Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

Analysis of Ryugu Fluid Inclusions: An Update

  • Andrei Dolocan
  • , Robert Bodnar
  • , Michael Zolensky
  • , JangMi Han
  • , Romy Hanna
  • , Iona Gearba
  • , Queenie Chan
  • , Trevor Ireland
  • , Loan Le
  • , Megumi Matsumoto
  • , Akira Tsuchiyama

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

The most direct and convincing evidence for the presence of water and organic molecules on protoplanetary bodies is provided by fluid inclusions trapped in secondary minerals. Our previous work has demonstrated that early solar system fluids have survived as fluid inclusions in a Ryugu pyrrhotite crystal. We hypothesize that the bulk molecular and isotopic composition of individual Ryugu fluid inclusions can be measured to provide ground truth for exploring and thermochemical modeling of the compositional and isotopic evolution of fluids in protoplanetary bodies including asteroids, comets and icy moons. This presentation is an update on our efforts to make measurements of elemental, molecular and isotopic compositions of individual aqueous fluid inclusions in Ryugu samples, with goals including understanding elemental compositions, tracking chemical and isotopic changes, verifying organics and CO2 contents, measuring O and H isotopes, constraining temperature ranges of mineralizing reactions, and determining sulfur/chloride and chloride/phosphorus ratios relevant to small-body aqueous systems.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationHayabusa Symposium (HAYABUSA2024)
Place of PublicationSagamihara, Japan
PublisherJapan Aerospace Exploration Agency
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2024

Cite this