannot be explained by known presolar grains (with a possible exception of graphite), and some of the N isotopic anomalies may be due to unknown presolar grains. There is no specific relationship between the type of N carriers contained in an ordinary chondrite and the chemical type (H, L, or LL) of the chondrite. It is likely that as a result of impacts, the carriers of isotopically anomalous N were mixed in various parent bodies as rock fragments rather than as individual fine particles. The presence of distinctive N isotopic anomalies in primitive meteorites indicates that the primitive solar nebula may have bene heterogeneous either spatially or temporally.