Progressive aqueous alteration of CR carbonaceous chondrites

The wide range in the degree of aqueous alteration of CR chondrites prompted us to formulate a numerical sequence for these rocks that ranges from petrologic type 2.0 to 2.8. (Hypothetical CR3.0 chondrites should be completely free of aqueous alteration effects.) About 70% of CR chondrites are slightly altered, type-2.8 rocks that exhibit heterogeneous alteration; these meteorites contain moderately abundant metallic Fe-Ni, no magnetite, and generally, a few chondrules with clear glassy mesostases. None of the chondrules in these rocks shows evidence of alteration of mafic silicate phenocrysts, but several chondrules are surrounded by phyllosilicate-rich rims that appear “smooth” when viewed by back-scattered-electron imaging. Matrix regions in slightly altered CR chondrites contain high S (∼3 wt.%), but some matrix patches in the same thin sections record alteration effects and contain appreciably less S (<1.5 wt.%). In CR chondrites that have been more-significantly altered (e.g., Renazzo and Al Rais), metallic Fe-Ni has been partially replaced by magnetite ± sulfide; mafic silicates have been partly altered to phyllosilicates, particularly along edges, fractures and twin boundaries. One of the most-altered CR chondrites (type-2.0 GRO 95577) contains abundant magnetite, additional oxide phases, iron carbonate, only very rare metallic Fe-Ni and essentially no mafic silicate grains. The whole-rock O-isotopic compositions of CR chondrites correlate with the degree of aqueous alteration: Δ17O ranges from ∼−2.6‰ in type-2.8 samples to ∼−0.4‰ in type 2.0.