A chlorine isotope transect across Sudbury Basin (Canada) impact deposits reveals systematic isotope fractionation

Abstract Large-scale impacts are known to have a significant effect on volatile systematics (e.g., hydrogen and chlorine) owing to syn- and post-shock pressures and temperatures allowing for ready volatile loss and isotopic fractionation. We determined the Cl isotopic composition and [Cl] and [H2O] for apatite from 10 samples of the Sudbury impact structure in Canada. The high [Cl] and invariant δ37Cl values in the lower norite are attributed to footwall assimilation in agreement with recent Zn and Pb data. The granophyre, the top of the Sudbury Igneous Complex, displays loss and fractionation of Cl (up to +6.26‰) indicative of degassing under a high gas pressure regime with high [H2O] further buffering isotope fractionation. Similar impacts on dry, airless bodies such as the Moon may have permitted greater amounts of isotopic fractionation, supporting extremely fractionated lunar materials as evidence for the large-scale impact-derived degassing hypothesis. The modest fractionation (up to +8.15‰) and morphologically distinct apatite of the Onaping Formation can be explained by post-impact hydrothermal alteration.