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.     

The conditions of chondrule formation, Part I: Closed system

Mixing was an important process in the early solar nebula and is often used as an argument to explain the compositional scatter among chondrules—mm-sized, once molten silicate spherules in chondritic meteorites. If it is hypothesized that chondrules only acted as closed systems and the scatter in chondrule bulk chemical compositions is only the result of mixing heterogeneous precursor grains—the basic components of chondrules—, it is in turn possible to determine the sizes of the precursor grains using statistical calculations. In order to reproduce the observed compositional scatter in chondrules not more than ∼10 precursor grains should contribute to a single chondrule, each with a diameter of several 100 μm. This finding has important implications for the conditions of chondrule formation and replaces the so far widely accepted model that chondrules formed from fine-grained “dust-balls”. Chondrules rather formed from coarse-grained precursor aggregates with variable amounts of μm-fine matrix material. As a consequence, only chondrite matrix or interstellar material winnows as precursor material. Large grains of variable composition serving as precursor grains must have been formed prior to chondrule formation. Chondrules probably have not been their immediate precursors, as only 1-2 chondrule recycling steps would have homogenized bulk chondrule compositions. Chondrule recycling can therefore only have occurred to a limited extent. Chondrule formation needed at least three steps: (1) production of large and heterogeneous chondrule precursor grains, (2) agglomeration of large precursor grains and fine-grained precursors into aggregates, (3) formation of chondrules during transient heating events. Al-rich chondrules can in this context be explained by the admixture of CAIs to either chondrule precursors or a population of existing chondrules.     

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.     

Metal and associated phases in Krymka and Chainpur: Nebular formational processes

The highly unequilibrated LL3 chondrites Krymka and Chainpur preserve a relatively unaltered record of formation in the solar nebula in the texture and chemistry of their opaque mineral assemblages. A moderate degree of diversity among these meteorites and Bishunpur is apparently associated with formation under differing conditions.Spheroidal kamacite, some Cr-bearing, is present in chondrule interiors. Fine-grained metal within the Fe-rich opaque matrix of Krymka consists exclusively of taenite and minor tetrataenite; kamacite occurs inside metal-sulfide nodules. These nodules are surrounded by an inner layer of FeO-rich, fine-grained silicate material (FeO/(FeO + MgO) > 80%) and an outer troilite-rich layer, and contain variable amounts of a hydrated Fe-oxide phase. It appears that the nodules were melted, often incompletely, possibly during the chondrule formation process. Some nodule metal is Si- and Cr-bearing, indicating little reaction with nebular H₂O. Nodules are much less common in Chainpur than in Krymka and rare in Bishunpur.Most metal-poor chondrules in Krymka, Bishunpur and Chainpur appear to have formed from precursors that had acquired significant amounts of FeO as a result of reaction with the nebular gas down to low temperatures; metal-rich chondrules seem to have derived from aggregates of coarse, high-temperature Fe-poor silicates. Low Ni concentrations (34–41 mg/g) in chondrule kamacite may largely result from dilution by Fe reduced from the silicates during chondrule formation.The opaque silicate matrix of Krymka is considerably more oxidized than that of Bishunpur and Chainpur, it contains no kamacite and its composition is very uniform. This may either reflect the growth of silicate grains during incipient recrystallization in the matrices of Bishunpur and Chainpur or, more likely, a lower mean grain size of the Krymka matrix components, possibly indicating later formation of the Krymka parent planetesimal.     

Coarse-grained chondrule rims in type 3 chondrites

Relatively coarse-grained rims occur around all types of chondrules in type 3 carbonaceous and ordinary chondrites. Those in H-L-LL3 chondrites are composed primarily of olivine and low-Ca pyroxene; those in CV3 chondrites contain much less low-Ca pyroxene. Average grain sizes range from ～4 μm in H-L-LL3 chondrites to ～10 μm in CV3 chondrites. Such rims surround ～50%, ～10% and ≤ 1% of chondrules in CV3, H-L-LL3 and CO3 chondrites, respectively, but are rare (≤1%) around CV3 Ca,Al-rich inclusions. Rim thicknesses average ～150 μm in H-L-LL3 chondrites and ～400 μm in CV3 chondrites.The rims in H-L-LL3 chondrites are composed of material very similar to that which comprises darkzoned chondrules and recrysiallized matrix. Dark-zoned chondrules and coarse-grained rims probably formed in the solar nebula from clumps of opaque matrix material heated to sub-solidus to sub-liquidus temperatures during chondrule formation. Mechanisms capable of completely melting some material while only sintering other material require steep thermal gradients; suitable processes are lightning, reconnecting magnetic field lines and, possibly, aerodynamic drag heating.CV chondrites may have formed in a region where the chondrule formation mechanism was less efficient, probably at greater solar distances than the ordinary chondrites. The lesser efficiency of heating could be responsible for the greater abundance of coarse-grained rims around CV chondrules. Alternatively, CV chondrules may have suffered fewer particle collisions prior to agglomeration.     

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.     

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.     

Petrography,mineral chemistry and origin of Type I enstatite chondrites

Optical and cathodoluminescence petrography were coupled with electron microprobe analysis to relate the textures and chemical compositions of minerals in the chondrules and matrix of the Indarch, Kota-Kota, Adhi-Kot and Abee Type I enstatite chondrites. Clinoenstatites fall into two distinct chemical groups with characteristic red or blue luminescence; red crystals are higher in Ti, Al, Cr, Mn and Ca, and lower in Na, than blue ones. Rare forsterites in Indarch and Kota-Kota show distinct compositions associated with orange or blue luminescence. The chemical ranges are indistinguishable for each color type in chondrules of all textural types, and the presence of both color types in a single chondrule or a metal fragment requires mechanical aggregation of both crystals and liquids of both color types. Porphyritic chondrules are ascribed mainly to aggregation of existing crystals because both types of pyroxene and olivine occur in the same chondrule. Large crystals of one color type are surrounded by fine-grained crystals of another type in some barred and radiating chondrules. All types of chondrules are surrounded by fine-grained rims rich in sulfide. The matrix contains many broken chondrules and individual silicate grains but is rich in sulfide and metal. Analyses are given of albite (minor elements and luminescence color vary between chondrites), kamacite, schreibersite, oldhamite and niningerite.Although the mineral assemblages do not fit theoretical condensation sequences in detail, the red pyroxene and orange olivine might result ultimately from near-equilibrium crystallization in which early reduced condensates reacted with a gas, while the blue crystals might result from fractional condensation in which early condensates were removed mechanically from a gas. Subsequent episodes involving mixing, melting, crystallization, condensation, fracturing, and mechanical aggregation would be needed to produce the complex textures.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

肇东和亳县陨石中的黑包体及其成因意义

肇东、毫县陨石中的黑包体在总体成分、形状、大小上与陨石球粒相似,但两者的内部结构以及矿物组合不同。黑包体中矿物呈密堆状,主要由细粒橄榄石以及其它硅酸盐微晶组成,不含火成玻璃等特点表明黑包体未经历过熔融,它们可能是形成球粒的毛坯。因此认为球粒的形成有三个阶段:星云凝聚形成尘粒—尘粒吸积形成黑包体—黑包体熔融形成球粒。     

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.     

Metal and associated phases in Bishunpur,a highly unequilibrated ordinary chondrite

It appears that the highly unequilibrated Bishunpur ordinary chondrite preserves phase relations acquired during solar nebular processes to a relatively high degree; metamorphic temperatures may not have exceeded 300–350°C. The major categories of metal are: 3 kinds of metal in the metal matrix, three kinds in chondrule interiors and 2 kinds in chondrule rims. The fine-grained matrix metal is highly variable in composition: the kamacite Co content (7.8 ± 2.0 mg/g) is within the L-group range (6.7–8.2 mg/g) but extends well above and below; its Ni content (38 ± 5 mg/g) is considerably lower than in more equilibrated chondrites and taenite is Ni-rich ( > 450 mg/g) and unzoned. These compositions imply equilibration at very low temperatures of about 300–350°C. It seems unlikely that volume diffusion could account for the observed relatively unzoned phases; a better model involves mass transport by grain boundary diffusion and grain growth at the indicated temperatures. We find no evidence that the matrix was ever at higher temperatures. Large (50–650 μm) polycrystalline metal aggregates consisting of individually zoned crystals are also found in the matrix; they probably represent clusters formed in the solar nebula. A few large (50–250 μm) round monocrystalline grains are also present in the matrix.Metal-bearing chondrules tend to be highly reduced; they contain low-Ni metal that occasionally contains Si and/or Cr. Silicates in these chondrules tend to have low $\text{FeO}\text{(FeO + MgO)}$ ratios. The Si-rich metal grains are never in contact with silicates and are always surrounded by troilite with a poorly characterized Ca, Cr-sulfide at the metal-troilite interface; they appear to be high temperature nebular condensates that avoided oxidation even during the chondrule forming process. Silicon contents drop below our detection limit when the sulfide coating is absent. Much more common in chondrule interiors are Si-free spheroidal metal grains not associated with sulfides. These have Ni and Co contents very similar to the Si-bearing grains, and appear to be oxidized variants of the same material. The third class of chondrule metal is fine ( ~1 μm) dusty grains inside individual olivine grains. These seem to reflect high temperature in situ reduction of FeO from the olivine.The composition of kamacite is different in sulfide-rich and sulfide-poor chondrule rims and in both cases it is dissimilar to the compositions in the chondrule interiors and matrix; this indicates that chondrule rims could not have resulted from reactions with the matrix, but are primary features acquired prior to accretton.     

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.     

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.     

Carbon-rich chondritic clast PV1 from the Plainview H-chondrite regolith breccia: Formation from H3 chondrite material by possible cometary impact

Chondritic clast PV1 from the Plainview H-chondrite regolith breccia is a subrounded, 5-mm-diameter unequilibrated chondritic fragment that contains 13 wt% C occurring mainly within irregularly shaped 30-400-μm-size opaque patches. The clast formed from H3 chondrite material as indicated by the mean apparent chondrule diameter (310 μm vs. ∼300 μm in H3 chondrites), the mean Mg-normalized refractory lithophile abundance ratio (1.00 ± 0.09×H), the previously determined O-isotopic composition (Δ¹⁷O = 0.66‰ vs. 0.68 ± 0.04‰ in H3 chondrites and 0.73 ± 0.09‰ in H4-6 chondrites), the heterogeneous olivine compositions in grain cores (with a minimum range of Fa1-19), and the presence of glass in some chondrules. Although the clast lacks the fine-grained, ferroan silicate matrix material present in type 3 ordinary chondrites, PV1 contains objects that appear to be recrystallized clumps of matrix material. Similarly, the apparent dearth of radial pyroxene and cryptocrystalline chondrules in PV1 is accounted for by the presence of some recrystallized fragments of these chondrule textural types. All of the chondrules in PV1 are interfused indicating that temperatures must have briefly reached ∼1100°C (the approximate solidus temperature of H-chondrite silicate). The most likely source of this heating was by an impact. Some metal was lost during impact heating as indicated by the moderately low abundance of metallic Fe-Ni in PV1 (∼14 wt%) compared to that in mean H chondrites (∼18 wt%). The carbon enrichment of the clast may have resulted from a second impact event, one involving a cometary projectile, possibly a Jupiter-family comet. As the clast cooled, it experienced hydrothermal alteration at low water/rock ratios as evidenced by the thick rims of ferroan olivine around low-FeO olivine cores. The C-rich chondritic clast was later incorporated into the H-chondrite parent-body regolith and extensively fractured and faulted.     

The petrology of chondrules in the sharps meteorite

Correlated petrographic and microprobe studies of 96 chondrules in the Sharps (H-3) chondrite indicate that chondritic material had a highly varied pre-accumulation history. Some chondrules, chiefly excentroradial and barred types, appear to be quenched droplets. Others, including most of the metal poor microporphyritic type, appear to have crystallized more slowly and are thought to be fragments of pre-existing rock. Although chondrules of all types show various effects similar to those produced by shock, such effects are most conspicuous in metal-rich chondrules and least conspicuous in spherical chondrules. It is concluded that shock was involved in the origin of chondrules and not simply a secondary effect.It is proposed that chondrules were formed by shock processes during the accumulation of nebular dust into asteroid-sized bodies. Olivine-rich microporphyritic chondrules are thought to be due to complete melting of large masses of target material; metal-rich chondrules represent shock melting and partial vaporization; and spherical, pyroxene-rich chondrules are interpreted as condensates from shock-generated vapor.     

Indicators of parent-body processes: Hydrated chondrules and fine-grained rims in the Mokoia CV3 carbonaceous chondrite

A petrographic and electron microscopic study of the Mokoia CV3 carbonaceous chondrite shows that all of the chondrules and inclusions (>400 μm in diameter) and most of their fine-grained rims studied (referred to as chondrules/rims) contain various amounts of hydrous phyllosilicates (mostly saponite) formed by aqueous alteration of anhydrous silicates. The rims mainly consist of fine-grained olivine and saponite in varying proportions and contain crosscutting veins of Fe-rich olivine. The boundaries between the chondrules and their rims are irregular and show abundant evidence of aqueous alteration interactions between them. In contrast, the host matrix contains very minor amounts of saponite and shows no evidence of such extensive aqueous alteration. The boundaries between the chondrules/rims and the matrix are sharp and show no traces of the matrix having been involved in the alteration of the chondrules/rims. These observations indicate that the aqueous alteration in the chondrules/rims did not occur in the present setting.We suggest that the chondrules/rims are actually clasts transported from a location on the meteorite parent body different from where the Mokoia meteorite was from. The aqueous alteration of the chondrules/rims probably occurred there. The veins in the rims were originally fractures produced in an interchondrule matrix by impacts; these were later filled by Fe-rich olivine during aqueous activity. This location was then involved in impact brecciation, and individual chondrules were ejected as clasts with remnants of the matrix surrounding them. During the continuing brecciation, those chondrule/rim clasts were transported, mixed with anhydrous matrix grains, and finally lithified to the present meteorite. Therefore, the rims are fragmented remnants of a former matrix.Textures characterized by fine-grained rims surrounding chondrules in chondrites have been widely thought to have formed in the solar nebula before they accreted into their parent bodies. However, our results suggest that some textures may not be explained by such an accretionary model; instead, the multi-stage parent-body process modeled for the Mokoia rim formation may be a more plausible explanation.     

Chemical equilibrium and kinetic constraints for chondrule and CAI formation conditions

While many uncertainties remain, a kinetic evaporation-condensation model is used to show that type A chondrules, and compact Type A and B calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) could have formed from CI-like precursors under conditions that are consistent with predictions for 2-3 AU in a canonical solar nebula. Type B and Al-rich chondrules, and Type C CAIs, on the other hand, may have formed from fractionated precursors. Based primarily on chondrule and CAI isotopic compositions, previous studies have reached different conclusions because they did not take into account the effects of gas-melt exchange.Assuming CI-like precursor compositions, equilibrium silicate melts with elemental compositions like those of type A chondrules could have formed over a wide range of conditions (T, P_tot, solid/gas/solar). Metal is not predicted to be stable when T ≥ 1600°C. When T < 1600°C, the abundances and compositions of metal in chondrules appear to be less successfully reproduced than the silicates, e.g., at a given temperature more metal is predicted in type II chondrules than is generally observed, and under some conditions type IIs are predicted to be more metal-rich than type Is. These differences could be overcome if type Is formed from precursors that were more reduced than CI, and if type IIs formed after significant metal-silicate fractionation.The formation conditions of molten CAIs are much more restricted than for chondrules, perhaps in part explaining their lower abundances. The Mg, Si and O isotopic mass fractionations in non-FUN CAIs can be reproduced if they formed between ∼1400 to 1500°C in regions where CAI-like equilibrium melts were stable, but they did not quite reach equilibrium with the gas. CAI formation times at P_tot = 10⁻⁴-10⁻³ bars are consistent with estimates of Type B CAI cooling times, but pressures much below this require formation times that are too long. The isotopic mass fractionations in FUN CAIs can be explained if they formed at or below the ranges of solid/gas/solar ratios where CAI-like equilibrium compositions are stable. Under these conditions, FUN inclusions undergo less gas-melt exchange than non-FUN CAIs. The FUN CAI formation temperatures are consistent with formation at 1400 to 1500°C, but may have been higher.Two general explanations for the distribution of O mass independent fractionations (MIF) in chondrules/CAIs have been explored: creation of the MIF before chondrule/CAI formation, and creation of the MIF during chondrule/CAI formation. If the MIF was established before chondrule/CAI formation, the most promising explanation is that H₂O (presumably as ice) and silicate dust with MIFs of opposite sign are fractionated together from the remaining gas. On heating, the H₂O now in the gas exchanges with the melt.If the MIF was generated during chondrule/CAI formation, it must be generated in the H₂O, because it exchanges most rapidly with the melt, and mass balance requires creation of MIF of opposite sign in CO. Self-shielding from UV radiation is one possibility, but the effect may be quenched at high temperatures. Non-RRKM intramolecular kinetic isotope effects are another possibility, but a continuous source of radiation may be needed to prevent gas phase reactions from approaching equilibrium.