Evidence for magnesium isotope heterogeneity in the solar protoplanetary disk

Abstract

With a half-life of 0.73Myr, the 26Al-to-26Mg decay system is the most widely used short-lived chronometer for understanding the formation and earliest evolution of the solar protoplanetary disk. However, the validity of 26Al-26Mg ages of meteorites and their components relies on the critical assumption that the canonical 26Al/27Al ratio of ∼5× 10-5 recorded by the oldest dated solids, calcium-aluminium-rich inclusions (CAIs), represents the initial abundance of 26Al for the solar system as a whole. Here, we report high-precision Mg-isotope measurements of inner solar system solids, asteroids, and planets demonstrating the existence of widespread heterogeneity in the mass-independent 26Mg composition (μ26Mg*) of bulk solar system reservoirs with solar or near-solar Al/Mg ratios. This variability may represent heterogeneity in the initial abundance of 26Al across the solar protoplanetary disk at the time of CAI formation and/or Mg-isotope heterogeneity. By comparing the U-Pb and 26Al-26Mg ages of pristine solar system materials, we infer that the bulk of the μ26Mg* variability reflects heterogeneity in the initial abundance of 26Al across the solar protoplanetary disk. We conclude that the canonical value of 5 × 10 -5 represents the average initial abundance of 26Al only in the CAI-forming region, and that large-scale heterogeneity - perhaps up to 80% of the canonical value - may have existed throughout the inner solar system. If correct, our interpretation of the Mg-isotope composition of inner solar system objects precludes the use of the 26Al-26Mg system as an accurate early solar system chronometer. © 2011. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.