Dataset for the article "Effects of aqueous alteration on primordial noble gases and presolar SiC in the carbonaceous chondrite Tagish Lake"

Closed system step etching (CSSE) was used to study noble gases in HNO₃‐susceptible phases in the most and least altered samples. All Ne‐E carried by presolar SiC grains in the most altered sample was released during CSSE, while only a fraction of the Ne‐E was released from the least altered sample. This increased susceptibility to HNO₃ likely represents a step toward degassing.

Presolar graphite appears to have been partially degassed during aqueous alteration. Differences in the ⁴He/³⁶Ar and ²⁰Ne/³⁶Ar ratios in gases released during CSSE could be due to gas release from presolar nanodiamonds, with more He and Ne being released in the more aqueously altered sample. Aqueous alteration changes the properties of presolar grains so that they react similar to phase Q in the laboratory, thereby altering the perceived composition of Q.