Magnetism of the Acapulco Primitive Achondrite and Implications for the
Evolution of Partially Differentiated Bodies
Abstract
Primitive achondrites like the acapulcoites-lodranites (AL) clan are
meteorites that formed on bodies in the process of forming a metallic
core, providing a unique window into how early solar system processes
transformed unmelted material into differentiated bodies. However, the
size and structure of the parent body of ALs and other primitive
achondrites are largely unknown. Paleomagnetism can establish the
presence or absence of a metallic core by looking for evidence of a
dynamo magnetic field. We conducted a magnetic study of the Acapulco
acapulcoite to determine its ferromagnetic minerals and their recording
properties. This is the first detailed rock magnetic and first
paleomagnetic study of a primitive achondrite group. We determined that
metal inclusions located inside silicate grains consist of two magnetic
minerals, kamacite and tetrataenite, which have robust recording
properties. However, the mechanisms and timing by which these minerals
acquired any natural remanent magnetization are unknown. Despite this,
Acapulco has not been substantially remagnetized since arriving on Earth
and therefore should retain a record dating to 4.55 billion years ago.
Future studies could characterize this record by using high resolution
magnetometry measurements of individual grains and developing an
understanding of how and when they became magnetized. Our discovery of
tetrataenite in ALs provides the first mineralogical evidence for slow
cooling (~5 x 103 °C Ma-1) of the AL parent body at low
temperatures (~320°C). Its presence means that the AL
parent body is unlikely to have been catastrophically disrupted at AL
peak temperatures (~1200°C) without subsequent
reaccretion.