Meteorites from acapulcoite-lodranite meteorite clan (ALC) represent the products of thermal metamorphism and low degree partial melting of a primitive asteroid. Ureilites are achondrites formed as ultramafic mantle restites on a planetesimal that did not reach a magma ocean stage. As such these meteorites represent an appealing target to study early planetary differentiation processes, which have a direct bearing onto formation of terrestrial planets.
During my EoS postdoctoral project at UGent, VUB and ULB Brussels, together with colleagues from Leibnitz University Hannover and NHM Vienna, we explored Fe, Zn and Mg isotope ratio variations of bulk ureilites, ALC, of their separated silicate and metal fractions, as well as handpicked single mineral fractions. These isotopic signatures in achondrites record partial melting and melts separation, early core formation, evaporation / condensation, diffusion and thermal equilibration between minerals at the meteorite parent bodies, and allow to explore the earliest stages of planetesimals’ evolution in the Early Solar System.