Abstract
THE record of collisions on asteroids, as preserved in meteorite breccias, provides important constraints on impact cratering events in the inner Solar System1,2. Many young gas-retention ages (with a peak at ∼500 Myr) have been reported for meteorite breccias3,4, but except for a few cases5, they have not been substantiated by the much less susceptible clocks based on refractory parent-daughter nuclides such as 87Rb–87Sr. Furthermore, the nature and intensity of the thermal events responsible for young meteorite ages have not been well evaluated. Here we report an age of 460±11 (2σ) Myr, well defined by a Rb–Sr internal isochron for the completely impact-melted L-chondrite, Point of Rocks. This age provides the first evidence for a young intense collision leading to melting on an asteroid.
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Nakamura, N., Fujiwara, T. & Nohda, S. Young asteroid melting event indicated by Rb–Sr dating of the Point of Rocks meteorite. Nature 345, 51–52 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/345051a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/345051a0
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