Andesitic Magmatism on a Differentiated Asteroid

The Earth differs from other terrestrial planets in having a substantial silica-rich continental crust with a bulk andesitic composition1. The compositional dichotomy between oceanic and continental crust is likely related to water-rich subduction processes2. Over the past decade, the discovery of meteorites with andesitic bulk compositions have demonstrated that continental-crust like compositions can be attained through partial melting of chondritic protoliths3,4,5. Here we show that a newly identified achondrite meteorite, Erg Chech (EC) 002, is a high-Mg andesite but that, unlike previous andesitic achondrites has strongly fractionated and low abundances of the highly siderophile elements (HSE), reminiscent of Earth’s upper continental crust6. The major and HSE composition of EC 002 can be explained if its asteroid parent body underwent metal-silicate equilibrium prior to silicate partial melting without losing significant volatile components. The chemistry of pyroxene grains in EC 002 suggests it approximates a parental melt composition, which cannot be produced by partial melting of pre-existing basaltic lithologies, but more likely requires a metal-free chondritic source. Erg Chech 002 likely formed by ~ 15% melting of the mantle of an alkali-undepleted differentiated asteroid. The discovery of EC 002 shows that extensive silicate differentiation after metal-silicate equilibration was already occurring in the first two million years of solar system history7, and that andesitic crustal compositions do not always require water-rich subduction processes to be produced.