FACTOR ANALYSIS OF ELEMENTAL ABUNDANCES IN CHONDRITIC AND ACHONDRITIC METEORITES

Another explorative study of the use of factor analysis in meteorite geochemistry has been made. Forty-two major and trace elements were sought from analyses of 80 stony meteorites in recent articles. Incomplete data reduced the matrix to 30 elements in 55 stones. Missing data were substituted by mean values in the groups CC, (E+H+L+LL) and ACH (13, 28, 14 individuals, respectively): the effect of these substitutions was tested empirically. R-mode analysis with varimax rotation was carried out on these three sub-sets and on the whole set: interpretation focused on factor loadings and scores. Results on the three sub-sets gave little information of geochemical value, although the largest achondrite factor (lithophile elements) permits discrimination of eucrites, aubrites, diogenites and howardites. Analysis of all 55 meteorites showed the variance to be dominated by 1, a refractory-lithophile(Al, Mg, Ca, Zr, Sc, U, Th, La, Eu, Yb) factor, and 2, a volatile-chalcophile (Zn, Te, Cd, Bi, Tl) factor. Factor (1) scores will discriminate chondrites from achondrites: factor (2) scores delineate the compositional trend CC1, CC2, CC3, (E+H+L+LL) except for enstatite chondrites Indarch, Abee which fall with CC1. Further progress would need metal, sulphide and other mineral percentages for each meteorite.     

O/O ratios in anhydrous spinel lherzolite xenoliths from the Shavaryn-Tsaram volcano, Mongolia

Anhydrous spinel lherzolite xenoliths from the Shavaryn-Tsaram volcano, which represent unusually clinopyroxenerich samples of upper mantle beneath the Tariat Depression in north-central Mongolia, have particularly low δ¹⁸O values of +4.9 to +5.7‰ SMOW. Constituent minerals exhibit small (ca. 0.5–0.7‰) variations in¹⁸O content (olivine = +4.6 to +5.3‰, clinopyroxene = +5.6 to +6.1‰, orthopyroxene = +5.8 to +6.5‰), that are unrelated to xenolith modal mineralogy, chemical composition, radiogenic isotope character, or pyroxene equilibration temperature. This O-isotope character of the Tariat xenoliths is interpreted to reflect the closed-system distribution of oxygen isotopes in a slowly cooling mantle diapir emplaced into the lithosphere from a relatively primitive region of the asthenosphere.     

A stable isotope study of serpentinization and metamorphism in the Highland Border Suite,Scotland, U.K.

$\text{D}\text{H}$ and ${}^{18}\text{O}{}^{16}\text{O}$ ratios have been measured for whole-rock samples and mineral separates from the mafic and ultramatic rocks of the Cambro-Ordovician Highland Border Suite. The H- and O- isotopic compositions of these rocks record individual stages in a relatively complex 500 Myr old hydrothermal/metamorphic history. Lizardite serpentinites (δD ～ ? 105‰; δ¹⁸O ～ + 6.2‰) record a premetamorphic history and indicate that parent harzburgites, dunites, and pyroxenites were serpentinized through low-temperature interaction with meteoric waters during cooling. The other rocks of the Highland Border Suite record subsequent interaction with metamorphic fluids. Amphibolite facies hornblende schists were produced through thrust-related (dynamothermal) metamorphism of spilitic pillow lavas. During dehydration, D-enriched fluids were driven off from the spilites thus leaving the hornblende schists to equilibrate with a relatively D-depleted internal fluid reservoir (δD ～ ? 45‰). The expelled D-enriched fluids may have mixed with more typical Dalradian metamorphic waters which then exchanged with the remaining mafic rocks and lizardite serpentinites during greenschist facies regional metamorphism to produce antigorite serpentinites (δD ～ ? 62‰; δ¹⁸O ～ + 8‰) and greenschist metaspilites (δD ～ ? 57‰; δ¹⁸O ～ + 7.3‰) with similar H- and O-isotopic compositions. Serpentinites which have been only partially metamorphosed show intermediate H-isotopic compositions between that of metamorphic antigorite (δD ～ ? 62‰) and non-metamorphic lizardite δD ～ ? 105‰) end members.     

Major element chemistry of glasses in Apollo 14 soil 14156

Glasses in a soil sample (14156) from the middle layer of the trench at the Fra Mauro landing site show a wide range of compositions clustered around certain preferred compositions. Ninety per cent of the glasses are of two major types—Fra Mauro basalt (63 per cent) with high K and 17 weight per cent Al₂O₃ and Highland basalt or anorthositic gabbro (27 per cent) with low K and 25–26 weight per cent Al₂O₃. The glass population is almost identical with that of the comprehensive soil 14259 (Apollo Soil Survey, 1971).