Temperature conditions for chondrule formation

Abstract— The liquidus temperatures of chondrules range from about 1200 °C to almost 1900 °C, based on the calculation of Herzberg (1979). Dynamic melting and crystallization experiments with no external seeding suggest that some chondrule textures formed with initial temperatures below the liquidus (e.g., porphyritic, granular) and some were completely melted (e.g., excentroradial, glassy). Type I and III chondrules in carbonaceous chondrites in this interpretation consist of incompletely melted magnesian chondrules, completely melted silica-rich chondrules and intermediate composition chondrules with both porphyritic and nonporphyritic textures. A similar pattern for ordinary chondrites, with data also for Type II porphyritic and barred olivine chondrules, suggests that few chondrules with liquidus temperatures over 1750 °C were completely melted and few with under 1400 °C were incompletely melted. The range of liquidus temperatures for barred olivine chondrules, for which initial temperatures appear to have been essentially at the liquidus, is similar. Most chondrules may therefore have been heated to temperatures of 1400–1750 °C and, because of a peak in the distribution of barred olivine chondrule temperatures at 1500–1550 °C, the temperatures appear normally distributed within this range. Given a narrow range of temperatures, bulk composition is at least as important as initial temperature in controlling chondrule textures. Truly granular (not microporphyritic) Type I and truly glassy Type II and III chondrules appear under-represented in nature according to this model, based on internal nucleation experiments. External heterogeneous nucleation, or seeding due to droplet-dust collisions, is likely to occur in a dusty nebula and has been shown to reproduce chondrule textures experimentally. Generally high initial temperatures (1600–1800 °C), coupled with dust-seeding of superheated droplets of less refractory composition is an alternative explanation of chondrule textures. Cooling rates of 100–1000 °C/hr are required for chondrules, which must have been mass produced in clouds with sufficient particle density to buffer cooling rate and perhaps also initial temperature. Melting precursor particles in a thick clump and/or the nebular mid-plane would provide evaporation and thus explain the high oxidation state and volatile content of chondrules, relative to the bulk hydrogen-rich nebula, as well as the nature of the cooling.     

On the lower limit of chondrule cooling rates: The significance of iron loss in dynamic crystallization experiments

Abstract— Dynamic crystallization experiments performed with different container materials (Fe crucible, pure Pt wire loop, presaturated Pt wire loop) demonstrate the strong influence of Fe loss on texture, mineralogy and chemical zoning in olivine. The use of pure Pt wire loops results in severe Fe loss and prevents the development of strong Fe/Mg zoning in olivine in slower cooled runs (≤ 100 °C/h). Presaturated Pt wire loops reduce Fe loss to some extent but not completely. If severe Fe loss from the melt is avoided by the use of Fe crucibles, then cooling rates between 2000 and 1.2 °C/h yield textures, modal mineral abundances and Fe/Mg zoning in olivine comparable to natural porphyritic olivine chondrules. However, Fe gain from the crucible may possibly enhance Fe/Mg zoning in olivine for cooling rates < 10 °C/h. Therefore, it is concluded that the lower limit of cooling rates of porphyritic olivine chondrules derived from dynamic crystallization experiments is 10 °C/h, perhaps it is even lower, on the order of a few degrees Celsius per hour. This value is not significantly different from estimates for subsolidus temperatures based on the microstructure of chondrule minerals (Weinbruch and Müller, 1995). The lower limit of chondrule cooling rates of 100 °C/h advocated by Hewins (1988) and Radomsky and Hewins (1990) seems to be an artifact of the experimental technique, as their samples were crystallized in pure Pt wire loops.     

A comparison of FeO-rich,porphyritic olivine chondrules in unequilibrated chondrites and experimental analogues

Abstract Experimentally produced analogues of porphyritic olivine (PO) chondrules in ordinary chondrites provide an important insight into chondrule formation processes. We have studied experimental samples with PO textures grown at three different cooling rates (2, 5 and 100 *C/h), and samples that have been annealed at high temperatures (1000–1200 °C) subsequent to cooling. These are compared with natural chondrules of similar composition and texture from the ordinary chondrites Semarkona (LL3.0) and ALH 81251 (LL3.3). Zoning properties of olivine grains indicate that the Semarkona chondrules cooled at comparable rates to the experiments. Zoning in olivine from chondrules in ALH 81251 is not consistent with cooling alone but indicates that the chondrules underwent an annealing process. Chromium loss from olivine is very rapid during annealing and calculated diffusion coefficients for Cr in olivine are very similar to those of Fe-Mg interdiffusion coefficients under the same conditions. Annealed experimental samples contain an aluminous, low-Ca pyroxene which forms by reaction of olivine and liquid. No similar reaction texture is observed in ALH 81251 chondrules, and this may be evidence that annealing of the natural samples took place at considerably lower temperatures than the experimental analogues. The study supports the model of chondrule formation in a cool nebula and metamorphism of partly equilibrated chondrites during reheating episodes on the chondrite parent bodies.     

Cooling rates of porphyritic olivine chondrules in the Semarkona (LL3.00) ordinary chondrite: A model for diffusional equilibration of olivine during fractional crystallization

Abstract— Cooling rates of chondrules provide important constraints on the formation process of chondrite components at high temperatures. Although many dynamic crystallization experiments have been performed to obtain the cooling rate of chondrules, these only provide a possible range of cooling rates, rather than providing actual measured values from natural chondrules. We have developed a new model to calculate chondrule cooling rates by using the Fe‐Mg chemical zoning profile of olivine, considering diffusional modification of zoning profiles as crystals grow by fractional crystallization from a chondrule melt. The model was successfully verified by reproducing the Fe‐Mg zoning profiles obtained in dynamic crystallization experiments on analogs for type II chondrules in Semarkona. We applied the model to calculating cooling rates for olivine grains of type II porphyritic olivine chondrules in the Semarkona (LL3.00) ordinary chondrite. Calculated cooling rates show a wide range from 0.7 °C/h to 2400 °C/h and are broadly consistent with those obtained by dynamic crystallization experiments (10–1000 °C/h). Variations in cooling rates in individual chondrules can be attributed to the fact that we modeled grains with different core Fa compositions that are more Fe‐rich either because of sectioning effects or because of delayed nucleation. Variations in cooling rates among chondrules suggest that each chondrule formed in different conditions, for example in regions with varying gas density, and assembled in the Semarkona parent body after chondrule formation.     

RELATIVE ABUNDANCES OF CHONDRULE PRIMARY TEXTURAL TYPES IN ORDINARY CHONDRITES AND THEIR BEARING ON CONDITIONS OF CHONDRULE FORMATION

A petrographic survey of > 1600 chondrules in thin-sections of 12 different mildly to highly unequilibrated H-, L-, and LL-chondrites, as well as morphological and textural study of 141 whole chondrules separated from 11 of the same chondrites, was used to determine the relative abundances of definable chondrule primary textural types. Percentage abundances of various chondrule types are remarkably similar in all chondrites studied and are ～ 47–52 porphyritic olivine-pyroxene (POP), 15–27 porphyritic olivine (PO), 9–11 porphyritic pyroxene (PP), 3–4 barred olivine (BO), 7–9 radial pyroxene (RP), 2–5 granular olivine-pyroxene (GOP), 3–5 cryptocrystalline (C), and ≤ 1 metallic (M). Neither chondrule size nor shape is strongly correlated with textural type. Compound and cratered chondrules, which are interpreted as products of collisions between plastic chondrules, comprise ～ 2–28% of nonporphyritic (RP, GOP, C) but only ～ 2–9% of porphyritic (POP, PO, PP, BO) chondrules, leading to a model-dependent implication that nonporphyritic chondrules evolved at number densities (chondrules per unit volume of space) which were 10² to 10⁴ times greater than those which prevailed during porphyritic chondrule formation (total range of ～ 1 to ～ 10⁶ m^?3). Distinctive “rims” of fine-grained sulfides and/or silicates occur on both porphyritic and nonporphyritic types and appear to post-date chondrule formation. Apparently, either the same process(es) contributed chondrules to all unequilibrated ordinary chondrites or, if genetically different, the various chondrule types were well mixed before incorporation into chondrites. Melting of pre-existing materials is the mechanism favored for chondrule formation.     

SIZE-FREQUENCY-DISTRIBUTIONS OF EH3 CHONDRULES

The size-frequency-distributions of different chondrule types in the Qingzhen, Kota-Kota and Allan Hills A77156 EH3 chondrites were determined by petrographic analysis of thin sections and, in the case of Qingzhen, by examination of large separated chondrules. EH chondrules are considerably smaller than L and LL chondrules and are probably slightly smaller than H, CM and CO chondrules. In the EH3 chondrites, radial pyroxene (RP) chondrules are somewhat (85% confidence level) larger than cryptocrystalline (C) chondrules, nonporphyritic chondrules have a broader size-frequency-distribution than porphyritic chondrules, and porphyritic olivine-pyroxene (POP) chondrules are considerably (98% confidence level) larger than porphyritic pyroxene (PP) chondrules. The larger size of RP chondrules relative to C chondrules in EH3 chondrites may be due to a tendency of the chondrule-forming mechanism not to have heated large precursor aggregates above the liquidus. Consequent retention of numerous relict grains would have caused these objects to develop RP rather than C textures upon cooling. The large proportion (≥50%) of nonporphyritic EH3 chondrules among the smaller chondrule size-fractions may have been caused by preferential disruption of large nonporphyritic chondrule droplets. The large proportion (≥50%) of nonporphyritic EH3 chondrules among the larger chondrule size-fractions is problematic. The larger size of POP relative to PP chondrules is due to reaction of fine-grained olivine with free silica to form pyroxene during mild thermal metamorphism of the whole-rocks.     

Origin of a unique impact-melt rock—the L-chondrite Ramsdorf

Abstract— We have studied a unique impact-melt rock, the Ramsdorf L chondrite, using optical and scanning microscopy and electron microprobe analysis. Ramsdorf contains not only clast-poor impact melt (Begemann and Wlotzka, 1969) but also a chondritic portion (>60 g) with what appears at low magnification to be a normal, well-defined chondritic texture. However, detailed studies at high magnification show that >90 vol% of the crystals in the chondritic portion were largely melted by the impact: the chondrules lack normal microtextures and are ghosts of the original features. The only relics from the precursor chondrules are olivine crystals, which have the highest melting temperature (～1620 °C). Pyroxene-rich chondrules were so extensively melted that no phenocrysts were preserved and the melt crystallized in situ before significant mixing with exterior olivine-rich melts. Fine-grained pyroxene chondrule ghosts have sharper boundaries with the matrix than porphyritic olivine and pyroxene chondrule ghosts, probably because pyroxene-rich melts are significantly more viscous. Complex textures that formed by injection of melt along cracks and fractures in relic olivines suggest that the chondritic portion of Ramsdorf formed directly from petrologic type 3–4 material by strong shock. We infer that Ramsdorf was largely melted by shock pressures of ～75–90 GPa and that chondrule ghosts and relic olivine phenocrysts were locally preserved by rapid cooling. Quenching was not due to the addition of cold clasts into the melt but to heterogeneous shock heating that only caused internal melting of large olivines and pyroxenes. Ramsdorf appears to be one of the most heavily shocked meteorites that has retained some trace of its original texture.     

Size‐frequency distributions of chondrules and chondrule fragments in LL3 chondrites: Implications for parent‐body fragmentation of chondrules

Abstract— We measured the sizes and textural types of 719 intact chondrules and 1322 chondrule fragments in thin sections of Semarkona (LL3.0), Bishunpur (LL3.1), Krymka (LL3.1), Piancaldoli (LL3.4) and Lewis Cliff 88175 (LL3.8). The mean apparent diameter of chondrules in these LL3 chondrites is 0.80 φ units or 570 μm, much smaller than the previous rough estimate of ～900 μm. Chondrule fragments in the five LL3 chondrites have a mean apparent cross‐section of 1.60 φ units or 330 μm. The smallest fragments are isolated olivine and pyroxene grains; these are probably phenocrysts liberated from disrupted porphyritic chondrules. All five LL3 chondrites have fragment/ chondrule number ratios exceeding unity, suggesting that substantial numbers of the chondrules in these rocks were shattered. Most fragmentation probably occurred on the parent asteroid. Porphyritic chondrules (porphyritic olivine + porphyritic pyroxene + porphyritic olivine‐pyroxene) are more readily broken than droplet chondrules (barred olivine + radial pyroxene + cryptocrystalline). The porphyritic fragment/chondrule number ratio (2.0) appreciably exceeds that of droplet‐textured objects (0.9). Intact droplet chondrules have a larger mean size than intact porphyritic chondrules, implying that large porphyritic chondrules are fragmented preferentially. This is consistent with the relatively low percentage of porphyritic chondrules within the set of the largest chondrules (57%) compared to that within the set of the smallest chondrules (81%). Differences in mean size among chondrule textural types may be due mainly to parent‐body chondrule‐fragmentation events and not to chondrule‐formation processes in the solar nebula.     

Olivine dissolution in molten silicates: An experimental study with application to chondrule formation

Mg‐rich olivine is a ubiquitous phase in type I porphyritic chondrules in various classes of chondritic meteorites. The anhedral shape of olivine grains, their size distribution, as well as their poikilitic textures within low‐Ca pyroxene suggest that olivines suffer dissolution during chondrule formation. Owing to a set of high‐temperature experiments (1450–1540 °C) we determined the kinetics of resorption of forsterite in molten silicates, using for the first time X‐ray microtomography. Results indicate that forsterite dissolution in chondrule‐like melts is a very fast process with rates that range from ~5 μm min^?1 to ~22 μm min^?1. Forsterite dissolution strongly depends on the melt composition, with rates decreasing with increasing the magnesium and/or the silica content of the melt. An empirical model based on forsterite saturation and viscosity of the starting melt composition successfully reproduces the forsteritic olivine dissolution rates as a function of temperature and composition for both our experiments and those of the literature. Application of our results to chondrules could explain the textures of zoned type I chondrules during their formation by gas‐melt interaction. We show that the olivine/liquid ratio on one hand and the silica entrance from the gas phase (SiO_g) into the chondrule melt on the other hand, have counteracting effects on the Mg‐rich olivine dissolution behavior. Silica entrance would favor dissolution by maintaining disequilibrium between olivine and melt. Hence, this would explain the preferential dissolution of olivine as well as the preferential abundances of pyroxene at the margins of chondrules. Incipient dissolution would also occur in the silica‐poorer melt of chondrule core but should be followed by crystallization of new olivine (overgrowth and/or newly grown crystals). While explaining textures and grain size distributions of olivines, as well as the centripetal distribution of low‐Ca pyroxene in porphyritic chondrules, this scenario could also be consistent with the diverse chemical, isotopic, and thermal conditions recorded by olivines in a given chondrule.     

Gas‐melt interactions and their bearing on chondrule formation

Abstract— Interactions between nebular gas and molten silicates or oxides could have played a major role in the formation and differentiation of the first solids formed in the solar system. In order to simulate such interactions, we set up a new experimental device in which isothermal condensation experiments have been conducted. Partially molten chondrule‐like samples have been exposed to high SiO(g) partial pressures, for intervals between 80 and 300 s and at temperatures ranging from 1600 to 1750 K. Results show that silica entering from the gas phase could be responsible for several textural and mineralogical features observed in natural chondrules. For instance, these experiments reproduce not only the mineralogical zonation of porphyritic olivine‐pyroxene chondrules with the peripheral location of pyroxenes, but also olivine resorption textures and the common poikilitical enclosure of olivines in pyroxenes. In the light of these similarities, we advocate that gas‐melt interactions through condensation are viable mechanisms for chondrule formation and hence may place severe constraints on the history of these primitive objects. In the nebula, high SiO(_g) partial pressures could have been established by the volatilization of regions with high dust/gas ratio. A possible scenario for this stochastic thermal activity is the intense activity of the protosun in its young stellar object phase.     

The effect of Na vapor on the Na content of chondrules

Abstract— Chondrules contain higher concentrations of volatiles (Na) than expected for melt droplets in the solar nebula. Recent studies have proposed that chondrules may have formed under non-canonical nebular conditions such as in particle/gas-rich clumps. Such chondrule formation areas may have contained significant Na vapor. To test the hypothesis of whether a Na-rich vapor would minimize Na volatilization reaction rates in a chondrule analog and maintain the Na value of the melt, experiments were designed where a Na-rich vapor could be maintained around the sample. A starting material with a melting point lower that typical chondrules was required to keep the logistics of working with Na volatilization from NaCl within the realm of feasiblity. The Knippa basalt, a MgO-rich alkali olivine basalt with a melting temperature of 1325°± 5 °C and a Na₂O content of 3.05 wt%, was used as the chondrule analog. Experiments were conducted in a 1 atm, gas-mixing furnace with the fO₂ controlled by a CO/CO₂ gas mixture and fixed at the I-W buffer curve. To determine the extent of Na loss from the sample, initial experiments were conducted at high temperatures (1300 °C–1350 °C) for duration of up to 72 h without a Na-rich vapor present. Almost all (up to 98%) Na was volatilized in runs of 72 h. Subsequent trials were conducted at 1330 °C for 16 h in the presence of a Na-rich vapor, supplied by a NaCl-filled crucible placed in the bottom of the furnace. Succeeding Knudsen cell weight-loss mass-spectrometry analysis of NaCl determined the P_Na for these experimental conditions to be in the 10^?6 atm range. This value is considered high for nebula conditions but is still plausible for non-canonical environments. In these trials the Na₂O content of the glass was maintained or in some cases increased; Na₂O values ranged from 2.62% wt to 4.37% wt. The Na content of chondrules may be controlled by the Na vapor pressure in the chondrule formation region. Most heating events capable of producing chondrules are sufficient to volatilize Na. Sodium volatilization reaction rates will be reduced to varying degrees from melt droplets, depending on the magnitude of the P_Na generated. A combination of Na vapor during, and Na diffusion back into chondrules after, formation could maintain and/or enrich Na concentrations in chondrules.     

Enstatite chemical composition and microstructures in the La Villa H4 chondrite

Abstract— La Villa is an unshocked H4 chondrite. Chemical compositions require crystallization at temperatures >1250 °C for enstatite and >1211 °C for augite. Widespread (100) polysynthetic twins and (001) contraction cracks in enstatite indicate crystallization as protoenstatite, inverted to either ortho‐ or clinoenstatite or both on cooling. High‐resolution transmission electron microscopy shows a range of ortho‐clinoenstatite intergrowths: heavily faulted clinoenstatite in radial and poikilitic chondrules, almost regular orthoenstatite in a microgranular chondrule and in the matrix. In the former, the clinoenstatite lamellae are both even or odd multiples of the 9Å periodicity, a few unit cells thick, twinned and interleaved with minor orthoenstatite. In the latter, orthoenstatite lamellae are regularly stacked for more than 2000 Å. Localized annealing effects, reversing clinoenstatite to orthoenstatite, are revealed by “U‐shaped” and “Z‐shaped” terminations. The variable microstructures suggest different cooling rates for the different chondrule types, soon after the liquidus‐to‐solidus transition (1200 to 1300 °C) but prior to accretion. In particular, clinoenstatite‐rich crystals from radial and poikilitic chondrules give cooling rates on the order of 100 and 10 °C/h. Comparisons with previous works on dynamic crystallization experiments and orthopyroxene Fe‐Mg cation ordering indicate a nonlinear cooling path from the high chondrule formation temperatures to a postaccretionary low‐temperature (340–480 °C) evolution.     

Macrochondrules in chondrites—Formation by melting of mega‐sized dust aggregates and/or by rapid collisions at high temperatures?

Abstract– Seventy‐four macrochondrules with sizes >3 mm were studied. Considering the extraordinary size of the chondrules (occasionally achieving a mass of 1000 times (and more) the mass of a normal‐sized chondrule), the conditions in the formation process must have been somewhat different compared with the conditions for the formation of the common chondrules. Macrochondrules are typically rich in olivine and texturally similar to specific chondrule types (barred, radial, porphyritic, and cryptocrystalline) of normal‐sized chondrules. However, our studies show that most of the macrochondrules are fine‐grained or have elongated crystals (mostly BO, RP, and C), which lead to the assumption that they were once totally molten and cooled quite rapidly. Porphyritic chondrules belong to the least abundant types of macrochondrules. This distribution of chondrule types is highly unusual and just a reverse of the distribution of chondrule types among the typical‐sized chondrules in most chondrite groups except for the CH and CB chondrites. New chondrule subtypes (like radial‐olivine [RO] or multi‐radial [MR] chondrules) are defined to better describe the textures of certain large chondrules. Macrochondrules may have formed due to melting of huge precursor dust aggregates or due to rapid collisions of superheated melt droplets, which led to the growth of large molten spherules in regions with high dust densities and high electrostatic attraction.     

The formation and alteration of the Renazzo‐like carbonaceous chondrites III: Toward understanding the genesis of ferromagnesian chondrules

To better understand the formation conditions of ferromagnesian chondrules from the Renazzo‐like carbonaceous (CR) chondrites, a systematic study of 210 chondrules from 15 CR chondrites was conducted. The texture and composition of silicate and opaque minerals from each observed FeO‐rich (type II) chondrule, and a representative number of FeO‐poor (type I) chondrules, were studied to build a substantial and self‐consistent data set. The average abundances and standard deviations of Cr₂O₃ in FeO‐rich olivine phenocrysts are consistent with previous work that the CR chondrites are among the least thermally altered samples from the early solar system. Type II chondrules from the CR chondrites formed under highly variable conditions (e.g., precursor composition, redox conditions, cooling rate), with each chondrule recording a distinct igneous history. The opaque minerals within type II chondrules are consistent with formation during chondrule melting and cooling, starting as S‐ and Ni‐rich liquids at 988–1350 °C, then cooling to form monosulfide solid solution (mss) that crystallized around olivine/pyroxene phenocrysts. During cooling, Fe,Ni‐metal crystallized from the S‐ and Ni‐rich liquid, and upon further cooling mss decomposed into pentlandite and pyrrhotite, with pentlandite exsolving from mss at 400–600 °C. The composition, texture, and inferred formation temperature of pentlandite within chondrules studied here is inconsistent with formation via aqueous alteration. However, some opaque minerals (Fe,Ni‐metal versus magnetite and panethite) present in type II chondrules are a proxy for the degree of whole‐rock aqueous alteration. The texture and composition of sulfide‐bearing opaque minerals in Graves Nunataks 06100 and Grosvenor Mountains 03116 suggest that they are the most thermally altered CR chondrites.     

Deformation and thermal histories of chondrules in the Chainpur (LL3.4) chondrite

Abstract— Transmission-electron-microscopy (TEM) and optical data suggest that chondrules in the Chainpur (LL3.4) chondrite experienced varied thermal and deformation histories prior to the final agglomeration of the meteorite. Chainpur may be regarded as an agglomerate or breccia that experienced little deformation or heating during and after the final accumulation and compaction of its constituents. One chondrule in Chainpur was impact-shocked to high pressures (～ 20–50 GPa), almost certainly prior to final agglomeration, either while it was an independent entity in space or while it was in the regolith of a parent body. However, most (>85%) of the chondrules in Chainpur were evidently not significantly shock-metamorphosed subsequent to their formation. The dearth of shock effects implies that most chondrules in Chainpur did not form by shock melting, although some chondrules may have formed by this process. Dusty-metal-bearing olivine grains, which are widely interpreted to have escaped melting during chondrule formation, contain moderate densities of dislocations (～ 10⁸ cm^?2). The dislocations in these grains were introduced before or during the last episode of melting in at least one chondrule. This observation can be explained if olivine was impact-deformed before or during chondrule formation, or if olivine was strained by reduction or thermally-induced processes during chondrule formation. Low-Ca pyroxene grains in chondrules are often strained. In most cases this strain probably arose as a by-product of polytype transformations (protoenstatite → clinoenstatite/orthoenstatite and clinoenstatite → orthoenstatite) that occurred during the igneous crystallization and static annealing of chondrules. Droplet chondrules with glassy mesostases were minimally annealed, consistent with an origin as relatively rapidly cooled objects in an unconfined, cold environment. Some irregular chondrules and at least one droplet chondrule were thermally metamorphosed prior to final agglomeration, either as a result of moderately slow cooling (～ 100 °C/hr) from melt temperatures (during autometamorphism) or as a result of reheating episodes. Two of the most annealed chondrules contain relatively abundant plagioclase feldspar, and one of these has a uniform olivine composition appropriate to that of an LL4 chondrite.     

Chondrule thermal history from unequilibrated H chondrites: A transmission and analytical electron microscopy study

Abstract— Sixteen texturally different (porphyritic, barred, radial, cryptocrystalline) FeO‐rich chondrules from the unequilibrated ordinary chondrites Brownfield, Frontier Mountain (FRO) 90003 and FRO 90032 were characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy and then thoroughly studied by transmission and analytical electron microscopy. 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.     

Evaluating planetesimal bow shocks as sites for chondrule formation

Abstract— We investigate the possible formation of chondrules by planetesimal bow shocks. The formation of such shocks is modeled using a piecewise parabolic method (PPM) code under a variety of conditions. The results of this modeling are used as a guide to study chondrule formation in a one‐dimensional, finite shock wave. This model considers a mixture of chondrule‐sized particles and micron‐sized dust and models the kinetic vaporization of the solids. We found that only planetesimals with a radius of ?1000 km and moving at least ?8 km/s with respect to the nebular gas can generate shocks that would allow chondrule‐sized particles to have peak temperatures and cooling rates that are generally consistent with what has been inferred for chondrules. Planetesimals with smaller radii tend to produce lower peak temperatures and cooling rates that are too high. However, the peak temperatures of chondrules are only matched for low values of chondrule wavelength‐averaged emissivity. Very slow cooling (<?100s of K/hr) can only be achieved if the nebular opacity is low, which may result after a significant amount of material has been accreted into objects that are chondrule‐sized or larger, or if chondrules formed in regions of the nebula with small dust concentrations. Large shock waves of approximately the same scale as those formed by gravitational instabilities or tidal interactions between the nebula and a young Jupiter do not require this to match the inferred thermal histories of chondrules.     

The Ningqiang Meteorite: Classification and Petrology of an Anomalous CV Chondrite

Abstract— Ningqiang is an anomalous CV chondrite (oxidized subgroup) containing a high abundance of aggregational inclusions (13.7 vol.%) and low abundances of refractory inclusions (1.0^+1.0_–0.5 vol.%) and bulk refractory lithophiles (～0.82 × CV). Ningqiang may have agglomerated after most refractory inclusions at the nebular midplane had already been incorporated into other objects. Coarse-grained rims surround only ～5% of Ningqiang chondrules, compared to ～50% in normal CV chondrites. Aggregational inclusions appear to have formed by incipient melting of fine-grained aggregates at relatively low temperatures in the solar nebula, possibly by the mechanism responsible for chondrule formation. Granoblastic porphyritic chondrules, which contain olivines forming 120° triple junctures and no mesostasis, probably formed in the solar nebula by incomplete melting of precursor materials that were olivine normative and had relatively low concentrations of Si, Ca, Al, Fe and Na.     

Iron isotopes in chondrules: Implications for the role of evaporation during chondrule formation

Abstract— We have measured the δ⁵⁷Fe of olivines in nine Chainpur chondrules. All are within error of normal (typically 2σ ≤ 1–2%0). Most of the chondules could not have lost more than ～20% of their FeO by Rayleigh evaporation and none can have lost more than ～61%. Yet, the range of Fo contents in these chondrules is Fo_78–99.9. The isotopic compositions of the chondrules clearly demonstrate that, for instance, type I chondrules cannot form from type II chondrules by evaporation of FeO under Rayleigh conditions. The isotopic compositions also place constraints on the minimum cooling rates these chondrules could have experienced. These cooling rates must also be equal to or slower than those required to produce the chondrule textures. Assuming flash heating and evaporation rates like those measured in vacuum, the minimum cooling rates necessary to prevent detectable Fe isotopic fractionation via Rayleigh evaporation approach those needed to produce barred and porphyritic textures. The presence of hydrogen in the nebula, non‐linear cooling and other effects will all tend to increase the cooling rates required to prevent δ⁵⁷Fe > 1–2%0, perhaps by as much as 1–2 orders of magnitude. The two most likely ways that the cooling rates required to prevent δ⁵⁷Fe >1–2%0 can be kept below those needed to produce barred and porphyritic textures are (1) the pH₂ in the nebula was low enough to keep evaporation rates close to those in vacuum, or (2) back reaction of chondrules with Fe in the gas suppressed isotopic fractionation.