Matrix material in type 3 chondrites—occurrence,heterogeneity and relationship with chondrules

Matrix material in type 3 chondrites forms rims on chondrules, metal-sulfide aggregates, Ca,Al-rich inclusions and chondritic clasts; it also forms lumps up to a millimeter in size, which may contain coarser silicates. Chondrules of all types were found with internal matrix lumps that appear to have entered the chondrules before the latter had crystallized. Mean concentrations of Mg, Na, Al and Ca in matrix occurrences show up to fivefold variations in a single chondrite. Variations between mean matrix compositions of individual type 3 ordinary chondrites are almost as large and partly reflect systematic differences between H, L and LL matrices. Such variations are probably a result of nebular separation of feldspathic material and ferromagnesian silicates.Compositions of chondrules and their matrix rims are normally unrelated, although rim compositions are correlated with those of matrix lumps inside chondrules. A single chondrule was found with a composition nearly identical to that of its internal matrix lump, suggesting that some chondrules may have formed from matrix material. Matrix lumps are as heterogeneous as chondrules, but mean chondrule and matrix compositions differ, even allowing for possible loss of metallic Fe,Ni during chondrule formation. Since bulk compositions of matrix lumps and rims have probably not changed significantly since their formation except for Fe-Mg exchange, our matrix samples cannot represent typical chondrule precursor materials.     

Chondrule reheating experiments and relict olivine

Chondrules contain foreign objects, including some olivine grains that obviously did not crystallize from their silicate melt. The term recycling is usually applied to chondrules with relict grains, implying that the precursor contained relicts of a previous generation of chondrules. This has given rise to the idea that the pervasive melt droplet formation that affected the early solar system involved repeated events in which chondrules or chondrule debris were reheated. We conducted experiments in which synthetic chondrules generated from fine-grained mineral aggregates were heated and cooled a second time to see what the textural consequences of this reheating would be. Charges were heated to peak temperatures for 1 min and were cooled to near-solidus temperatures over 35 min, for both thermal cycles. We first made microporphyritic olivine charges and on reheating and second cooling observed coarser grain sizes and disappearance of relict grains, if the second peak temperature was the same as or higher than the first (but insufficient for destroying all nuclei). The coarsening was due to the dissolution of the smallest first generation crystals and additional growth on the relicts during cooling. Reheated barred olivine spheres generated barred olivine spheres again, no matter how low the peak temperature. This is because the number of remaining olivine grains or nuclei that acted as sites for regrowth was constant. Generating the observed distribution of chondrule textures, dominantly porphyritic, directly from a fine-grained precursor such as nebular or presolar condensates is impossible with a single event. With reheating of chondrules, generating the texture distribution is possible provided that subsequent heating events have higher peak temperatures than the first, so that total dissolution of the smallest grains occurs, with consequent coarsening. For our thermal history and a reasonable distribution of peak temperatures, multiple recycling events might be needed to make most chondrules porphyritic. Alternatively, the predominance of porphyritic textures in chondrules could be explained by heating times hours long for a fine-grained precursor or by heating of a coarse-grained precursor.The presence of relict grains derived from older chondrules or other material suggests that an aggregate has been heated for the first time, because recycling brings an approach to equilibrium. There appears to be no reliable way to use textures to tell just how many chondrules have been heated more than once. The relict grains simply indicate the nature of the precursors, which were at least in part derived from earlier chondrules, and of the peak temperatures too low for total melting and heating times too short for total dissolution. Rim thicknesses on relict grains depend on number density of crystals and melt composition, and are not a reliable guide to the chondrule cooling rate.     

Chondrule textures and precursor grain size: an experimental study

Chondrule formation appears to have been a major event in the early solar system, but chondrule properties do not allow us to distinguish between several possible formation mechanisms. The physical nature of the precursors, especially grain size, must affect the textures of the chondrules they yield when heated. We melted precursors of different grain sizes, including extremely fine-grained crystalline aggregates analogous to nebular condensates, to see whether objects resembling most natural chondrules can be crystallized. With one-minute heating and moderate cooling rates, the grain size of the charges depends directly on the grain size of the starting material, for temperatures up to very close to the liquidus temperature. A single rapid heating of condensate-like material thus produces very fine-grained chondrules, like dark-zoned chondrules, for a very wide range of peak temperatures. It is incapable of generating the observed textural distribution of chondrules, which are predominantly porphyritic. The simplest model for chondrules, a single heating of unmodified condensate material, therefore appears unrealistic. Coarse-grained chondrules might be formed from fine-grained precursors by extended heating with evaporation leading to coarsening, or by multiple reheating events, with higher temperatures in subsequent events. Otherwise an origin from annealed condensates, planetary rocks, or by condensation of liquid and crystals is required.     

Chemistry, petrology and bulk oxygen isotope compositions of chondrules from the Mokoia CV3 carbonaceous chondrite

We report bulk chemical compositions and physical properties for a suite of 94 objects, mostly chondrules, separated from the Mokoia CV3_ox carbonaceous chondrite. We also describe mineralogical and petrologic information for a selected subset of the same suite of chondrules. The data are used to examine the range of chondrule bulk compositions, and to investigate the relationships between chondrule mineralogy, texture and bulk compositions, as well as oxygen isotopic properties that we reported previously. Most of the chondrules show minimal metamorphism, corresponding to petrologic subtype <3.2. In general, elemental fractionations observed in chondrule bulk compositions are reflected in the compositions of constituent minerals. For chondrules, mean bulk compositions and compositional ranges are very similar for large (>2 mg) and small (<2 mg) size fractions. Two of the objects studied are described as matrix-rich clasts. These have similar bulk compositions to the chondrule mean, and are potential chondrule precursors. One of these clasts has a similar bulk oxygen isotopic composition to Mokoia chondrules, but the other has an anomalously high value of Δ¹⁷O (+3.60‰).Chondrules are diverse in bulk chemical composition, with factor of 10 variations in most major element abundances that cannot be attributed to secondary processes. The chondrules examined show evidence for extensive secondary oxidation, and possible sulfidization, as expected for an oxidized CV chondrite, but minimal aqueous alteration. Some of the bulk chondrule compositional variation might be the result of chemical (e.g. volatilization or condensation) or physical (e.g. metal loss) processes during chondrule formation. However, we suggest that it is mainly the result of significant variations in the assembly of particles that constituted chondrule precursors. Precursor material likely included a refractory component, possibly inherited from disaggregated CAIs, an FeO-poor ferromagnesian component such as olivine or pyroxene, an oxidized ferromagnesian component, and a metal component. Bulk oxygen isotope ratios of chondrules can be explained if refractory and ferromagnesian precursor materials initially shared similar oxygen isotopic compositions of δ¹⁷O, δ¹⁸O around −50‰, and then significant exchange occurred between the chondrule and surrounding ¹⁶O-poor gas during melting.     

Granoblastic olivine aggregates as precursors of Type I chondrules: An experimental test

Chondrule formation models involving precursors of granoblastic olivine aggregates (GOA) of either planetesimal or nebular origin have recently been proposed. We have therefore conducted chondrule simulation experiments using mixtures of 100 h-thermally annealed GOA and An + En to test the viability of GOA as predecessors of porphyritic olivine (PO) chondrules. Isothermal runs of less than 5 min at 1350–1550 °C result in GOA disaggregation and Fe–Mg exchange; runs of 0.5–4 h show textures superficially similar to granular and PO chondrules, but with reversely zoned olivine. Charges isothermally heated at 1550 °C for 1 and 4 h before being cooled at 10 and 100 °C/h undergo olivine crystallization and yield classical PO textures. Although most evidence of origin from GOA is erased, the cores of normally zoned euhedral crystals are relict. As ‘phenocrysts’ in Type I chondrules can be relict such chondrules could have experienced similar peak temperatures to those of Type II chondrules.Chondrules containing GOA with olivine triple junctions resemble experimental charges heated for minutes at temperatures between 1350 and 1450 °C and Type I chondrules with subhedral to anhedral olivine plus GOA relicts resemble charges heated at the same temperatures but for longer duration. Type I chondrules with a mass of granular olivine or irregular, anhedral olivine grains in the center, and much glass nearer the margin, on the other hand, require limited heating at high temperature (1550 °C) while Type I chondrules with euhedral olivines, resemble charges heated at 1550 °C for 4 h. The majority of Type I chondrules in CV chondrites display evidence of derivation from GOA. Many finer-grained chondrules in CR and UOC on the other hand, could not have been derived from such coarse-grained precursors, but could have formed from fine-grained dustballs as stipulated in the standard paradigm. Thus, both GOA and dustballs represent viable chondrule precursors of coarser and finer-grained Type I PO chondrules, respectively.     

Refractory precursor components of Semarkona chondrules and the fractionation of refractory elements among chondrites

Chondrules from the Semarkona (LL3.0) chondrite show refractory and common lithophile fractionation trends similar to those observed among the chondrite groups. It appears that chondrules are mixtures of a small number of pre-existing solid components, and we infer that chondrule precursor materials were related to the nebular components involved in the lithophile element fractionations recognized in ordinary chondrites. Compositional trends among the chondrules can be used to deduce the compositions of these components.We use instrumental neutron activation analysis to measure many (~20) of the lithophile elements in 30 chondrules. The amounts of oxidized iron were calculated from other compositional parameters; concentrations of Si were estimated using mass-balance considerations. The data were corrected for the diluting effects of non-lithophile constituents. Plots of lithophile elements versus a reference refractory element such as Al show that there were two major chondrule silicate precursor components: a refractory, olivine-rich, FeO-free one, and a non-refractory, SiO₂-, FeO-rich one.The refractory component probably forms from olivine-enriched condensates formed above the condensation temperature of enstatite. The non-refractory component must have formed from fine-grained materials that were able to equilibrate down to lower nebular temperatures. Chondrite matrix may have had an origin similar to that of the non-refractory material, and constitutes a third lithophile-bearing component that took part in chondrite fractionation processes. The low abundance of refractories and Mg in ordinary and enstatite chondrites was produced by the loss of materials having a higher refractory-element/Mg ratio than that in the refractory component of chondrules.     

Spinel group minerals in LL3.00-6 chondrites: Indicators of nebular and parent body processes

We carried out a systematic study of spinel group minerals in LL3.00-3.9 and LL4-6 chondrites. With increasing petrologic type, the size and abundance of spinel increase. The compositions of spinel group minerals in type 3 chondrites depend on the occurrence; Mg-Al-rich spinel occurs mainly in chondrules. Some chromite occurs in chondrules and matrix, and nearly pure chromite is exclusively encountered in the matrix. The occurrence of nearly pure chromite and the wide compositional variations distinguish spinel group minerals in types 3.00-3.3 from those in the other types. Spinel group minerals in types 3.5-3.9 show a narrower range of compositions, and those in types 4-6 are homogeneous. The changes in composition and abundance of spinel in type 3 chondrites are most likely due to thermal metamorphism. Therefore, the chemistry of spinel group minerals could be used as a sensitive indicator of metamorphic conditions, not only for type 3-6, but also 3.00-3.9. They can be applied to identify the most primitive (least metamorphosed) chondrites. The bulk compositions of spinel-bearing chondrules and the textural setting of the spinel indicate that most spinel group minerals crystallized directly from chondrule melts. However, some spinel grains, especially those enclosed in olivine phenocrysts, can not be explained by in situ crystallization in the chondrule. We interpret these spinel grains to be relic phases that survived chondrule melting. This is supported by the oxygen isotopic composition of a spinel grain, which has significantly lighter oxygen than the coexisting olivine. The oxygen isotopic composition of this spinel is similar to those of Al-rich chondrules. Our discovery of relic spinel in chondrules is an indication of the complexities in the early solar nebular processes that ranged from formation of refractory inclusion, through Al-rich chondrule, to ferromagnesian chondrules, and attests to the recycling of earlier formed materials into the precursors of later formed materials. The characteristic features of spinel group minerals are not only sensitive to thermal metamorphism, but also shed light on chondrule formation processes.     

Clues to chondrule precursors: An investigation of vesicle formation in experimental chondrules

The absence of vesicles in chondrules and their presence in synthetic analogs yields information about the origin of chondrules. A variety of melting-crystallization experiments demonstrate the cause of vesicles in synthetic chondrules. Experiments involving the use of binding agents in sample preparation, samples with residual adsorbed moisture, incompletely melted samples, and the use of fine-grained sizesorted starting powder all generated more vesicles than experiments on control samples. Volatiles such as Na were not responsible for vesicles in our experiments because Na was not lost under our flashheating conditions. Because Wdowiak (1983) assumed chondrule precursors contained volatiles, and his electrical discharge melting generated vesicles, he suggested chondrules were not formed by flashmelting events. However, vesicle-free chondrules are to be expected with flash melting provided that the precursors were poor in highly volatile material. Flash-melting experiments with serpentine in the precursor powder developed extremely porous “popcorn” spherules, as in some meteorite ablation spherules. Chondrule precursors must have consisted of anhydrous phases assembled at low ambient gas pressure above the condensation temperature of ice. The absence of vesicles in all chondrules, including those unlikely to have been heated multiple times, e.g., ¹⁶O-rich and granular chondrules, demonstrates that their original precursors, whether interstellar dust or nebular condensates, cannot have consisted of hydrous silicates.     

Petrogenesis of Al-rich chondrules: Evidence from bulk compositions and phase equilibria

We measured major, minor, and trace-element compositions for eleven Al-rich chondrules from unequilibrated ordinary chondrites to investigate the relationships between Al-rich chondrules, ferromagnesian chondrules, Ca-, Al-rich inclusions (CAIs), and amoeboid olivine aggregates (AOAs). Phase equilibrium considerations show that, for the most part, mineral assemblages in Al-rich chondrules are those expected from melts of the observed compositions. The diversity of mineral assemblages and Al-rich chondrule types arises mainly from the fact that the array of compositions spans both the spinel-saturated anorthite-forsterite reaction curve and a thermal divide defined by where the anorthite-forsterite join crosses the reaction curve. The reaction curve accounts for the two principal varieties of Al-rich chondrule, plagioclase-phyric and olivine-phyric, with or without aluminous spinel. The thermal divide influences the subsequent evolution of each variety. A third variety of Al-rich chondrule contains abundant sodium-rich glass; trace-element fractionation patterns suggest that these glassy Al-rich chondrules could have been derived from the other two by extensive alteration of plagioclase to nepheline followed by remelting. The bulk compositions of Al-rich chondrules (except sodium-rich ones) are intermediate in a volatility sense between ferromagnesian chondrules and type C CAIs. The combined trend of bulk compositions for CAIs, Al-rich chondrules, and ferromagnesian chondrules mirrors, but does not exactly match, the trend predicted from equilibrium condensation at P_T ∼ 10^-3 atm; the observed trend does not match the trend found for evaporation from a liquid of chondritic composition. We thus infer that the bulk compositions of the precursors to CAIs, Al-rich chondrules, were ferromagnesian chondrules were controlled primarily by vapor-solid reactions (condensation or sublimation) in the solar nebula. Some Al-rich chondrules are consistent with an origin by melting of a compound CAI-ferromagnesian chondrule hybrid; others cannot be so explained. Any hybrid model is restricted by the constraint that the CAI precursor consisted dominantly of pyroxene + plagioclase + spinel; melilite cannot have been a significant component. Amoeboid olivine aggregates also have the inferred mineralogical characteristics of Al-rich chondrule precursors—they are mixtures of olivine with plagioclase-spinel-pyroxene-rich CAIs—but the few measured bulk compositions are more olivine-rich than those of Al-rich chondrules.     

Metal in CR chondrites

In section many low-FeO CR chondrules are surrounded by rings of metal; this metal-cladding seems to have formed during chondrule melting events as films of metal that wetted the surface. Electron microprobe studies show that in each ring the metal is very uniform in composition, consistent with efficient mixing during formation of the metal film. In contrast the mean Ni contents of 13 different rings vary by up to a factor of 2. There is no FeS associated with ring metal. Ring metal Co is positively correlated with Ni but the Co/Ni ratio seems to decrease with increasing Ni. We observed a weak negative correlation between ring metal Ni and the fayalite content of the host olivine. Coarse interior metal has higher Ni contents than that in the surrounding rings. At any specific chondrule location, smaller grains tend to have lower Ni contents than larger grains. These trends in Ni seem to reflect two processes: (1) The mean Ni content of metal (and easily reduced sulfides or oxides) in chondrule precursor materials seems to have decreased with the passage of time; on average, the metal in earlier-formed chondrules had higher Ni contents than the metal in later-formed chondrules. (2) Some oxidized Fe was reduced during chondrule formation leading to lower Ni contents in small grains compared to large grains; prior to reduction the Fe was in FeS or in FeO in accessible (fine-grained) sites. We suggest that the compositional evolution of nebular solids was responsible for the interchondrule variations whereas reduction of minor amounts of FeS or FeO was responsible for the size-related small variations in Ni content. We suggest that, during chondrule formation events, CR chondrules experienced relatively long thermal pulses that were responsible for the thorough loss of FeS and the common granoblastic texture observed in low-FeO chondrules. The preservation of the structures of internal rings shows, however, that even though high temperatures occurred in the secondary chondrule, temperatures in the centers of large (>20 μm) metal and silicate grains in the primary chondrule did not get high enough to cause appreciable melting.     

Oxygen-isotopic compositions of relict and host grains in chondrules in the Yamato 81020 CO3.0 chondrite

We report the oxygen-isotope compositions of relict and host olivine grains in six high-FeO porphyritic olivine chondrules in one of the most primitive carbonaceous chondrites, CO3.0 Yamato 81020. Because the relict grains predate the host phenocrysts, microscale in situ analyses of O-isotope compositions can help assess the degree of heterogeneity among chondrule precursors and constrain the nebular processes that caused these isotopic differences. In five of six chondrules studied, the Δ¹⁷O (=δ¹⁷O −0.52 · δ¹⁸O) compositions of host phenocrysts are higher than those in low-FeO relict grains; the one exception is for a chondrule with a moderately high-FeO relict. Both the fayalite compositions as well as the O-isotope data support the view that the low-FeO relict grains formed in a previous generation of low-FeO porphyritic chondrules that were subsequently fragmented. It appears that most low-FeO porphyritic chondrules formed earlier than most high-FeO porphyritic chondrules, although there were probably some low-FeO chondrules that formed during the period when most high-FeO chondrules were forming.     

Microchondrule-bearing clast in the Piancaldoli LL3 meteorite: a new kind of type 3 chondrite and its relevance to the history of chondrules

In the Piancaldoli LL3 chondrite, we found a mm-sized clast containing ~100 chondrules 0.2–64 μm in apparent diameter (much smaller than any previously reported) that are all of the same textural type (radial pyroxene; FS_1–17). This clast, like other type 3 chondrites, has a fine-grained Ferich opaque silicate matrix, sharply defined chondrules, abundant low-Ca clinopyroxene and minor troilite and Si- and Cr-bearing metallic Fe,Ni. However, the very high modal matrix abundance (63 ± 8 vol. %), unique characteristics of the chondrules, and absence of microscopically-observable olivine indicate that the clast is a new kind of type 3 chondrite. Most chondrules have FeO-rich edges, and chondrule size is inversely correlated with chondrule-core FeO concentration (the first reported correlation of chondrule size and composition). Chondrules acquired Fe by diffusion from Fe-rich matrix material during mild metamorphism, possibly before final consolidation of the rock. Microchondrules (those chondrules ? 100 μm in diameter) are also abundant in another new kind of type 3 chondrite clast in the Rio Negro L chondrite regolith breccia. In other type 3 chondrite groups, microchondrule abundance appears to be anticorrelated with mean chondrule size, viz. 0.02–0.04 vol. % in H and CO chondrites and ?0.006 vol. % in L, LL, and CV chondrites.Microchondrules probably formed by the same process that formed normal-sized droplet chondrules: melting of pre-existing dustballs. Because most compound chondrules in the clast and other type 3 chondrites formed by collisions between chondrules of the same textural type, we suggest that dust grains were mineralogically sorted in the nebula before aggregating into dustballs. The sizes of compound chondrules and chondrule craters, which resulted from collisions of similarly-sized chondrules while they were plastic, indicate that size-sorting (of dustballs) occurred before chondrule formation, probably by aerodynamic processes in the nebula. We predict that other kinds of type 3 chondrites exist which contain chondrule abundances, size-ranges and proportions of textural types different from known chondrite groups.     

Non-spherical lobate chondrules in CO3.0 Y-81020: General implications for the formation of low-FeO porphyritic chondrules in CO chondrites

Non-spherical chondrules (arbitrarily defined as having aspect ratios ≥1.20) in CO3.0 chondrites comprise multi-lobate, distended, and highly irregular objects with rounded margins; they constitute ∼70% of the type-I (low-FeO) porphyritic chondrules in Y-81020, ∼75% of such chondrules in ALHA77307, and ∼60% of those in Colony. Although the proportion of non-spherical type-I chondrules in LL3.0 Semarkona is comparable (∼60%), multi-lobate OC porphyritic chondrules (with lobe heights equivalent to a significant fraction of the mean chondrule diameter) are rare. If the non-spherical type-I chondrules in CO chondrites had formed from totally molten droplets, calculations indicate that they would have collapsed into spheres within ∼10⁻³ s, too little time for their 20-μm-size olivine phenocrysts to have grown from the melt. These olivine grains must therefore be relicts from an earlier chondrule generation; the final heating episode experienced by the non-spherical chondrules involved only minor amounts of melting and crystallization. The immediate precursors of the individual non-spherical chondrules may have been irregularly shaped chondrule fragments whose fracture surfaces were rounded during melting. Because non-spherical chondrules and “circular” chondrules form a continuum in shape and have similar grain sizes, mineral and mesostasis compositions, and modal abundances of non-opaque phases, they must have formed by related processes. We conclude that a large majority of low-FeO chondrules in CO3 chondrites experienced a late, low-degree melting event. Previous studies have shown that essentially all type-II (high-FeO) porphyritic chondrules in Y-81020 formed by repeated episodes of low-degree melting. It thus appears that the type-I and type-II porphyritic chondrules in Y-81020 (and, presumably, all CO3 chondrites) experienced analogous formation histories. Because these two types constitute ∼95% of all CO chondrules, it is clear that chondrule recycling was the rule in the CO chondrule-formation region and that most melting events produced only low degrees of melting. The rarity of significantly non-spherical, multi-lobate chondrules in Semarkona may reflect more-intense heating of chondrule precursors in the ordinary-chondrite region of the solar nebula.     

Evidence for primitive nebular components in chondrules from the Chainpur chondrite

The least equilibrated ordinary chrondrites contain chondrules which have experienced little change since the time of their formation in the early solar system. These chondrules are excellent indicators of the physical and chemical nature of the solar nebula. We separated 36 chondrules from the Chainpur (LL3.4) chondrite and analyzed each for 20 elements and petrographic properties. Sampling biases were minimized as far as possible.Chondrules seem to have formed through the melting of random mixtures of grains comprising a limited number of nebular components. The identity of these components can be deduced from chondrule compositions. The dominant components appear to be: 1) a mixture of metal and sulfide with composition similar to whole-rock metal and sulfide; 2) refractory (Ir-rich) metal; 3) refractory, olivine-rich silicates; 4) low-temperature, pyroxene-rich silicates, and, possibly, 5) a component containing the more volatile lithophiles.Most of the textural types of chondrules formed from the same set of precursor components. In some cases chondrules having different textures are almost identical in composition. A few, unusual chondrule types seem to mainly consist of uncommon nebular components, possibly indicating different modes of formation.Etching experiments confirm that chondrule rims are enriched in metal, troilite and moderately volatile elements relative to the bulk chondrules. However, a large fraction of the volatiles remains in the unetched interior.     

Petrology and oxygen isotope compositions of chondrules in E3 chondrites

Chondrules in E3 chondrites differ from those in other chondrite groups. Many contain near-pure endmember enstatite (Fs_<1). Some contain Si-bearing FeNi metal, Cr-bearing troilite, and, in some cases Mg, Mn- and Ca-sulfides. Olivine and more FeO-rich pyroxene grains are present but much less common than in ordinary or carbonaceous chondrite chondrules. In some cases, the FeO-rich grains contain dusty inclusions of metal. The oxygen three-isotope ratios (δ¹⁸O, δ¹⁷O) of olivine and pyroxene in chondrules from E3 chondrites, which are measured using a multi-collection SIMS, show a wide range of values. Most enstatite data plots on the terrestrial fractionation (TF) line near whole rock values and some plot near the ordinary chondrite region on the 3-isotope diagram. Pyroxene with higher FeO contents (∼2-10 wt.% FeO) generally plots on the TF line similar to enstatite, suggesting it formed locally in the EC (enstatite chondrite) region and that oxidation/reduction conditions varied within the E3 chondrite chondrule-forming region. Olivine shows a wide range of correlated δ¹⁸O and δ¹⁷O values and data from two olivine-bearing chondrules form a slope ∼1 mixing line, which is approximately parallel to but distinct from the CCAM (carbonaceous chondrite anhydrous mixing) line. We refer to this as the ECM (enstatite chondrite mixing) line but it also may coincide with a line defined by chondrules from Acfer 094 referred to as the PCM (Primitive Chondrite Mineral) line (Ushikubo et al., 2011). The range of O isotope compositions and mixing behavior in E3 chondrules is similar to that in O and C chondrite groups, indicating similar chondrule-forming processes, solid-gas mixing and possibly similar ¹⁶O-rich precursors solids. However, E3 chondrules formed in a distinct oxygen reservoir.Internal oxygen isotope heterogeneity was found among minerals from some of the chondrules in E3 chondrites suggesting incomplete melting of the chondrules, survival of minerals from previous generations of chondrules, and chondrule recycling. Olivine, possibly a relict grain, in one chondrule has an R chondrite-like oxygen isotope composition and may indicate limited mixing of materials from other reservoirs. Calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) in E3 chondrites have petrologic characteristics and oxygen isotope ratios similar to those in other chondrite groups. However, chondrules from E3 chondrites differ markedly from those in other chondrite groups. From this we conclude that chondrule formation was a local event but CAIs may have all formed in one distinct place and time and were later redistributed to the various chondrule-forming and parent body accretion regions. This also implies that transport mechanisms were less active at the time of and following chondrule formation.     

Metamorphism of the H-group chondrites: implications from compositional and textural trends in chondrules

Major and minor element bulk compositions of 373 individual chondrules from 18 H3 to H6 chondrites were determined in polished thin sections by broad-beam electron probe analysis. Bulk chondrule FeO and Al₂O₃ increase and TiO₂ and Cr₂O₃ decrease with increasing petrologic type; normative fayalite, albite and plagioclase increase through the petrologic sequence. Chondrule diameters correlate with phenocryst sizes in porphyritic chondrules of type 3 chondrites, but this correlation is diminished in the higher petrologic types. Furthermore, for a given chondrule diameter, phenocryst sizes are larger in the higher petrologic types. We attribute most compositional trends in chondrules through the petrologic sequence to diffusion and equilibration among chondrules and between chondrules and matrix in response to increasing degrees of thermal metamorphism. Increased phenocryst sizes in the higher petrologic types are probably the result of grain growth during metamorphism.We suggest that H-group chondrites formed by accretion of high-temperature (chondrules) and low-temperature (matrix) materials. Parent materials of each of the petrologic types resembled type 3 chondrites, but had slight compositional differences (e.g. volatiles, rare gases, total iron) inherited during accretion. These differences were predominantly functions of decreasing temperature in the nebula as accretion progressed. Internal reheating of the parent materials to different temperatures and (probably) for different times, as a function of depth in the parent body, caused compositional equilibration, grain coarsening, and reduction of FeO to Fe° by carbon.     

Mineralogy and petrology of chondrules and inclusions in the Mokoia CV3 chondrite

All objects >100 μm in apparent diameter in five polished thin sections of the Mokoia CV3 chondrite were studied and classified. Number and volume percentages and mean apparent size of each type of chondrule and inclusion were determined. Three major types of olivine chondrules were observed: igneous chondrules, recrystallized chondrules, and chondrules that appear to be accretional aggregates. Coarse-grained CAI's have igneous textures and mineral parageneses, while fine-grained CAI's are aggregates containing varying proportions of Al-rich concentric objects, Ca-rich chaotic material, and inclusion matrix. Chondrules and refractory inclusions in Mokoia and Allende are broadly similar in texture and mineral chemistry, but Mokoia refractory inclusions contain phyllosilicates rather than feldspathoids, and melilite-rich CAI's are more abundant in Allende.We think that most CAI's formed during the metamorphism, partial melting, and incomplete distillation of primitive dust aggregates when they were heated in the solar nebula. In the process, Ca-rich melt appears to have been physically separated from Al-rich residues, producing the observed fractionation of Ca from Al into distinct constituents of CAI's. Some CAI's may be aggregates of devitrified, amorphous metastable condensates. Inclusion matrix may have condensed from silicate-rich vapors produced during distillation. Mokoia inclusion matrix contains phyllosilicates that are probably primitive nebular material.     

Sulfur isotope composition of putative primary troilite in chondrules from Bishunpur and Semarkona

The sulfur isotopic compositions of putative primary troilite grains within 15 ferromagnesian chondrules (10 FeO-poor and 5 FeO-rich chondrules) in the least metamorphosed ordinary chondrites, Bishunpur and Semarkona, have been measured by ion microprobe. Some troilite grains are located inside metal spherules within chondrules. Since such an occurrence is unlikely to be formed by secondary sulfidization processes in the solar nebula or on parent bodies, those troilites are most likely primary, having survived chondrule-forming high-temperature events. If they are primary, they may be the residues of evaporation at high temperatures during chondrule formation and may have recorded mass-dependent isotopic fractionations. However, the supposed primary troilites measured in this study do not show any significant sulfur isotopic fractionations (<1 ‰/amu) relative to large troilite grains in matrix. Among other chondrule troilites that we measured, only one (BI-CH22) apparently has a small excess of heavy isotopes (2.7 ± 1.4 ‰/amu) consistent with isotopic fractionation during evaporation. All other grains have isotopic fractionations of <1 ‰/amu. Because sulfur is so volatile that evaporation during chondrule formation is probably inevitable, non-Rayleigh evaporation most likely explains the lack of isotopic fractionation in putative primary troilite inside chondrules. Evaporation through the surrounding silicate melt would have suppressed the isotopic fractionation after silicate dust grains melted. At lower temperatures below extensive melting of silicates, a heating rate of >10⁴-10⁶ K/h would be required to avoid a large degree of sulfur isotopic fractionation in the chondrule precursors. This heating rate may provide a new constraint on the chondrule formation processes.     

Chondrules in H3 chondrites: textures,compositions and origins

Major and minor element bulk compositions of 90 individual chondrules and 16 compound chondrule sets in unequilibrated (type 3) H-group chondrites were determined in polished thin sections by broad beam electron probe analysis and the chondrules were classified petrographically into six textural types (barred olivine, porphyritic olivine, porphyritic pyroxene, barred pyroxene, radiating pyroxene, fine-grained). Although analyses of individual chondrules scatter widely, the mean composition of each textural type (except barred pyroxene) is rather distinct, as verified by discriminant function analysis. Al₂O₃, TiO₂ and Na₃O are correlated in chondrules, but Al₂O₃ and CaO do not correlate. Compound chondrule sets were found to consist almost entirely of chondrules or partial chondrules of similar texture and composition.The data suggest that composition played a conspicuous role in producing the observed textures of chondrules, though other factors such as cooling rates and degrees of supercooling prior to nucleation were also important. If compound chondrules formed and joined when they were still molten or plastic, then the data suggest that chondrules of each textural type could have formed together in space or time. The correlation of Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ with Na₂O and not with CaO appears to rule out formation of chondrules by direct equilibrium condensation from the nebula. We conclude that the most reasonable model for formation of the majority of chondrules is that they originated from mixtures of differing fractions of high-, intermediate- and low-temperature nebular condensates that underwent melting in space. A small percentage of chondrules might have formed by impacts in meteorite parent-body regoliths.     

Fine-grained-rim mineralogy of the Cold Bokkeveld CM chondrite

A chrysotile-like phase, cronstedtite, polygonal serpentine, pentlandite, and finely intergrown tochilinite comprise the fine-grained rim (FGR) mineralogy of the Cold Bokkeveld CM chondrite. Transmission electron microscope images combined with compositional data indicate reaction among cronstedtite, the chrysotile-like phase, and polygonal serpentine. The Mg/(Mg+Fe) ratios of the cronstedtite are higher than those reported for the less altered Murchison CM chondrite. Cronstedtite grains exhibit layer separations, particularly at their boundaries.The FGRs surround different chondrule types but have similar bulk compositions and mineralogy. Ca is depleted in the FGRs relative to the bulk CM chondrite. The FGRs display non-uniform thicknesses, especially where they coat embayed chondrule areas, and they exhibit grain-size coarsening outward from the chondrules they enclose. FGR formation in Cold Bokkeveld is most plausibly explained by multiple accretionary episodes during which progressively coarser dust was deposited onto chondrules, presumably in the solar nebula. The compositional and mineralogic data are consistent with aqueous alteration on the parent body.