Establish whether the three organic phases underwent later aqueous alteration

Establish whether the type I, type II, and type III organic-matter phases in UCAMMs underwent a subsequent aqueous-alteration episode during cometary perihelion after their distinct formation and transport histories.

Background

The paper distinguishes three organic phases in UCAMMs. Types I and II resemble meteoritic insoluble organic matter and may have formed near the Sun, whereas type III organic matter is nitrogen-rich and is proposed to have formed by irradiation of nitrogen-rich ices in the outer protoplanetary disk.

Because aqueous alteration on an asteroidal parent body and alteration on a cometary surface would occur under different conditions and may overlap in their chemical signatures, the authors state that the subsequent alteration history of the three phases cannot presently be resolved.