High resolution electron microscopy (UltraSTEM) of the most primitive organic materials in chondrite parent bodies and comets - Formation and evolution of the organic inventory of early Earth.

• Applicant: Dr. Christian Vollmer
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2015 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 276966992

• Final Report Year: 2021

Final Report Abstract

In summary, the technical and scientific challenges within this project have been quite diverse, but we could still contribute to our understanding of the isotopic and molecular constitution of meteoritic OM and its complex evolution. These investigations have been important to distinguish formation environments for isotopically anomalous OM by fluid-induced processes. They also helped to understand their importance for the prebiotic chemistry of the early Earth.

Publications

• (2017): Nitrogen Functional Chemistry of Organic Grains in CR Chondrites and IDPs. 80th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, Abstr. # 6206, Santa Fe, USA
  Vollmer C., Leitner J., Busemann H., Spring N., Ramasse Q. M., Kepaptsoglou D., and Hoppe P.
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.12934)
• (2018): An Isotopic, Elemental and Structural Study of Silicon Nitride from Enstatite Chondrites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 235, 153-172
  Leitner J., Vollmer C., Henkel T., Ott U., and Hoppe P.
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2018.05.025)
• (2018): Iron Oxidation State of Amorphous Silicates and Low-Loss Electron Energy Spectroscopy of Organic Matter in the Pristine CM Chondrite Maribo. 81st Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, Abstr. # 6109, Moscow, Russia
  Vollmer C., Leitner J., Ramasse Q. M., Kepaptsoglou D., and Hoppe P.
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13146)
• (2019): Challenges and applications of high spatial and energy resolution EELS for mapping functional chemistry in beam-sensitive materials at low acceleration voltages. Microscopy & Microanalysis 25 (Suppl 2), Portland
  Ramasse Q. M., Kepaptsoglou D., Vollmer C., Hage F., Abellan P., and Leitner J.
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927619003131)
• (2019): Functional chemistry and isotopic composition of organics within the pristine chondrite Maribo. In Paneth Kolloquium, Nördlingen, #0033
  Vollmer C., Leitner J., Kepaptsoglou D., Ramasse Q. M., King A. J., and Schofield P.
  
• (2020): A primordial 15N-depleted organic component detected within the carbonaceous chondrite Maribo. Nature Scientific Reports 10, 20251
  Vollmer C., Leitner J., Kepaptsoglou D., Ramasse Q. M., King A. J., Schofield P. F., Bischoff A., Araki T., and Hoppe P.
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-77190-z)
• (2020): Isotopic compositions, nitrogen functional chemistry, and low-loss electron spectroscopy of complex organic aggregates at the nanometer-scale in the carbonaceous chondrite Renazzo. Meteoritics and Planetary Science 55 (6), 1293-1319
  Vollmer C., Leitner J., Kepaptsoglou D., Ramasse Q. M., Busemann H., and Hoppe P.
  (See online at https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13389)