Eutectic metal + troilite + Fe‐Mn‐Na phosphate + Al‐free chromite assemblage in shock‐produced chondritic melt of the Yanzhuang chondrite |
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| Authors: | Xiande Xie Ming Chen Shuangmeng Zhai Fuya Wang |
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| Institution: | 1. Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, , 510640 Guangzhou, China;2. State Key Laboratory of Isotope Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, , 510640 Guangzhou, China;3. Key Laboratory of Orogenic Belts and Crustal Evolution, MOE, School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, , Beijing, 100871 China |
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| Abstract: | An assemblage with FeNi metal, troilite, Fe‐Mn‐Na phosphate, and Al‐free chromite was identified in the metal‐troilite eutectic nodules in the shock‐produced chondritic melt of the Yanzhuang H6 meteorite. Electron microprobe and Raman spectroscopic analyses show that a few phosphate globules have the composition of Na‐bearing graftonite (Fe,Mn,Na)3(PO4)2, whereas most others correspond to Mn‐bearing galileiite Na(Fe,Mn)4(PO4)3 and a possible new phosphate phase of Na2(Fe,Mn)17(PO4)12 composition. The Yanzhuang meteorite was shocked to a peak pressure of 50 GPa and a peak temperature of approximately 2000 °C. All minerals were melted after pressure release to form a chondritic melt due to very high postshock heat that brought the chondrite material above its liquidus. The volatile elements P and Na released from whitlockite and plagioclase along with elements Cr and Mn released from chromite are concentrated into the shock‐produced Fe‐Ni‐S‐O melt at high temperatures. During cooling, microcrystalline olivine and pyroxene first crystallized from the chondritic melt, metal‐troilite eutectic intergrowths, and silicate melt glass finally solidified at about 950–1000 °C. On the other hand, P, Mn, and Na in the Fe‐Ni‐S‐O melt combined with Fe and crystallized as Fe‐Mn‐Na phosphates within troilite, while Cr combined with Fe and crystallized as Al‐free chromite also within troilite. |
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