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Mineralogy and petrology of silicate inclusions in iron meteorites

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Abstract

Silicate inclusions in 17 iron meteorites have been analyzed by the electron microprobe and classified, according to their phase assemblages, compositions, and textures, into three major types: Odessa, Copiapo, and Weekeroo Station, and three miscellaneous types: Enon, Kendall County, and Netschaëvo. Phase compositions in both Odessa- and Copiapo-type inclusions are very similar, but the two types are different in texture and constituent phases. Weekeroo Station-type inclusions are very different in every respect from other inclusions.

For Odessa- and Copiapo-type inclusions, the distribution coefficients of Fe2+ and Mg in coexisting orthopyroxene and clinopyroxene indicate equilibration temperatures of ∼1,000° C, and the Ca/(Ca+Mg) ratios indicate temperatures of 900° C to 1,000° C. Equilibration temperatures determined for chromite-olivine pairs have a higher range of 1,154° C to 1,335° C. Minor element distributions among coexisting ferromagnesian silicates in these inclusions follow consistent patterns and are constant for any given sample, suggesting equilibrium assemblages. Major and minor element distributions for Weekeroo Station inclusions are anomalous, indicating nonequilibrium.

Compositional data, the fragmentary shapes of many inclusions, the highly differentiated characteristic of two types of inclusions, the apparent disequilibrium between kamacite in inclusions and kamacite of the iron host, and the relict chondrules found in Netschaëvo suggest that many of the inclusions did not form cogenetically with the iron host, but represent pre-existing stony material that was taken up by an iron melt, probably not in the core of the parent body (or bodies).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Space Sciences Division, NASA, Ames Research Center, 94035, Moffett Field, California

    T. E. Bunch

  2. Department of Geology and Institute of Meteoritics, The University of New Mexico, 87106, Albuquerque, New Mexico

    Klaus Keil

  3. Department of Geology, Field Museum of Natural History, 60605, Chicago, Illinois

    E. Olsen

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  1. T. E. Bunch
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  2. Klaus Keil
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  3. E. Olsen
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Bunch, T.E., Keil, K. & Olsen, E. Mineralogy and petrology of silicate inclusions in iron meteorites. Contr. Mineral. and Petrol. 25, 297–340 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00399290

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