Calcium Isotope Composition of Meteorites, Earth, and Mars

The relative abundances of calcium isotopes in the mass range 40–44 were measured in primitive and differentiated meteorites and igneous rocks from Earth and Mars in search of non-mass-dependent variations that could provide clues about early solar system processes. Most bulk samples of planetary materials have calcium isotopic compositions identical with Earth's within the current resolution of about 0.01% in 40 Ca/ 44 Ca. Possible exceptions include carbonaceous chondrites, some ordinary chondrites, and two samples of calcium–aluminum-rich inclusions, which have small excesses of 40 Ca. The samples with 40 Ca excesses are also known to have 50 Ti and 135 Ba excesses and 142 Nd and 144 Sm deficits. Collectively these data from refractory elements suggest that the planetary embryos represented by chondrites preserve isotopic heterogeneity that reflects different nucleosynthetic sources. No late admixture from a single nucleosynthetic source can explain all observations. The results are most compatible with variable proportions of material derived from Type II supernovae. The initial calcium isotope compositions of Earth and Mars are indistinguishable and similar to the 40 Ca abundance found in some chondrites and all differentiated meteorites studied. It appears that isotopic heterogeneity in calcium was still present at the completion of disk formation but was homogenized during planetary accretion.