Romain Tartese

The University of Manchester · School of Earth and Environmental Sciences

The past two decades of lunar exploration have seen the detection of substantial quantities of water on the Moon’s surface. It has been proposed that a hydrated layer exists at depth in lunar soils, buffering a water cycle on the Moon globally. However, a reservoir has yet to be identified for this hydrated layer. Here we report the abundance, hydr...

The Winchcombe meteorite fell on February 28, 2021 and was the first recovered meteorite fall in the UK for 30 years, and the first UK carbonaceous chondrite. The meteorite was widely observed by meteor camera networks, doorbell cameras, and eyewitnesses, and 213.5 g (around 35% of the final recovered mass) was collected quickly—within 12 h—of its...

Background: Members of editorial boards of academic journals are often considered gatekeepers of knowledge and role models for the academic community. Editorial boards should be sufficiently diverse in the background of their members to facilitate publishing manuscripts representing a wide range of research paradigms, methods, and cultural perspect...

In situ carbonate U–Pb dating studies have proliferated dramatically in recent years. Almost all these studies have targeted relatively young terrestrial calcite up to Carboniferous in age. To assess the robustness of the carbonate U–Pb chronometer in deep time, we carried out in situ U–Pb analyses in magnesite–ankerite–calcite carbonates in the ma...

Background: Editorial board members of academic journals are often considered gatekeepers of knowledge and role models for the community. Editorial boards should have sufficiently diverse backgrounds to facilitate the publication of manuscripts with a wide range of research paradigms, methods, and cultural perspectives. Objectives: This study crit...

Direct links between carbonaceous chondrites and their parent bodies in the solar system are rare. The Winchcombe meteorite is the most accurately recorded carbonaceous chondrite fall. Its pre-atmospheric orbit and cosmic-ray exposure age confirm that it arrived on Earth shortly after ejection from a primitive asteroid. Recovered only hours after f...

The Stac Fada Member is a Mesoproterozoic (1177±5 Ma) single layer ejecta impactite from NW Scotland. Its deposition history is potentially analogous to impactites on Mars and as such, we have compared it to samples of the martian regolith breccia Northwest Africa (NWA) 11220, which is a polymict breccia thought to be representative of the near-sur...

Impact glasses found in lunar soils provide a possible window into the impact history of the inner solar system. However, their use for precise reconstruction of this history is limited by an incomplete understanding of the physical mechanisms responsible for their origin and distribution and possible relationships to local and regional geology. He...

The Moon can have elevated chlorine (Cl) isotope ratios, much higher than any other Solar System objects. Deciphering the Cl isotope compositions of volcanic lunar samples is critical for unraveling the volcanic processes and volatile inventory of the Moon's interior. However, the processes and mechanisms of Cl isotope fractionation are not yet ful...

Background: Editorial board members of academic journals are often considered gatekeepers of knowledge and role models for the community. Editorial boards should have sufficiently diverse backgrounds to facilitate the publication of manuscripts with a wide range of research paradigms, methods, and cultural perspectives.Objectives: This study critic...

The last decade of lunar exploration has revealed the presence of significant quantities of water on the Moon’s surface, notably characterised by global water retention, release, and replenishment1-9. This led to the proposition that a hydrated layer exists at depth in lunar soils, buffering a water cycle on the Moon globally9. However, so far no c...

The Stac Fada Member is an ejecta layer in NW Scotland deposited after an impact event approximately 1.2 billion years ago. Aggregates of ash near the top of the layer contain pieces of altered glass with preserved organic material that we interpret as being incorporated during the impact event. By using optical microscopy and micro-Raman spectrosc...

Impact crater central peaks and peak ring complexes are important exploration targets for future missions to other planetary bodies, because they provide access to material uplifted from lower crustal levels. Material exposed there could also provide chronological constraints on crater formation events. Therefore, it is essential to understand if u...

The regolith breccia Northwest Africa (NWA) 7034 and paired samples are unique meteorite representatives of the martian crust. They are water rich, lithologically varied, and preserve the oldest martian zircon grains yet discovered that formed ca. 4500-4300 Ma. The meteorite thus provides us with an invaluable record of the crustal and environmenta...

Recent studies investigating magmatic volatile contents indicate widespread enrichment of carbon, sulfur, and halogens in ocean island basalts. At El Hierro in the Western Canary Islands, magmas with exceptionally high CO2 and S contents have been erupting throughout the Holocene. High S content of up to 5200 ppm requires an oxidised mantle source,...

The distribution of water in the Moon’s interior carries implications for the origin of the Moon1, the crystallisation of the lunar magma ocean2, and the duration of lunar volcanism2. The Chang’E-5 (CE5) mission returned the youngest mare basalt samples, dated at 2.0 billion years ago (Ga)3, from the northwestern Procellarum KREEP Terrane (PKT), pr...

Sample return shows late lunar volcanism Measuring physical samples of Solar System bodies in the laboratory provides more information than is possible from remote sensing alone. In December 2020, the Chang’e-5 mission landed on the Moon, collected samples, and returned them to Earth. Che et al . analyze two fragments of volcanic lunar basalt colle...

The distribution of water in the Moon’s interior carries key implications for the origin of the Moon ¹ , the crystallisation of the lunar magma ocean ² , and the duration of lunar volcanism2. The Chang’E-5 (CE5) mission returned the youngest mare basalt samples, dated at ca. 2.0 billion years ago ³ , from the northwestern Procellarum KREEP Terrane...

Ultra-high-pressure (UHP) eclogites and ultramafites and associated fluid inclusions from the Western Gneiss Region, Norwegian Caledonides, have been analysed for F, Cl, Br and I using electron-probe micro-analysis, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry and neutron-irradiated noble gas mass spectrometry. Textures of multi-phase and fluid i...

Some of the oldest traces for planktonic lifestyle have been reported in ca. 3.4 billion years old silicified sediments from the Strelley Pool Formation in Western Australia. Observation of flange appendages suggests that Archean life motility was passive and driven by drifting of microorganisms in their surrounding environment. Until now, the olde...

Apatite has been widely used for assessing the volatile inventory and hydrothermal fluid compositions of asteroidal and planetary bodies. We report the OH, F, and Cl abundances, as well as the hydrogen isotope composition, of apatite in the CM1-2 chondrite Boriskino and in the C1-ungrouped Bench Crater meteorite. Apatite in both meteorites is haloge...

Significance The depletion of moderately volatile elements in the lunar interior, compared to the Earth’s interior, is accompanied by enrichment in heavy isotopes for most species. This has been explained by vapor loss from the protolunar disk, incomplete accretion of volatiles, or volatile degassing during crystallization of the lunar magma ocean....

Forty years ago, the synthesis of ozone has revealed mass-independent fractionation (MIF) of oxygen isotopes. Among the numerous published interpretations of this ozone effect, the present paper reports that a titanium MIF observed during chemical reactions in plasma can be accounted for by one of these theoretical treatments. A gaseous mixture of...

Isotopes of heavy elements are produced in various amounts by nuclear processes in stars1,2. Consequently, the presence of isotopic anomalies in the Solar System is considered to reflect the presence of presolar grains condensed in previous generations of stars3 and not a (proto-) Solar System process. However, for oxygen, the major rock-forming el...

Projectiles striking the Moon have modified its crust and delivered volatile elements to its interior and surface. Direct evidence of impactor origins is recorded by the rare occurrence of sub-cm sized meteorite fragments identified in Apollo samples and lunar meteorites. The Bench Crater meteorite is a millimetre-sized carbonaceous chondrite colle...

Apollo 16 soil-like regolith breccia 65745,7 contains two zircon-bearing clasts. One of these clasts is a thermally annealed silica-rich rock, which mineralogically has affinities with the High Alkali Suite (Clast 1), and yields zircon dates ranging from 4.08 to 3.38 Ga. The other clast is a KREEP-rich impact melt breccia (Clast 2) and yields zirco...

Since the discovery of water (a term collectively used for the total H, OH and H2O) in samples derived from the lunar interior, heterogeneity in both water concentration and its hydrogen isotopic ratio has been documented for various lunar phases. However, most previous studies have focused on measurements of hydrogen in apatite, which typically fo...

The oldest traces for planktonic lifestyle have been reported in ca. 3.4 billion years old silicified sediments from the Strelley Pool Formation in Western Australia. Observation of flange appendages suggests that Archean life motility was passive and driven by drifting of microorganisms in their surrounding environment. Until now, the oldest trace...

Open Access (OA) describes the free, unrestricted access to and re-use of research articles. Recently, a new wave of interest, debate, and practice surrounding OA publishing has emerged. In this paper, we provide a simple overview of the trends in OA practice in the broad field of geochemistry. Characteristics of the approach such as whether or not...

Open Access (OA) describes the free, unrestricted access to and re-use of research articles. Recently, a new wave of interest, debate, and practice surrounding OA publishing has emerged. In this paper, we provide a simple overview of the trends in OA practice in the broad field of geochemistry. Characteristics of the approach such as whether or not...

The Moon is the only planetary body other than the Earth for which samples have been collected in situ by humans and robotic missions and returned to Earth. Scientific investigations of the first lunar samples returned by the Apollo 11 astronauts 50 years ago transformed the way we think most planetary bodies form and evolve. Identification of anor...

The paired achondrites Graves Nunataks (GRA) 06128 and 06129 are samples of an asteroid that underwent partial melting within a few million years after the start of Solar System formation. In order to better constrain the origin and processing of volatiles in the early Solar System, we have investigated the abundance of H, F and Cl and the isotopic...

The biogenicity of most of the putative Archean organic-walled microfossils discussed in the literature remains debated. Here, we report morphological and geochemical characterizations of an assemblage of microfossils isolated from the 3.46 Gyr-old Strelley Pool Formation (Western Australia), thereby providing a new set of data on the oldest authen...

Uranium mineralization is common in geological environments where oxidized uranium-bearing fluids interact with reduced lithologies. This was the case for Variscan detachments in the South Armorican Massif, France. Numerous syn-tectonic peraluminous granites were emplaced in the footwall of detachments during the Carboniferous. Surface-derived flui...

We examined F, Cl, Br and I concentrations and distributions in eclogite facies rocks and minerals from the Western and Central Alpine ophiolitic zone to determine halogen behaviour in subduction zones, and to identify potential host phases that may be able to transport halogens to the deeper mantle. Analysis was carried out on a range of ophioliti...

Significance Refractory organic matter found in volatile-rich asteroidal materials essentially comprise the elements C, H, O, N, and S, which are thought to be important building blocks for life. Characterizing the origin(s) of these organics thus constitutes a key step to constrain the origin of life on Earth and appraise the habitability potentia...

There is compelling evidence for early oxygenation of mid-Archean oceans. However, the biological use of molecular oxygen is still not ascertained. Here we report the nitrogen isotope composition measured in isolated microfossils (δ15Nµm) from the 3.0 billion years old Farrel Quartzite metasediments. We show that the quasi-null bulk δ15N values of...

The search for hydrocarbon molecular biomarkers in Archean metasediments is of prime importance for deciphering the early evolution of life. Suitable criteria are required to identify promising targets for further molecular biomarkers. Possible criteria include the Hydrogen-to-Carbon (H/C) atomic ratio used as a proxy of the aliphatic content of th...

Compared to most other planetary materials in the Solar System, some lunar rocks display high δ³⁷Cl signatures. Loss of Cl in a H Cl environment has been invoked to explain the heavy signatures observed in lunar samples, either during volcanic eruptions onto the lunar surface or during large scale degassing of the lunar magma ocean. To explore the...

Assessing the biogenecity of Precambrian putative remnants of life requires solid criteria. Among possible criteria, searching for evidence of pristine biological signatures and identifying various biological organic matter (OM) precursors in close association with microfossil morphology are of interest. Nano-scale Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (...

Observations of Archean organic-walled microfossils suggest that their fossilization took place through both encapsulation and permineralization. In this study, we investigated microfossils from the ca. 3.0 Ga Farrel Quartzite (Pilbara, Western Australia) using transmitted light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Raman microspectrometry, and...

One of the striking features that characterise the late stages of the Variscan orogeny is the development of gneiss and migmatite domes, as well as extensional Late Carboniferous and Permian sedimentary basins. It remains a matter of debate whether the formation of domes was related to the well-documented late orogenic extension or to the contracti...

Most of the hydrothermal uranium (U) deposits from the European Hercynian belt (EHB) are spatially associated with Carboniferous peraluminous leucogranites. In the southern part of the Armorican Massif (French part of the EHB), the Guérande peraluminous leucogranite was emplaced in an extensional deformation zone at ca. 310 Ma and is spatially asso...

Deciphering the surface conditions on the Earth during Archean times (> 2.5 billion years ago – Ga) is crucial to constrain the conditions that promoted the development of life. The progressive shift through time of the oxygen isotopic compositions of Precambrian siliceous sediments – the so-called cherts – has been interpreted as indicating a secu...

Despite more than 40 years of studying Apollo samples, the age and early evolution of the Moon remain contentious. Following the formation of the Moon in the aftermath of a giant impact, the resulting Lunar Magma Ocean (LMO) is predicted to have generated major geochemically distinct silicate reservoirs, including the sources of lunar basalts. Samp...

The timing and mode of deposition for martian regolith breccia Northwest Africa (NWA) 7034 was determined by combining petrography, shape analysis, and thermochronology. NWA 7034 is composed of igneous, impact, and brecciated clasts within a thermally annealed submicron matrix of pulverized crustal rocks and devitrified impact/volcanic glass. The b...

Current models for the Moon's formation have yet to fully account for the thermal evolution of the Moon in the presence of H2O and other volatiles. Of particular importance is chlorine, since most lunar samples are characterised by unique heavy δ37Cl values, significantly deviating from those of other planetary materials, including Earth, for which...

Recent studies geared toward understanding the volatile abundances of the lunar interior have focused on the volatile-bearing accessory mineral apatite. Translating measurements of volatile abundances in lunar apatite into the volatile inventory of the silicate melts from which they crystallized, and ultimately of the mantle source regions of lunar...

We thank A. Stepanov and co-authors (Stepanov et al., 2016) forgiving us the opportunity to clarify some important points made in ouroriginal manuscript (Ballouard et al., 2016) and to discuss the issuesraised in their Comment. In Ballouard et al. (2016), we propose that thedecrease of the Nb/Ta ratios to <~5 in peraluminous granites “is theconsequ...

We have developed an analytical procedure for the measurement of oxygen isotope composition of fossil organic matter by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) at the sub-per mill level, with a spatial resolution of 20-30 μm. The oxygen isotope composition of coal and kerogen samples determined by SIMS are on average consistent with the bulk oxygen...

The Apollo-derived tenet of an anhydrous Moon has been contested following measurement of water in several lunar samples that require water to be present in the lunar interior. However, significant uncertainties exist regarding the flux, sources and timing of water delivery to the Moon. Here we address those fundamental issues by constraining the m...

Volatile elements play a key role in the dynamics of planetary evolution. Extensive work has been carried out to determine the abundance, distribution, and source(s) of volatiles in planetary bodies such as the Earth, Moon, and Mars. A recent study showed that the water in apatite from eucrites has similar hydrogen isotopic compositions compared to...

In their late stages of evolution, peraluminous granitic melts exsolve large amounts of fluids which can modify the chemical composition of granitic whole-rock samples. The niobium/tantalum (Nb/Ta) ratio is expected to decrease during the magmatic differentiation of granitic melts, but the behavior of both elements at the magmatic-hydrothermal tran...

Apatite-melt partitioning experiments were conducted in a piston-cylinder press at 1.0–1.2 GPa and 950–1000 °C using an Fe-rich basaltic starting composition and an oxygen fugacity within the range of DIW-1 to DIW+2. Each experiment had a unique F:Cl:OH ratio to assess the partitioning as a function of the volatile content of apatite and melt. The...