The Tagish Lake Meteorite: A Possible Sample from a D-Type Asteroid

Abstract

A new type of carbonaceous chondrite, the Tagish Lake meteorite, exhibits a reflectance spectrum similar to spectra observed from the D-type asteroids, which are relatively abundant in the outer solar system beyond the main asteroid belt and have been inferred to be more primitive than any known meteorite. Until the Tagish Lake fall, these asteroids had no analog in the meteorite collections. The Tagish Lake meteorite is a carbon-rich (4 to 5 weight %), aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrite and contains high concentrations of presolar grains and carbonate minerals, which is consistent with the expectation that the D-type asteroids were originally made of primitive materials and did not experience any extensive heating.