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Olivine
Selected AbstractsPetrology and mineralogy of the angrite Northwest Africa 1670METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 11 2008A. JAMBON With subordinate clinopyroxene and chrome-spinel microphenocrysts (0.2-0.5 mm), they represent a xenocrystic association. Phenocrysts are surrounded by a groundmass, predominantly comprising bundles of plagioclase and clinopyroxene (typically 20 × 200 ,m crystals). Olivine and kirschsteinite are present in the groundmass in lesser amounts. The olivine xenocrysts (Fo90) are significantly fractured and show mosaicism for their major part, the remaining showing faint undulatory extinction. They are surrounded with a rim of 100,200 ,m zoned down to Fo80 and overgrown with serrated olivine, Fo80 to Fo60 (about 100 ,m). Olivine in the groundmass is zoned from Mg# 0.55 to 0.15; its CaO content ranges 2.0 to 8.4%. Subcalcic kirschsteinite is zoned from Mg# 0.13 to 0.03, CaO increasing from 15.8 to 21.3%. Pyroxenes xenocrysts (Mg# = 0.77) are superseded in the groundmass by less magnesian pyroxenes, Mg# 0.61 to 0.17, with an average FeO/ MnO of 98. Their compositions range from En30 Fs22 Wo27 Al-Ts28 Ti-Ts2 to En2 Fs37 Wo22 Al-Ts40 Ti-Ts1. Anorthite microcrysts (An99-100) are restricted to the groundmass. Accessories are pyrrhotite, kamacite, Ca-phosphate, titanomagnetite, hercynite and Ca-carbonate. The bulk chemical composition confirms that NWA 1670 corresponds to a normal angrite melt that incorporated olivine. High Mg olivine xenocrysts and the associated mineralogy are typical of angrites. We suggest that it is an impact melt with relict phenocrysts. The strong silica undersaturation, the presence of Fo90 olivine xenocrysts and carbonate support their derivation as melilite-like melts in the presence of carbonate. [source] Chondrule thermal history from unequilibrated H chondrites: A transmission and analytical electron microscopy studyMETEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 10 2002C. Ferraris Nanotextural and nanochemical data indicate similar thermal evolution for chondrules of the same textural groups; minor, yet meaningful differences occur among the different groups. Olivine is the earliest phase formed and crystallizes between 1500 and 1400 °C. Protoenstatite crystallizes at temperatures higher than 1350,1200 °C; it later inverts to clinoenstatite in the 1250,1200 °C range. Enstatite is surrounded by pigeonitic or (less frequently) augitic rims; the minimal crystallization temperature for the rims is 1000 °C; high pigeonite later inverts to low pigeonite, between 935 and 845 °C. The outer pigeonitic or augitic rims are constantly exsolved, producing sigmoidal augite or enstatite precipitates; sigmoidal precipitates record exsolution temperatures between 1000 and 640 °C. Cooling rate (determined using the speedometer based upon ortho-clinoenstatite intergrowth) was in the order of 50,3000 °C/h at the clinoenstatite-orthoenstatite transition temperature (close to 1250,1200 °C), but decreased to 5,10 °C/h or slower at the exsolution temperature (between 1000 and 650 °C), thus revealing nonlinear cooling paths. Nanoscale observations indicate that the individual chondrules formed and cooled separately from 1500 °C down to at least 650 °C. Accretion into chondritic parent body occurred at temperatures lower than 650 °C. [source] Petrology, Mineralogy and Geochemisty of Antarctic Mesosiderite GRV 020175: Implications for Its Complex Formation HistoryACTA GEOLOGICA SINICA (ENGLISH EDITION), Issue 3 2010Linyan WANG Abstract: GRV 020175 is an Antarctic mesosiderite, containing about 43 vol% silicates and 57 vol% metal. Metal occurs in a variety of textures from irregular large masses, to veins penetrating silicates, and to matrix fine grains. The metallic portion contains kamacite, troilite and minor taenite. Terrestrial weathering is evident as partial replacement of the metal and troilite veins by Fe oxides. Silicate phases exhibit a porphyritic texture with pyroxene, plagioclase, minor silica and rare olivine phenocrysts embedded in a fine-grained groundmass. The matrix is ophitic and consists mainly of pyroxene and plagioclase grains. Some orthopyroxene phenocrysts occur as euhedral crystals with chemical zoning from a magnesian core to a ferroan overgrowth; others are characterized by many fine inclusions of plagioclase composition. Pigeonite has almost inverted to its orthopyroxene host with augite lamellae, enclosed by more magnesian rims. Olivine occurs as subhedral crystals, surrounded by a necklace of tiny chromite grains (about 2,3 ,m). Plagioclase has a heterogeneous composition without zoning. Pyroxene geothermometry of GRV 020175 gives a peak metamorphic temperature (,1000°C) and a closure temperature (,875°C). Molar Fe/Mn ratios (19,32) of pyroxenes are consistent with mesosiderite pyroxenes (16,35) and most plagioclase compositions (An87.5,96.6) are within the range of mesosiderite plagioclase grains (An88,95). Olivine composition (Fo53.8) is only slightly lower than the range of olivine compositions in mesosiderites (Fo55,90). All petrographic characteristics and chemical compositions of GRV 020175 are consistent with those of mesosiderite and based on its matrix texture and relatively abundant plagioclase, it can be further classified as a type 3A mesosiderite. Mineralogical, petrological, and geochemical studies of GRV 020175 imply a complex formation history starting as rapid crystallization from a magma in a lava flow on the surface or as a shallow intrusion. Following primary igneous crystallization, the silicate underwent varying degrees of reheating. It was reheated to 1000°C, followed by rapid cooling to 875°C. Subsequently, metal mixed with silicate, during or after which, reduction of silicates occurred; the reducing agent is likely to have been sulfur. After redox reaction, the sample underwent thermal metamorphism, which produced the corona on the olivine, rims on the inverted pigeonite phenocrysts and overgrowths on the orthopyroxene phenocrysts, and homogenized matrix pyroxenes. Nevertheless, metamorphism was not extensive enough to completely reequilibrate the GRV 020175 materials. [source] Geochemistry and petrography of basalt grindstones from the Karak Plateau, central JordanGEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 1 2004Brandon G. Watts Seventeen basalt grindstone fragments from central Jordan's Karak Plateau were studied. Most of these artifacts are vesicular or amygdaloidal with calcite as the dominant mineral filling the voids. The major minerals are olivine (with iddingsite rims), plagioclase, clinopyroxene, magnetite, and apatite. Glass is present in some samples. One basalt fragment is quite different in appearance and composition and may have come from flows closer to the Dead Sea. Grindstone fragment compositions plot in the tephrite-basanite and basalt fields. A plot of the concentrations of niobium, zirconium, and yttrium reveal that the sample compositions plot in the "within-plate alkali basalt" and "within-plate tholeiite" fields. The acquisition of basalts for preparing such implements appears to have been random. Some may have been introduced through trade and migration. Archaeological and environmental studies on the Karak Plateau are urgently needed because Jordan's population growth and economic development are destroying many sites and their environmental contexts. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Geologic sources and geographic distribution of sand tempers in prehistoric potsherds from the Mariana IslandsGEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 8 2001William R. Dickinson Temper sands in prehistoric potsherds of the Mariana Islands include terrigenous detritus derived from Paleogene volcanic bedrock and calcareous grains derived chiefly from modern fringing reefs, but also in part from uplifted Neogene limestones overlying volcanic bedrock. Calcareous sands are nondiagnostic of island of origin, but volcanic sands and the terrigenous component of hybrid sands composed of mixed terrigenous and calcareous grain types can be traced to geologic sources on Saipan and Guam, the only occupied islands where volcanic bedrock is extensively exposed. Quartzose tempers of several types were derived exclusively from dacitic volcanic rocks on Saipan. Nonquartzose tempers of andesitic parentage derive from both Saipan and Guam, but abundance of orthopyroxene as well as clinopyroxene is diagnostic of Saipan andesitic tempers, the presence of olivine is diagnostic of selected tempers from Guam, and placer temper sands rich in heavy ferromagnesian minerals occur only in sherds on Guam. Temper analysis documents widespread ceramic transfer from Saipan to other islands throughout Mariana prehistory, and more restricted ceramic transfer from Guam to nearby Rota, although the origin of some andesitic temper types is petrographically indeterminate. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [source] Microtubules in basalt glass from Hawaii Scientific Driling Project #2 phase 1 core and Hilina slope, Hawaii: evidence of the occurrence and behavior of endolithic microorganismsGEOBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2008A. W WALTON ABSTRACT Elongate, fine tubes, ~1 µm wide and up to 200 µm long, extend from fractured surfaces, vesicle walls, and internal fractures into fragments of basalt glass in samples from the Hawaii Scientific Drilling Project #2 phase 1 (HSDP #21) core and the Hilina slope, Hawaii. Several features indicate that these tubes are microbial endolithic microborings: the tubes resemble many described microborings from oceanic basalt glass, their formation is postdepositional but restricted to certain but different ranges of time in the two sets of samples, and they are not uniformly distributed throughout glass fragments. Microtubules record several characteristic behaviors including boring into glass, mining, seeking olivine, and avoiding plagioclase. They also are highly associated with a particular form of glass-replacing smectite. Evidence of behavior should join morphological and geochemical criteria in indicating microbial alteration of basalt glass. In some samples, steeply conical tubes, ~10,20 µm in diameter tapering to 1 µm and commonly filled with smectite, appear to be modifications or elaborations of the microtubules. These also curve toward olivine and are associated with replacement smectite. In HSDP #21 samples, microtubules initiated at margins of shards before palagonite replaced those margins and are preserved during palagonitization. In fact, microtubules appear to have provided routes that enhanced the efficiency of water's reaching of unaltered glass. In Hilina Slope samples, the microtubules appear to postdate palagonitization because they initiate at the boundary between palagonite and unaltered sideromelane. Preservation of microtubules during palagonitization in samples together with recognition of other associated characteristics representing behavior suggests that such features may be recognizable in more heavily altered ancient rocks. [source] The preservation of seismic anisotropy in the Earth's mantle during diffusion creepGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2009J. Wheeler SUMMARY Seismic anisotropy in the Earth, particularly in the mantle, is commonly interpreted as the result of solid-state deformation by dislocation creep that induces a lattice preferred orientation (LPO). Diffusion creep operates where stress levels are lower and/or grain sizes smaller. It is often assumed that diffusion creep induces grain rotations that eventually destroy any existing LPO. A new numerical test of this assumption shows that it is not necessarily the case: diffusion creep will create some relative grain rotations, but rotation rates decrease through time. Hence, when microstructural change due to diffusion creep dominates that due to grain growth, defined here as ,type P' behaviour (the converse being ,type O' behaviour), the model indicates that LPO will be weakened but preserved (for a variety of strain paths including both pure and simple shear). One measure of anisotropy is the proportional difference in shear wave velocities for different polarization vectors (AVs). A model olivine microstructure with equant grains and initial maximum AVs of 10.0 percent has this value reduced to 6.7 per cent when ,rotational steady state' is attained. Other models with different initial maximum AVs values exhibit final maximum AVs values more than half the initial values. If the grains are initially elongate by a factor of 2, maximum AVs is reduced just slightly, to 8.5 per cent. Thus, when grain growth plays a subordinate role to the deformation, diffusion creep weakens seismic anisotropy by a factor of less than 2 (using maximum AVs as a measure and olivine as an example). Consequently, the link between seismic anisotropy and deformation mechanism in the mantle requires reappraisal: regions with LPO may comprise material which once deformed by dislocation creep, but is now deforming by diffusion creep in a rotational steady state. [source] Traveltime approximation for a reflected wave in a homogeneous anisotropic elastic layerGEOPHYSICAL JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL, Issue 1 2002M. Zillmer Summary An approximation to the traveltime field is calculated for an elastic wave that propagates in a homogeneous anisotropic layer and is reflected at a plane boundary. The traveltime is approximated by a Taylor series expansion with the third derivative of the traveltime being taken into account. The coefficients of the series refer to the seismic ray, which is locally the fastest ray. Simple formulae are obtained for orthorhombic media in the crystal coordinate system, which relate the traveltimes of the reflected waves to the elastic constants of the medium. A numerical example is presented for wave propagation in orthorhombic olivine, which is a constituent of the Earth's mantle. A second example is given by an isotropic host rock with a set of parallel cracks, which is an important model for wave propagation in the Earth's crust. The elastic parameters can be determined by measuring the reflection times as a function of source,receiver offset. The approximate traveltime,distance curves are compared with traveltimes obtained from seismic ray tracing. [source] Formation of clinopyroxene + spinel and amphibole + spinel symplectites in coronitic gabbros from the Sierra de San Luis (Argentina): a key to post-magmatic evolutionJOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 7 2008G. CRUCIANI Abstract The El Arenal metagabbros preserve coronitic shells of orthopyroxene ± Fe-oxide around olivine, as well as three different types of symplectite consisting of amphibole + spinel, clinopyroxene + spinel and, more rarely, orthopyroxene + spinel. The textural features of the metagabbros can be explained by the breakdown of the olivine + plagioclase pair, producing orthopyroxene coronas and clinopyroxene + spinel symplectites, followed by the formation of amphibole + spinel symplectites, reflecting a decrease in temperature and, possibly, an increase in water activity with respect to the previous stage. The metagabbros underwent a complex P,T history consisting of an igneous stage followed by cooling in granulite, amphibolite and greenschist facies conditions. Although the P,T conditions of emplacement of the igneous protolith are still doubtful, the magmatic assemblage suggests that igneous crystallization occurred at a pressure lower than 6 kbar and at 900,1100 °C. Granulitic P,T conditions have been estimated at about 900 °C and 7,8 kbar combining conventional thermobarometry and pseudosection analysis. Pseudosection calculation has also shown that the formation of the amphibole + spinel symplectite could have been favoured by an increase in water activity during the amphibolite stage, as the temperature of formation of this symplectite strongly depends on aH2O (<740 °C for aH2O = 0.5; <790 °C for aH2O = 1). Furthermore, but not pervasive, re-equilibration under greenschist facies P,T conditions is documented by retrograde epidote and chlorite. The resulting counterclockwise P,T path consists of progressive, nearly isobaric cooling from the igneous stage down to the granulite, amphibolite and greenschist stage. [source] Ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism and exhumation of garnet peridotite in Pohorje, Eastern AlpsJOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 1 2006M. JANÁK Abstract New evidence for ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism (UHPM) in the Eastern Alps is reported from garnet-bearing ultramafic rocks from the Pohorje Mountains in Slovenia. The garnet peridotites are closely associated with UHP kyanite eclogites. These rocks belong to the Lower Central Austroalpine basement unit of the Eastern Alps, exposed in the proximity of the Periadriatic fault. Ultramafic rocks have experienced a complex metamorphic history. On the basis of petrochemical data, garnet peridotites could have been derived from depleted mantle rocks that were subsequently metasomatized by melts and/or fluids either in the plagioclase-peridotite or the spinel-peridotite field. At least four stages of recrystallization have been identified in the garnet peridotites based on an analysis of reaction textures and mineral compositions. Stage I was most probably a spinel peridotite stage, as inferred from the presence of chromian spinel and aluminous pyroxenes. Stage II is a UHPM stage defined by the assemblage garnet + olivine + low-Al orthopyroxene + clinopyroxene + Cr-spinel. Garnet formed as exsolutions from clinopyroxene, coronas around Cr-spinel, and porphyroblasts. Stage III is a decompression stage, manifested by the formation of kelyphitic rims of high-Al orthopyroxene, aluminous spinel, diopside and pargasitic hornblende replacing garnet. Stage IV is represented by the formation of tremolitic amphibole, chlorite, serpentine and talc. Geothermobarometric calculations using (i) garnet-olivine and garnet-orthopyroxene Fe-Mg exchange thermometers and (ii) the Al-in-orthopyroxene barometer indicate that the peak of metamorphism (stage II) occurred at conditions of around 900 °C and 4 GPa. These results suggest that garnet peridotites in the Pohorje Mountains experienced UHPM during the Cretaceous orogeny. We propose that UHPM resulted from deep subduction of continental crust, which incorporated mantle peridotites from the upper plate, in an intracontinental subduction zone. Sinking of the overlying mantle and lower crustal wedge into the asthenosphere (slab extraction) caused the main stage of unroofing of the UHP rocks during the Upper Cretaceous. Final exhumation was achieved by Miocene extensional core complex formation. [source] Serpentinites of the Zermatt-Saas ophiolite complex and their texture evolutionJOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 3 2004X.-P. Li Abstract The Zermatt-Saas serpentinite complex is an integral member of the Penninic ophiolites of the Central Alps and represents the mantle part of the oceanic lithosphere of the Tethys. Metamorphic textures of the serpentinite preserve the complex mineralogical evolution from primary abyssal peridotite through ocean-floor hydration, subduction-related high-pressure overprint, meso-Alpine greenschist facies metamorphism, and late-stage hydrothermal alteration. The early ocean floor hydration of the spinel harzburgites is still visible in relic pseudomorphic bastite and locally preserved mesh textures. The primary serpentine minerals were completely replaced by antigorite. The stable assemblage in subduction-related mylonitic serpentinites is antigorite,olivine,magnetite ± diopside. The mid-Tertiary greenschist facies overprint is characterized by minor antigorite recrystallization. Textural and mineral composition data of this study prove that the hydrated mineral assemblages remained stable during high-pressure metamorphism of up to 2.5 GPa and 650 °C. The Zermatt-Saas serpentinites thus provide a well documented example for the lack of dehydration of a mantle fragment during subduction to 75 km depth. [source] Hydrothermal alteration, fluid flow and volume change in shear zones: the layered mafic,ultramafic Kettara intrusion (Jebilet Massif, Variscan belt, Morocco)JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 1 2004A. Essaifi Abstract During emplacement and cooling, the layered mafic,ultramafic Kettara intrusion (Jebilet, Morocco) underwent coeval effects of deformation and pervasive fluid infiltration at the scale of the intrusion. In the zones not affected by deformation, primary minerals (olivine, plagioclase, clinopyroxene) were partially or totally altered into Ca-amphibole, Mg-chlorite and CaAl-silicates. In the zones of active deformation (centimetre-scale shear zones), focused fluid flow transformed the metacumulates (peridotites and leucogabbros) into ultramylonites where insoluble primary minerals (ilmenite, spinel and apatite) persist in a Ca-amphibole-rich matrix. Mass-balance calculations indicate that shearing was accompanied by up to 200% volume gain; the ultramylonites being enriched in Si, Ca, Mg, and Fe, and depleted in Na and K. The gains in Ca and Mg and losses in Na and K are consistent with fluid flow in the direction of increasing temperature. When the intrusion had cooled to temperatures prevailing in the country rock (lower greenschist facies), deformation was still active along the shear zones. Intense intragranular fracturing in the shear zone walls and subsequent fluid infiltration allowed shear zones to thicken to metre-scale shear zones with time. The inner parts of the shear zones were transformed into chlorite-rich ultramylonites. In the shear zone walls, muscovite crystallized at the expense of Ca,Al silicates, while calcite and quartz were deposited in ,en echelon' veins. Mass-balance calculations indicate that formation of the chlorite-rich shear zones was accompanied by up to 60% volume loss near the centre of the shear zones; the ultramylonites being enriched in Fe and depleted in Si, Ca, Mg, Na and K while the shear zones walls are enriched in K and depleted in Ca and Si. The alteration observed in, and adjacent to the chlorite shear zones is consistent with an upward migrating regional fluid which flows laterally into the shear zone walls. Isotopic (Sr, O) signatures inferred for the fluid indicate it was deeply equilibrated with host lithologies. [source] The formation of eclogite facies metatroctolites and a general petrogenetic grid in Na2O,CaO,FeO,MgO,Al2O3,SiO2,H2O (NCFMASH)JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 9 2002G. Rebay Abstract Eclogite facies metatroctolites from a variety of Western Alps localities (Voltri, Monviso, Lanzo, Allalin, Zermat,Saas, etc.) that preserve textural evidence of their original form as bimineralic olivine-plagioclase rocks are considered in terms of calculated mineral equilibria in the system Na2O-CaO-FeO-MgO-Al2O3 -SiO2 -H2O (NCFMASH). Pseudosections, based on a new petrogenetic grid for NCFMASH presented here, are used to unravel the metamorphic history of the metatroctolites, considering the rocks to consist of different composition microdomains corresponding to the original olivine and plagioclase grains. On the basis that the preservation of the mineral assemblage in each microdomain will tend to be from where on a rock's P,T path the metamorphic fluid phase is used up via rehydration reactions, P,T pseudosections contoured for water content, and P,T path-MH2O (amount of water) pseudosections, are used to examine fluid behaviour in each microdomain. We show that the different microdomains are likely to preserve their mineral assemblages from different places on the P,T path. For the olivine microdomain, the diagnostic mineral assemblage is chloritoid + talc (+ garnet + omphacite). The preservation of this assemblage, in the light of the closed system P,T path-MH2O relationships, implies that the microdomain loses its metamorphic fluid as it starts to decompress, and, in the absence of subsequent hydration, the high pressure mineral assemblage is then preserved. In the plagioclase microdomain, the diagnostic assemblage is epidote (or zoisite) + kyanite + quartz suggesting a lower pressure (of about 2 GPa) than for the olivine microdomain. In the light of P,T path-MH2O relationships, development of this assemblage implies breakdown of lawsonite across the lawsonite breakdown reaction, regardless of the maximum pressure reached. It is likely that the plagioclase microdomain was mainly fluid-absent prior to lawsonite breakdown, only becoming fluid-present across the reaction, then immediately becoming fluid-absent again. [source] Vapor-condensed phase processes in the early solar systemMETEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 1 2010Lawrence GROSSMAN Many refractory inclusions in CM2 chondrites contain a relatively SiO2 -poor assemblage (spinel, hibonite, grossite, perovskite, corundum) that represents a high-temperature stage of condensation, and some may be pristine condensates that escaped later melting. Compact Type A and Type B refractory inclusions, consisting of spinel, melilite, perovskite, Ca-rich clinopyroxene ± anorthite, in CV3 chondrites are more SiO2 -rich and equilibrated with the solar nebular gas at a slightly lower temperature. Textures of many of these objects indicate that they underwent melting after condensation, crystallizing into the same phase assemblage as their precursors. The Ti3+/Ti4+ ratio of their pyroxene indicates that this process occurred in a gas whose oxygen fugacity () was approximately 8.5 log units below that of the iron-wüstite buffer, making them the only objects in chondrites known to have formed in a system whose composition was close to that of the sun. Relative to CI chondrites, these inclusions are uniformly enriched in a group of elements (e.g., Ca, REE, Zr, Ta, Ir) that are chemically diverse except for their high condensation temperatures in a system of solar composition. The enrichment factor, 17.5, can be interpreted to mean that these objects represent either the first 5.7 wt% of the condensable matter to condense during nebular cooling or the residue after vaporization of 94.3% of a CI chondrite precursor. The Mg and Si isotopic compositions of Types A and B inclusions are mass-fractionated by up to 10 and 4 ,/amu, respectively. When interpreted in terms of Rayleigh fractionation during evaporation of Mg and Si from the inclusions while they were molten, the isotopic compositions imply that up to 60% of the Mg and up to 25% of the Si were evaporated, and that approximately 80% of the enrichment in refractory (CaO+Al2O3) relative to more volatile (MgO+SiO2) in the average inclusion is due to initial condensation and approximately 20% due to subsequent evaporation. The mineralogical composition, including the Ti3+/Ti4+ ratio of the pyroxene, in Inti, a particle sampled from Comet Wild 2 by the Stardust spacecraft, is nearly identical to that of a Type B inclusion, indicating that comets contain not only the lowest-temperature condensates in the form of ices but the highest-temperature condensates as well. The FeO/(FeO+MgO) ratios of olivine and pyroxene in the matrix and chondrules of carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites are too high to be made in a system of solar composition, requiring s only 1 or 2 log units below iron-wüstite, more than 105 times higher than that of a solar gas. Various ways have been devised to generate cosmic gases sufficiently oxidizing to stabilize significant FeO in olivine at temperatures above those where Fe-Mg interdiffusion in olivine ceases. One is by vertical settling of dust toward the nebular midplane, enriching a region in dust relative to gas. Because dust is enriched in oxygen compared to carbon and hydrogen relative to solar composition, a higher results from total vaporization of the region, but the factor by which theoretical models have so far enriched the dust is 10 times too low. Another is by transporting icy bodies from the outer part of the nebula into the hot, inner part where vaporization of water ice occurs. Not only does this method fail to make the needed by a factor of 30,1000 but it also ignores simultaneous evaporation of carbon-bearing ices that would make the even lower. [source] Analysis of ordinary chondrites using powder X-ray diffraction: 2.METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 1 2010Applications to ordinary chondrite parent-body processes Several observations indicate that oxidation may have occurred during progressive metamorphism of equilibrated chondrites, including systematic changes with petrologic type in XRD-derived olivine and low-Ca pyroxene abundances, increasing ratios of MgO/(MgO+FeO) in olivine and pyroxene, mean Ni/Fe and Co/Fe ratios in bulk metal with increasing metamorphic grade, and linear Fe addition trends in molar Fe/Mn and Fe/Mg plots. An aqueous fluid, likely incorporated as hydrous silicates and distributed homogeneously throughout the parent body, was responsible for oxidation. Based on mass balance calculations, a minimum of 0.3,0.4 wt% H2O reacted with metal to produce oxidized Fe. Prior to oxidation the parent body underwent a period of reduction, as evidenced by the unequilibrated chondrites. Unlike olivine and pyroxene, average plagioclase abundances do not show any systematic changes with increasing petrologic type. Based on this observation and a comparison of modal and normative plagioclase abundances, we suggest that plagioclase completely crystallized from glass by type 4 temperature conditions in the H and L chondrites and by type 5 in the LL chondrites. Because the validity of using the plagioclase thermometer to determine peak temperatures rests on the assumption that plagioclase continued to crystallize through type 6 conditions, we suggest that temperatures calculated using pyroxene goethermometry provide more accurate estimates of the peak temperatures reached in ordinary chondrite parent bodies. [source] Petrography, mineralogy, and trace element geochemistry of lunar meteorite Dhofar 1180METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 9 2009Aicheng Zhang Dhofar 1180 is predominantly composed of fine-grained matrix with abundant mineral fragments and a few lithic and glassy clasts. Lithic clasts show a variety of textures including cataclastic, gabbroic, granulitic, ophitic/subophitic, and microporphyritic. Both feldspathic and mafic lithic clasts are present. Most feldspathic lithic clasts have a strong affinity to ferroan anorthositic suite rocks and one to magnesian suite rocks. Mafic lithic clasts are moderately to extremely Fe-rich. The Ti/[Ti+Cr]-Fe/[Fe+Mg] compositional trend of pyroxenes in mafic lithic clasts is consistent with that of low-Ti mare basalts. Glasses display a wide chemical variation from mafic to feldspathic. Some glasses are very similar to those from Apollo 16 soils. KREEP components are essentially absent in Dhofar 1180. One glassy clast is rich in K, REE and P, but its Mg/[Mg+Fe] is very low (0.25). It is probably a last-stage differentiation product of mare basalt. Molar Fe/Mn ratios of both olivine and pyroxene are essentially consistent with a lunar origin. Dhofar 1180 has a LREE-enriched (La 18 × CI, Sm 14 × CI) pattern with a small positive Eu anomaly (Eu 15 × CI). Th concentration is 0.7 ppm in Dhofar 1180. Petrography, mineralogy, and trace element geochemistry of Dhofar 1180 are different from those of other lunar meteorites, indicating that Dhofar 1180 represents a unique mingled lunar breccia derived from an area on the lunar nearside but far away from the center of the Imbrium Basin. [source] Petrology and mineralogy of the angrite Northwest Africa 1670METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 11 2008A. JAMBON With subordinate clinopyroxene and chrome-spinel microphenocrysts (0.2-0.5 mm), they represent a xenocrystic association. Phenocrysts are surrounded by a groundmass, predominantly comprising bundles of plagioclase and clinopyroxene (typically 20 × 200 ,m crystals). Olivine and kirschsteinite are present in the groundmass in lesser amounts. The olivine xenocrysts (Fo90) are significantly fractured and show mosaicism for their major part, the remaining showing faint undulatory extinction. They are surrounded with a rim of 100,200 ,m zoned down to Fo80 and overgrown with serrated olivine, Fo80 to Fo60 (about 100 ,m). Olivine in the groundmass is zoned from Mg# 0.55 to 0.15; its CaO content ranges 2.0 to 8.4%. Subcalcic kirschsteinite is zoned from Mg# 0.13 to 0.03, CaO increasing from 15.8 to 21.3%. Pyroxenes xenocrysts (Mg# = 0.77) are superseded in the groundmass by less magnesian pyroxenes, Mg# 0.61 to 0.17, with an average FeO/ MnO of 98. Their compositions range from En30 Fs22 Wo27 Al-Ts28 Ti-Ts2 to En2 Fs37 Wo22 Al-Ts40 Ti-Ts1. Anorthite microcrysts (An99-100) are restricted to the groundmass. Accessories are pyrrhotite, kamacite, Ca-phosphate, titanomagnetite, hercynite and Ca-carbonate. The bulk chemical composition confirms that NWA 1670 corresponds to a normal angrite melt that incorporated olivine. High Mg olivine xenocrysts and the associated mineralogy are typical of angrites. We suggest that it is an impact melt with relict phenocrysts. The strong silica undersaturation, the presence of Fo90 olivine xenocrysts and carbonate support their derivation as melilite-like melts in the presence of carbonate. [source] In situ micro-Raman and X-ray diffraction study of diamonds and petrology of the new ureilite UAE 001 from the United Arab EmiratesMETEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 7 2008Dominik C. HEZEL This is the first report of a meteorite in this country. The sample is heavily altered, of medium shock level, and has a total weight of 155 g. Bulk rock, olivine (Fo79.8,81.8) and pyroxene (En73.9,75.2, Fs15.5,16.9, Wo8.8,9.5) compositions are typical of ureilites. Olivine rims are reduced with Fo increasing up to Fo96.1,96.8. Metal in these rims is completely altered to Fehydroxide during terrestrial weathering. We studied diamond and graphite using micro-Raman and in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction. The main diamond Raman band (LO = TO mode at ,1332 cm,1) is broadened when compared to well-ordered diamond single crystals. Full widths at half maximum (FWHM) values scatter around 7 cm,1. These values resemble FWHM values obtained from chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond. In situ XRD measurements show that diamonds have large grain sizes, up to >5 ,m. Some of the graphite measured is compressed graphite. We explore the possibilities of CVD versus impact shock origin of diamonds and conclude that a shock origin is much more plausible. The broadening of the Raman bands might be explained by prolonged shock pressure resulting in a transitional Raman signal between experimentally shock-produced and natural diamonds. [source] Petrology of Martian meteorite Northwest Africa 998METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 5 2008Allan H. TREIMAN This 456-gram, partially fusion-crusted meteorite consists of (by volume) ,75% augite (core composition Wo39En39Fs22), ,9% olivine (Fo35), ,7% plagioclase (Ab61An35) as anhedra among augite and olivine, ,3.5% low-calcium pyroxenes (pigeonite and orthopyroxene) replacing or forming overgrowths on olivine and augite, ,1% titanomagnetite, and other phases including potassium feldspar, apatite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, ilmenite, and fine-grained mesostasis material. Minor secondary alteration materials include "iddingsite" associated with olivine (probably Martian), calcite crack fillings, and iron oxide/hydroxide staining (both probably terrestrial). Shock effects are limited to minor cataclasis and twinning in augite. In comparison to other nakhlites, NWA 998 contains more low-calcium pyroxenes and its plagioclase crystals are blockier. The large size of the intercumulus feldspars and the chemical homogeneity of the olivine imply relatively slow cooling and chemical equilibration in the late- and post-igneous history of this specimen, and mineral thermometers give subsolidus temperatures near 730 °C. Oxidation state was near that of the QFM buffer, from about QFM-2 in earliest crystallization to near QFM in late crystallization, and to about QFM + 1.5 in some magmatic inclusions. The replacement or overgrowth of olivine by pigeonite and orthopyroxene (with or without titanomagnetite), and the marginal replacement of augite by pigeonite, are interpreted to result from late-stage reactions with residual melts (consistent with experimental phase equilibrium relationships). Apatite is concentrated in planar zones separating apatite-free domains, which suggests that residual magma (rich in P and REE) was concentrated in planar (fracture?) zones and possibly migrated through them. Loss of late magma through these zones is consistent with the low bulk REE content of NWA 998 compared with the calculated REE content of its parent magma. [source] Evolution of the winonaite parent body: Clues from silicate mineral trace element distributionsMETEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 4 2008Christine FLOSS Textural evidence in these meteorites, including the presence of a plagioclase/clinopyroxene-rich lithology and coarse-grained olivine lithologies, suggests that they may have experienced some silicate partial melting. However, trace element distributions in these lithologies do not show any clear signatures for such an event. Pyroxene trace element compositions do exhibit systematic trends, with abundances generally lowest in Pontlyfni and highest in Winona. The fact that the same trends are present for both incompatible and compatible trace elements suggests, however, that the systematics are more likely the result of equilibration of minerals with initially heterogeneous and distinct compositions, rather than partial melting of a compositionally homogeneous precursor. The winonaites have experienced brecciation and mixing of lithologies, followed by varying degrees of thermal metamorphism on their parent body. These factors probably account for the variable bulk rare earth element (REE) patterns noted for these meteorites and may have led to re-equilibration of trace elements in different lithologies. [source] Geochemistry and origin of metal, olivine clasts, and matrix in the Dong Ujimqin Qi mesosideriteMETEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 3 2008Ping Kong According to silicate textures and metal composition, this meteorite is classified as a member of subgroup IB. Instrumental neutron activation analyses (INAA) of metals show that the matrix metal has lower concentrations of Os, Ir, Re, and Pt, but higher concentrations of Ni and Au than the 7.5 cm metal nodule present in the meteorite. We attribute these compositional differences to fractional crystallization of molten metal. Studies of olivine clasts show that FeO contents are uniform in individual olivine crystals but are variable for different olivine clasts. Although concentrations of rare earth elements (REEs) change within olivine clasts, they all exhibit a vee-shaped pattern relative to CI chondrites. The relatively high concentrations of REEs in olivine and the shape of REE patterns require a liquid high in REEs and especially in light REEs. As such a liquid was absent from the region where basaltic and gabbroic clasts formed, mesosiderite olivine must have formed in a part of the differentiated asteroid that is different from the location where other mesosiderite silicate clasts formed. [source] Dust from comet Wild 2: Interpreting particle size, shape, structure, and composition from impact features on the Stardust aluminum foilsMETEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 1-2 2008A. T. Kearsley By comparison to laboratory shots of known particle dimensions and density, using the same velocity and incidence geometry as the Stardust Wild 2 encounter, we can derive size and mass of the cometary dust grains. Using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of foil samples (both flown on the mission and impacted in the laboratory) we have recognized a range of impact feature shapes from which we interpret particle density and internal structure. We have documented composition of crater residues, including stoichiometric material in 3 of 7 larger craters, by energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis. Wild 2 dust grains include coarse (>10 ,m) mafic silicate grains, some dominated by a single mineral species of density around 3,4 g cm,3 (such as olivine). Other grains were porous, low-density aggregates from a few nanometers to 100 ,m, with an overall density that may be lower than 1 g cm,3, containing mixtures of silicates and sulfides and possibly both alkali-rich and mafic glass. The mineral assemblage is very similar to the most common species reported from aerogel tracks. In one large aggregate crater, the combined diverse residue composition is similar to CI chondrites. The foils are a unique collecting substrate, revealing that the most abundant Wild 2 dust grains were of sub-micrometer size and of complex internal structure. Impact residues in Stardust foil craters will be a valuable resource for future analyses of cometary dust. [source] Bulk mineralogy and three-dimensional structures of individual Stardust particles deduced from synchrotron X-ray diffraction and microtomography analysisMETEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 1-2 2008Tomoki Nakamura The analyses were performed at synchrotron facilities, KEK and SPring-8 in Japan. Twenty-eight particles from 5 to 25 ,m in size, including 25 particles from Track 35 and 3 particles from Track 44, were first analyzed by X-ray diffraction and then 4 out of 28 particles were analyzed by X-ray tomography. All particles are classified into two groups based on silicate crystallinity: crystalline type and amorphous-rich type. The abundance of the former is approximately 10% of the particles investigated. Crystalline type shows very sharp reflections of olivine and low-Ca pyroxene, while amorphous-rich type shows no or very weak silicate reflections, suggesting that silicates are mostly amorphous. Broad reflections of Fe sulfides and Fe silicides are detected from most of amorphous-rich type particles. Subsequent tomography analysis revealed that the crystalline type is non-porous material consisting of coarse silicate crystals larger than 1 ,m in size, while the amorphous-rich type is very porous aggregates with amorphous silicates and small Fe sulfide and Fe metallic grains. All characteristics of amorphous-rich type particles indicate that most of them are melted and rapidly solidified during capture in the silica aerogel. On the other hand, the crystalline type is indigenous cometary particle formed through high-temperature heating episodes that have taken place prior to formation of comet Wild 2. One of the crystalline-type particles (C2054,0,35,6,0) consists of Mg-rich olivine, pyroxene, and kamacite and exhibits porphyritic or poikilitic texture very similar to chondrules. [source] Petrology of the Miller Range 03346 nakhlite in comparison with the Yamato-000593 nakhliteMETEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 2 2007N. IMAE The main-phase modal abundances are 67.7 vol% augite, 0.8 vol% olivine, and 31.5 vol% mesostasis. Among all known nakhlites, MIL 03346's modal abundance of olivine is the smallest and of mesostasis is the largest. Augite occurs as cumulus phenocrysts having a homogeneous core composition (En36,38Fs24,22Wo40), which is identical with other nakhlites. They accompany thin ferroan rims divided into inner and outer rims with a compositional gap at the boundary between the two rims. Olivine grains have magnesian cores (Fa , 55) and show normal zoning toward ferroan rims (Fa , 84). Mesostasis consists mostly of glass (26.0 vol%) with minor skeletal fayalites, skeletal titanomagnetites, acicular phosphate, massive cristobalite, and sulfides. We conclude that MIL 03346 is the most rapidly cooled nakhlite among all known nakhlites based on the petrography. We obtain the intercumulus melt composition for MIL 03346 from the mass balance calculation using the modal abundances and discuss the crystallization sequence of MIL 03346 in comparison with that of Yamato (Y-) 000593. Although magnesian olivines of Y-000593 are phenocrystic, magnesian olivine grains of MIL 03346 seem to have texturally crystallized from the intercumulus melt. After the MIL 03346 magma intruded upward to the Martian surficial zone, the magnesian olivine crystallized, and then the ferroan inner rim formed on phenocrystic core augite. The outer rim of phenocrystic augites formed after the crystallization of skeletal fayalites and skeletal titanomagnetites, resulting in a compositional gap between the inner and outer rims. Finally, glassy mesostasis formed from the residual melt. This crystallization sequence of MIL 03346 is different from those of other nakhlites, including Y-000593. [source] Heating effects of the matrix of experimentally shocked Murchison CM chondrite: Comparison with micrometeoritesMETEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 1 2007Naotaka TOMIOKA However, if a major fraction of micrometeorites are produced by impacts on porous asteroids, they may have experienced shock heating before contact with the Earth's atmosphere (Tomeoka et al. 2003). A transmission electron microscope (TEM) study of the matrix of Murchison CM chondrite experimentally shocked at pressures of 10,49 GPa shows that its mineralogy and texture change dramatically, mainly due to shock heating, with the progressive shock pressures. Tochilinite is completely decomposed to an amorphous material at 10 GPa. Fe-Mg serpentine is partially decomposed and decreases in amount with increasing pressure from 10 to 30 GPa and is completely decomposed at 36 GPa. At 49 GPa, the matrix is extensively melted and consists mostly of aggregates of equigranular grains of Fe-rich olivine and less abundant low-Ca pyroxene embedded in Si-rich glass. The mineralogy and texture of the shocked samples are similar to those of some types of micrometeorites. In particular, the samples shocked at 10 and 21 GPa are similar to the phyllosilicate (serpentine)-rich micrometeorites, and the sample shocked at 49 GPa is similar to the olivine-rich micrometeorites. The shock heating effects also resemble the effects of pulse-heating experiments on the CI and CM chondrite matrices that were conducted to simulate atmospheric entry heating. We suggest that micrometeorites derived from porous asteroids are likely to go through both shock and atmospheric-entry heating processes. [source] Spectral properties of angritesMETEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 8 2006T. H. Burbine Almost all angrites (e.g., D'Orbigny, Lewis Cliff [LEW] 86010, and Sahara 99555) are composed predominately of anorthite, Al-Ti diopside-hedenbergite, and Ca-rich olivine, except for the type specimen, Angra dos Reis, which is composed almost entirely of Al-Ti diopside-hedenbergite. D'Orbigny, LEW 86010, and Sahara 99555 also have spectral properties very different from Angra dos Reis. These newly measured angrites all have broad absorption features centered near 1 ,m with very weak to absent absorption bands at ,2 ,m, which is characteristic of some clinopyroxenes. The spectrum of Angra dos Reis has the characteristic 1 and 2 ,m features due to pyroxene. One asteroid, 3819 Robinson, has similar spectral properties to the newly measured angrites in the visible wavelength region, but does not appear to spectrally match these angrites in the near-infrared. [source] Asteroid 3628 Bo,n,mcová: Covered with angrite-like basalts?METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 8 2006Edward A. Cloutis The clinopyroxene is Fe2+ -bearing (likely in the range Fs,10,20), with >90% of the Fe2+ being present in the M1 crystallographic site (spectral type A). The clinopyroxene:plagioclase feldspar ratio is between ,2 and 3 (,55,75% clinopyroxene, ,20,33% plagioclase feldspar). If olivine is present, the clinopyroxene:olivine ratio is >,3 (<20% olivine). The derived mineralogy of Bo,n,mcová is most similar, but not identical, to the known angrite meteorites. The data suggest that Bo,n,mcová formed by melting and differentiation of an oxidized chondritic precursor and probably represents an unsampled angrite-like body. [source] Shock-induced melting, recrystallization, and exsolution in plagioclase from the Martian lherzolitic shergottite GRV 99027METEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 4 2006Deqiang Wang The recrystallized plagioclase contains lamellae of pyroxene, olivine, and minor ilmenite (<1 ,m wide). Both the pyroxene and the olivine inclusions enclosed in plagioclase and grains neighboring the plagioclase were partially melted into plagioclase melt pools. The formation of these lamellar inclusions in plagioclase is attributed to exsolution from recrystallizing melt. Distinct from other Martian meteorites, GRV 99027 contains no maskelynite but does contain recrystallized plagioclase. This shows that the meteorite experienced a slower cooling than maskelynite-bearing meteorites. We suggest that the parent rock of GRV 99027 could have been embedded in hot rocks, which facilitated a more protracted cooling history. [source] Petrology of the Yamato nakhlitesMETEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue 11 2005N. Imae They are paired cumulate clinopyroxenites. We obtained the intercumulus melt composition of the Yamato nakhlites and here call it the Yamato intercumulus melt (YIM). The YIM crystallized to form the augite rims, the olivine rims and the mesostasis phases in the cumulates. The augite rims consist of two layers: inner and outer. The crystallization of the inner rim drove the interstitial melt into the plagioclase liquidus field. Subsequently, the residual melt crystallized pigeonites and plagioclase to form the outer rims and the mesostasis. Three types of inclusions were identified in olivine phenocrysts: rounded vitrophyric, angular vitrophyric, and monomineralic augite inclusions. The monomineralic augite inclusions are common and may have been captured by growing olivine phenocrysts. The rounded vitrophyric inclusions are rare and may represent the composition of middle-stage melts, whereas the angular vitrophyric inclusions seem to have been derived from fractionated late-stage melts. Glass inclusions occur in close association with titanomagnetite and ferroan augite halo in phenocryst core augites and the assemblages may be magmatic inclusions in augites. We compared the YIM with compositions of magmatic inclusions in olivine and augite. The composition of magmatic inclusions in augite is similar to the YIM. Phenocrystic olivines contain exsolution lamellae, augite-magnetite aggregates, and symplectites in the cores. The symplectites often occur at the boundaries between olivine and augite grains. The aggregates, symplectite and lamellae formed by exsolution from the host olivine at magmatic temperatures. We present a formational scenario for nakhlites as follows: (1) accumulation of augite, olivine, and titanomagnetite phenocrysts took place on the floor of a magma chamber; (2) olivine exsolved augite and magnetite as augite-magnetite aggregates, symplectites and lamellae; (3) the overgrowth on olivine phenocrysts formed their rims, and the inner rims crystallized on augite phenocryst cores; and finally, (4) the outer rim formed surrounding the inner rims of augite phenocrysts, and plagioclase and minor minerals crystallized to form mesostasis under a rapid cooling condition, probably in a lava flow or a sill. [source] The Zak,odzie enstatite meteorite: Mineralogy, petrology, origin, and classificationMETEORITICS & PLANETARY SCIENCE, Issue S9 2005Tadeusz A. PRZYLIBSKI Macroscopic and microscopic observations (in transmitted and reflected light), microprobe analyses, cathodoluminescence images, and X-ray diffraction data show that the meteorite is composed of clino- and orthoenstatite, two generations of feldspars, relict olivine (forsterite), a polymorph of SiO2 (apparently cristobalite), and opaque minerals: Fe-Ni alloy (kamacite and taenite), troilite, schreibersite, graphite, and sulfide (Mg, Mn, Fe)S, which is probably keilite. The texture is fine- to inequigranular of cumulate type, locally intergranular. The MgS-FeS thermometer indicates that the sulfides crystallized at ,580,600 °:C. Thus, the Zaklodzie meteorite formed by the nearly complete melting of an enstatite chondrite protolith, probably at ,4.4 Ga; the process was likely caused by the decay of the 26Al nuclide in the planetesimal interior. The second stage of its evolution, which could have happened at ,2.1 Ga, involved partial re-melting of most fusible components, probably due to collision with another body. The structure, composition, and origin of the meteorite and its relation to the parent rock indicate that Zaklodzie may represent a primitive enstatite achondrite. [source] | ||||||||||||||||