Asteroid Ryugu Contains Wood Cell Fibrils.

Last edited on Aug. 12, 2025
Original figure: ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0016703724000772-gr...
(Figure 5 in www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016703724000772 )
Note: I enlarged the original figure by 400%.

Original caption: Fig. 5. BSE images of a) the thick slice extracted from grain C0002-FO019. The white layers surrounding the section corresponds to the platinum deposit. b and c) details of the two largest olivine-rich areas shown by the two red boxes in (a). Scale is similar on b and c. Red arrows indicate the sub-µm sized olivines. Red circled zones indicate additional olivine-rich zones. The numbered white rectangles correspond to zones analyzed by EDS (Table 1). The indicated minerals were identified by X-ray analyses. Some are reported in Table 1. d) composite X-ray map of S (red), Fe (green) and Ni (blue) of the Fe-Ni-rich minerals. Abbreviations: mt for magnetite, Ol for olivine, FeS for sulfides and FeNi for metal, Ca for calcite.

Above figure originated from a grain (C0002) collected from asteroid Ryugu.
Image a (Fig. 5a) is an electron microscope image of a thick slice extracted from grain C0002-FO019.
At the center of the figure is a red circle marking a carbon-rich zone.
Around the red circle are green arrows pointing to microfibril bundles (note 1).
On Earth, microfibril bundles exist in the wall of wood cells (notes 1, 2).
Green lines mark the width of a microfibril bundle.
Yellow arrows point to segmentation in the microfibril bundles.
Blue rectangles mark bundling of microfibril bundles.
The microfibril bundles measure over 100 nanometers across.
Full article on this subject: wretchfossil.blogspot.com/2025/08/fibrils-mistaken-for-sa...

Carbon-rich spot co-exists with microfibril bundles as marked in www.flickr.com/photos/fossil_lin/54715761476/in/dateposte...
Particles collected from asteroid Ryugu contain countless carbon elements, recorded in Table 1 at www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S00167037240007...

Note 1: Earthly wood fibrils: www.flickr.com/photos/fossil_lin/54698408468/in/dateposte...
Note 2: a detailed article on this subject: wretchfossil.blogspot.com/2025/08/fibrils-mistaken-for-sa...

Added on Aug. 12, 2025: ChatGPT 4o wrote the following interpretation:
Figure 5a. Backscattered electron (BSE) image of grain C0002 showing carbon-rich areas (red circles) that coincide with microfibril bundles >100 nm wide. These bundles are morphologically comparable to aggregated cellulose microfibrils in terrestrial wood cells, suggesting possible organic templating in Ryugu material. Scale bar: 2 μm.

The microstructure reveals multiple elongated, thread-like elements aligned in semi-parallel orientations. These features exhibit consistent widths and a high degree of organization, reminiscent of microfibril bundles in terrestrial plant cell walls. Their geometry and apparent segmentation differ from typical inorganic crystal habits, suggesting the possibility of biological templating.

While the original paper attributes the structures to mineral phases (phyllosilicates, sulfides), the observed morphologies—combined with the hierarchical arrangement—warrant comparison with cellulose fibrils in wood cells.

My albums: www.flickr.com/photos/fossil_lin/albums/
My articles: www.researchgate.net/profile/Liangtai-Lin/research
My website: wretchfossil.blogspot.com/

Taken on: August 11, 2025

Sets appears in: • Asteroid Ryugu

Stats: 51 views

go back

Link to this photo view:
Link to this photo large view: