Correlated alteration effects in CM carbonaceous chondrites

Three parameters are proposed to determine the relative extent of alteration in CM chondrites. The mineralogic alteration index monitors the relative progress of coupled substitutions in the progressive alteration of cronstedtite to Mg-serpentine and increases with increasing alteration. To calculate values of this index, an algorithm has been developed to estimate the average matrix phyllosilicate composition in individual CM chondrites. The second parameter is the volume percent of isolated matrix silicates, which decreases with progressive alteration due to mineral hydration. Finally, the volume percent of chondrule alteration monitors the extent of chondrule phyllosilicate production and increases as alteration proceeds. These parameters define the first CM alteration scale that relies on multiple indicators of progressive alteration. The following relative order of increasing alteration is established by this model: Murchison less than or equal to Bells < Pollen less than or equal to Murray < Mighei < Nogoya < Cold Bokkeveld. The relative degree of aqueous processing Cochabamba and Boriskino experienced is less precisely constrained, although both fall near the middle of this sequence. A comparison between the mineralogic alteration index and literature values for the whole-rock chemistry of CM chondrites reveals several correlations. A positive, nearly linear correlation between bulk H content and progressive CM alteration suggests an approximately constant production rate of new phyllosilicates relative to the mineralogical transition from cronstedtite to Mg-serpentine. The abundance of trapped planetary Ar-36 decreases systematically in progressively altered CM chondrites, suggesting the wholesale destruction of primary noble gas carrier phase(s) by aqueous reactions. Because low temperature fluid-rock reactions are generally associated with large isotopic mass fractionation factors, we also compared our model predictions with delta(18)O values for bulk CM samples. Although some of these data are poorly resolved, the order of increasing delta(18)O values approximates the order of increasing alteration predicted by our model parameters. Multiple correlations between diverse alteration parameters strongly suggest that (a) different CM chondrites experienced similar kinds of processes and conditions, and (b) CM materials experienced in situ alteration on the CM parent body or bodies.