Soluble Organic Species Released from the Insoluble Carbonaceous Material of a Pristine Cr2 Meteorite

Introduction: Soluble organic compounds are known to be abundant in CM carbonaceous chondrites (CC), where they comprise a complex and diverse suite of both water-, and solventextractable molecular species [1]. The soluble organic composition of the Renazzo-type meteorites, known only recently through the studies of a few CR2 finds from Antarctica, was shown to differ from that of CMs in the overall preponderance of waterover solvent-soluble molecular species, N-containing amino acids and amines in particular [2]. According to a study by Cody and Alexander, the CR2 insoluble organic material (IOM) also shows substantial differences with other CC and appears to contain the largest alkyl component of all IOMs analyzed so far [3]. Given that Tagish Lake ranked at the other extreme of the measurements with the lowest alkyl portion in its IOM, the data appear to indicate that CR2 parent body processes may not have substantially altered its insoluble organics. We have undertaken a study of the soluble organic species released from the CR2 GRA95229 meteorite IOM upon hydrothermal treatment (HT) and compared the results with those obtained by similar studies of Murray IOM [4].