Isotopic Trichotomy of Main Belt Asteroids from Implantation of Outer Solar System Planetesimals

TL;DR

This study uses N-body simulations to demonstrate that CI chondrite-like asteroids could have been implanted into the asteroid belt from the outer solar system, explaining their isotopic distinctiveness.

Contribution

It provides a dynamical model showing efficient implantation of outer solar system planetesimals into the asteroid belt, accounting for isotopic differences.

Findings

Approximately 5% of 100-km planetesimals from 15-25 au reach stable asteroid belt orbits.

Implantation efficiency decreases when considering planetesimal ablation.

The model explains the isotopic uniqueness of CI chondrites compared to other C-type asteroids.

Abstract

Recent analyses of samples from asteroid (162173) Ryugu returned by JAXA's Hayabusa2 mission suggest that Ryugu and CI chondrites formed in the same region of the protoplanetary disk, in a reservoir that was isolated from the source regions of other carbonaceous (C-type) asteroids. Here we conduct $N$-body simulations in which CI planetesimals are assumed to have formed in the Uranus/Neptune zone at $\sim15$--25 au from the Sun. We show that CI planetesimals are scattered by giant planets toward the asteroid belt where their orbits can be circularized by aerodynamic gas drag. We find that the dynamical implantation of CI asteroids from $\sim15$--25 au is very efficient with $\sim 5$\% of $\sim 100$-km planetesimals reaching stable orbits in the asteroid belt by the end of the protoplanetary gas disk lifetime. The efficiency is reduced when planetesimal ablation is accounted for. The implanted population subsequently evolved by collisions and was depleted by dynamical instabilities. The model can explain why CIs are isotopically distinct from other C-type asteroids which presumably formed at $\sim5$--10 au.