Nickel Isotopes in Meteorites: Evidence for Live Fe and Distinct Ni Isotope Reservoirs in the Early Solar System

Introduction: With a half-life of 1.49 Myr, the Fe-Ni decay scheme is ideally suited for dating meteorites and planetary processes that occurred in the first 10Myr of the Solar System [1]. Further, Ni possesses two neutron-rich isotopes, Ni and Ni, considered to be produced through nuclear statistical equilibrium processes occurring in neutron-rich supernova ejecta [2]. Both excesses and deficits have been documented for such neutron-rich isotopes in iron group elements (Ca, Ti, Cr, Ni, Ni and Zn) in normal and FUN calciumaluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) as well as in primitive and differentiated meteorites [3, 4]. These anomalies carry information on the scale and extent of heterogeneity that may have existed in the accretion disc surrounding the young Sun.