Evaporation in the young solar nebula as the origin of ‘just-right’ melting of chondrules

Chondrules1,2,3,4,5 are millimetre-sized, solidified melt spherules formed in the solar nebula by an early widespread heating event of uncertain nature6,7,8. They were accreted into chondritic asteroids, which formed about 4.56 billion years ago and have not experienced melting or differentiation since that time. Chondrules have diverse chemical compositions, corresponding to liquidus temperatures1,4,9 in the range 1,350–1,800 °C. Most chondrules, however, show porphyritic textures (consisting of large crystals in a distinctly finer grained or glassy matrix), indicative of melting within the narrow range 0–50 °C below the liquidus9,10. This suggests an unusual heating mechanism for chondrule precursors, which would raise each individual chondrule to just the right temperature (particular to individual bulk composition) in order to form porphyritic textures. Here we report the results of isothermal melting of a chondritic composition at nebular pressures. Our results suggest that evaporation stabilizes porphyritic textures over a wider range of temperatures below the liquidus (about 200 °C) than previously believed, thus removing the need for individual chondrule temperature buffering. In addition, we show that evaporation explains many chondrule bulk and mineral compositions that have hitherto been difficult to understand.