Abstract
Arising from: J. M. D. Day et al. Nature 457, 179–182 (2009)10.1038/nature07651; Day et al. reply
The production of terrestrial andesites in subduction zones is well established. Day et al.1 describe two examples of meteorites (GRA 06128 and GRA 06129) that they claim to represent “an entirely new mode of generation of andesite crust compositions” on asteroids; this suggestion has wide implications for the generation of andesitic planetary crusts in general. However, here we show that compositional data, particularly for the rare-earth elements (REEs) and other lithophile elements, presented in their paper1 do not substantiate this claim. We conclude that existing mechanisms for andesite generation do not need revision.
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References
Day, J. M. D. et al. Early formation of evolved asteroidal crust. Nature 457, 179–182 (2009)
Mittlefehldt, D. W. & Lindstrom, M. M. Geochemistry of diverse lithologies in Antarctic eucrites. Lunar Planet. Sci. XIX, abstr. 790-1 (1988)
Taylor, S. R. & McLennan, S. M. Planetary Crusts: Their Composition, Origin and Evolution Table 11.4 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2009)
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Arculus, R., Campbell, I., McLennan, S. et al. Asteroids and andesites. Nature 459, E1 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08077
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08077
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