Late fluid flow in a primitive asteroid revealed by Lu-Hf isotopes in Ryugu

Tsuyoshi Iizuka¹, Takazo Shibuya², Takehito Hayakawa³, Tetsuya Yokoyama⁴, Ikshu Gautam⁴, Makiko K Haba⁴, Kengo T M Ito⁵, Yuki Hibiya^{6

7}, Akira Yamaguchi^{8

9}, Yoshinari Abe¹⁰, Jérôme Aléon¹¹, Conel M O'D Alexander¹², Sachiko Amari^{5

13}, Yuri Amelin¹⁴, Ken-Ichi Bajo¹⁵, Martin Bizzarro¹⁶, Audrey Bouvier¹⁷, Richard W Carlson¹², Marc Chaussidon¹⁸, Byeon-Gak Choi¹⁹, Nicolas Dauphas^{20

21}, Andrew M Davis²⁰, Tommaso Di Rocco²², Wataru Fujiya²³, Ryota Fukai²⁴, Hiroshi Hidaka²⁵, Hisashi Homma²⁶, Gary R Huss²⁷, Trevor R Ireland²⁸, Akira Ishikawa⁴, Shoichi Itoh²⁹, Noriyuki Kawasaki³⁰, Noriko T Kita³¹, Koki Kitajima³¹, Thorsten Kleine³², Shintaro Komatani³³, Alexander N Krot²⁷, Ming-Chang Liu³⁴, Yuki Masuda^{4

16}, Kazuko Motomura³⁵, Frédéric Moynier¹⁸, Kazuhide Nagashima²⁷, Izumi Nakai³⁶, Ann Nguyen³⁷, Larry Nittler¹², Andreas Pack²², Changkun Park³⁸, Laurette Piani³⁹, Liping Qin⁴⁰, Sara Russell⁴¹, Naoya Sakamoto⁴², Maria Schönbächler⁴³, Lauren Tafla³⁴, Haolan Tang⁴⁰, Kentaro Terada⁴⁴, Yasuko Terada⁴⁵, Tomohiro Usui²⁴, Sohei Wada³⁰, Meenakshi Wadhwa⁴⁶, Richard J Walker⁴⁷, Katsuyuki Yamashita⁴⁸, Qing-Zhu Yin⁴⁹, Shigekazu Yoneda⁵⁰, Hiroharu Yui⁵¹, Ai-Cheng Zhang⁵², Tomoki Nakamura⁵³, Hiroshi Naraoka⁵⁴, Takaaki Noguchi²⁹, Ryuji Okazaki⁵⁴, Kanako Sakamoto²⁴, Hikaru Yabuta⁵⁵, Masanao Abe²⁴, Akiko Miyazaki²⁴, Aiko Nakato^{8

24}, Masahiro Nishimura²⁴, Tatsuaki Okada²⁴, Toru Yada²⁴, Kasumi Yogata²⁴, Satoru Nakazawa²⁴, Takanao Saiki²⁴, Satoshi Tanaka²⁴, Fuyuto Terui⁵⁶, Yuichi Tsuda²⁴, Sei-Ichiro Watanabe²⁵, Makoto Yoshikawa²⁴, Shogo Tachibana^{24

57}, Hisayoshi Yurimoto³⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Earth and Planetary Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. iizuka@eps.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
² Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avant-garde Research (X-star), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Kanagawa, Japan.
³ Kansai Institute for Photon Science, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, Kyoto, Japan.
⁴ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Institute of Science Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
⁵ Geochemical Research Center, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
⁶ Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
⁷ Submarine Resources Research Center, JAMSTEC, Kanagawa, Japan.
⁸ National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo, Japan.
⁹ The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), Hayama, Japan.
¹⁰ Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Engineering, Tokyo Denki University, Tokyo, Japan.
¹¹ Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, Sorbonne Université, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS UMR 7590, IRD, Paris, France.
¹² Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington DC, USA.
¹³ McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences and Physics Department, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA.
¹⁴ Division of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Korea Basic Science Institute, Chungbuk, Republic of Korea.
¹⁵ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
¹⁶ Centre for Star and Planet Formation, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹⁷ Bayerisches Geoinstitut, Universität Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.
¹⁸ Université Paris Cité, Institut de physique du globe de Paris, CNRS, Paris, France.
¹⁹ Department of Earth Science Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
²⁰ Department of the Geophysical Sciences and Enrico Fermi Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
²¹ Origins Laboratory, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
²² Faculty of Geosciences and Geography, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
²³ Faculty of Science, Ibaraki University, Mito, Japan.
²⁴ ISAS, JAXA, Sagamihara, Japan.
²⁵ Earth and Planetary Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.
²⁶ Osaka Application Laboratory, SBUWDX, Rigaku Corporation, Osaka, Japan.
²⁷ Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA.
²⁸ School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
²⁹ Earth and Planetary Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
³⁰ Natural History Sciences, IIL, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
³¹ Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
³² Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany.
³³ Analytical Technology, Horiba Techno Service Co. Ltd, Kyoto, Japan.
³⁴ Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
³⁵ Thermal Analysis, Rigaku Corporation, Tokyo, Japan.
³⁶ Applied Chemistry, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo, Japan.
³⁷ Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA.
³⁸ Earth-System Sciences, Korea Polar Research Institute, Incheon, Korea.
³⁹ Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, CNRS - Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France.
⁴⁰ CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
⁴¹ Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK.
⁴² Isotope Imaging Laboratory, Creative Research Institution, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
⁴³ Institute for Geochemistry and Petrology, Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
⁴⁴ Earth and Space Science, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
⁴⁵ Spectroscopy and Imaging, Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, Hyogo, Japan.
⁴⁶ School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
⁴⁷ Geology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
⁴⁸ Graduate School of Environmental, Life, Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan.
⁴⁹ Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
⁵⁰ Science and Engineering, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, Japan.
⁵¹ Chemistry, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo, Japan.
⁵² School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
⁵³ Department of Earth Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
⁵⁴ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
⁵⁵ Earth and Planetary Systems Science Program, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan.
⁵⁶ Kanagawa Institute of Technology, Atsugi, Japan.
⁵⁷ UTokyo Organization for Planetary and Space Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

PMID: 40931075
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09483-0

Late fluid flow in a primitive asteroid revealed by Lu-Hf isotopes in Ryugu

Tsuyoshi Iizuka et al. Nature. 2025.

. 2025 Sep 10.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09483-0. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Earth and Planetary Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. iizuka@eps.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
² Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avant-garde Research (X-star), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Kanagawa, Japan.
³ Kansai Institute for Photon Science, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, Kyoto, Japan.
⁴ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Institute of Science Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
⁵ Geochemical Research Center, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
⁶ Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
⁷ Submarine Resources Research Center, JAMSTEC, Kanagawa, Japan.
⁸ National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo, Japan.
⁹ The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), Hayama, Japan.
¹⁰ Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Engineering, Tokyo Denki University, Tokyo, Japan.
¹¹ Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie, Sorbonne Université, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS UMR 7590, IRD, Paris, France.
¹² Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington DC, USA.
¹³ McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences and Physics Department, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA.
¹⁴ Division of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Korea Basic Science Institute, Chungbuk, Republic of Korea.
¹⁵ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
¹⁶ Centre for Star and Planet Formation, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹⁷ Bayerisches Geoinstitut, Universität Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.
¹⁸ Université Paris Cité, Institut de physique du globe de Paris, CNRS, Paris, France.
¹⁹ Department of Earth Science Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
²⁰ Department of the Geophysical Sciences and Enrico Fermi Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
²¹ Origins Laboratory, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
²² Faculty of Geosciences and Geography, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
²³ Faculty of Science, Ibaraki University, Mito, Japan.
²⁴ ISAS, JAXA, Sagamihara, Japan.
²⁵ Earth and Planetary Sciences, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.
²⁶ Osaka Application Laboratory, SBUWDX, Rigaku Corporation, Osaka, Japan.
²⁷ Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA.
²⁸ School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
²⁹ Earth and Planetary Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
³⁰ Natural History Sciences, IIL, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
³¹ Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
³² Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany.
³³ Analytical Technology, Horiba Techno Service Co. Ltd, Kyoto, Japan.
³⁴ Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
³⁵ Thermal Analysis, Rigaku Corporation, Tokyo, Japan.
³⁶ Applied Chemistry, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo, Japan.
³⁷ Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA.
³⁸ Earth-System Sciences, Korea Polar Research Institute, Incheon, Korea.
³⁹ Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques, CNRS - Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France.
⁴⁰ CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
⁴¹ Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK.
⁴² Isotope Imaging Laboratory, Creative Research Institution, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
⁴³ Institute for Geochemistry and Petrology, Department of Earth Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
⁴⁴ Earth and Space Science, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
⁴⁵ Spectroscopy and Imaging, Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute, Hyogo, Japan.
⁴⁶ School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
⁴⁷ Geology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
⁴⁸ Graduate School of Environmental, Life, Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan.
⁴⁹ Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
⁵⁰ Science and Engineering, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba, Japan.
⁵¹ Chemistry, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo, Japan.
⁵² School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
⁵³ Department of Earth Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
⁵⁴ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
⁵⁵ Earth and Planetary Systems Science Program, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan.
⁵⁶ Kanagawa Institute of Technology, Atsugi, Japan.
⁵⁷ UTokyo Organization for Planetary and Space Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

PMID: 40931075
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09483-0

Abstract

Carbonaceous asteroids are the source of the most primitive meteorites¹ and represent leftover planetesimals that formed from ice and dust in the outer Solar System and may have delivered volatiles to the terrestrial planets^2-5. Understanding the aqueous activity of asteroids is key to deciphering their thermal, chemical and orbital evolution, with implications for the origin of water on the terrestrial planets. Analyses of the objects, in particular pristine samples returned from asteroid Ryugu, have provided detailed information on fluid-rock interactions within a few million years after parent-body formation^6-11. However, the long-term fate of asteroidal water remains poorly understood. Here we present evidence for fluid flow in a carbonaceous asteroid more than 1 billion years after formation, based on the ¹⁷⁶Lu-¹⁷⁶Hf decay systematics of Ryugu samples, which reflect late lutetium mobilization. Such late fluid flow was probably triggered by an impact that generated heat for ice melting and opened rock fractures for fluid migration. This contrasts the early aqueous activity powered by short-lived radioactive decay, with limited fluid flow and little elemental fractionation¹². Our results imply that carbonaceous planetesimals accreted by the terrestrial planets could have retained not only hydrous minerals but also aqueous water, leading to an upwards revision of the inventory of their water delivery by a factor of two to three.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

References

1. DeMeo, F. E. et al. Connecting asteroids and meteorites with visible and near-infrared spectroscopy. Icarus 380, 114971 (2022). - DOI
1. Trigo-Rodríguez, J. M., Rimola, A., Tanbakouei, S., Soto, V. C. & Lee, M. Accretion of water in carbonaceous chondrites: current evidence and implications for the delivery of water to early Earth. Space Sci. Rev. 215, 18 (2019). - DOI
1. Alexander, C. M. O. ’D. et al. The provenances of asteroids, and their contributions to the volatile inventories of the terrestrial planets. Science 337, 721–723 (2012). - PubMed - DOI
1. Morbidelli, A., Lunine, J. I., O’Brien, D. P., Raymond, S. N. & Walsh, K. J. Building terrestrial planets. Ann. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 40, 251–275 (2012). - DOI
1. McCubbin, F. M. & Barnes, J. J. Origin and abundances of H₂O in the terrestrial planets, Moon, and asteroids. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 526, 115771 (2019). - DOI

LinkOut - more resources

Research Materials
- NCI CPTC Antibody Characterization Program

Save citation to file

Email citation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

Late fluid flow in a primitive asteroid revealed by Lu-Hf isotopes in Ryugu

Affiliations

Late fluid flow in a primitive asteroid revealed by Lu-Hf isotopes in Ryugu

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

References

LinkOut - more resources

Research Materials