Roles of minerals during the evolution of organic matter in planetesimals

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K03722
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 17010:Space and planetary sciences-related
• Research Institution: Yokohama National University
• Principal Investigator: Kebukawa Yoko 横浜国立大学, 大学院工学研究院, 准教授 (70725374)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 隕石 / 太陽系 / 有機物 / 鉱物

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The chemical processes that occurred inside the small bodies in the early Solar System played important roles in the final chemical structures of the complex organic matter in the primitive meteorites. However, little is known about the role of minerals during the chemical processes of organic matter.
In this study, we conducted heating experiments on minerals and the analogue of primordial organic matter in meteorites, and revealed the effect of minerals on metamorphism of organic matter. We applied nano-infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR) for the first time to analyze organic matter in meteorite, and successfully visualized the relationship between organic functional groups and mineral distributions with a spatial resolution of tens of nm. Using a transmission scanning X-ray microscope (STXM), the characteristics of organic matter and the relationship with coexistence minerals in meteorites with various degrees of alteration were investigated.

Free Research Field

宇宙化学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究により，太陽系初期の物質進化過程において，個別の鉱物が有機物に及ぼす影響を明らかにした。また，隕石中の有機物の特徴と鉱物の分布を可視化することにより，有機物・鉱物の相互作用を踏まえた物質進化過程解明へのアプローチ基盤を確立した。本研究で得られた結果及び研究手法は，2020年末に帰還が予定されているはやぶさ2ミッションなどによる小惑星からのリターンサンプル分析にも応用できると期待される。