Metal-olivine associations and NiCo contents in two Apollo 12 mare basalts

Olivine crystals in mare basalts 12004,8 and 12022,12 are normally zoned with Cr-poor rims. The Ni content of rare 2–10-μm metal inclusions in olivine decreases markedly as Fe/Mg in their immediate olivine hosts increases. Each metal grain appears to have been enclosed by late olivine almost immediately after it crystallized. The fractionation trend for the olivine and metal contrasts with the subsolidus equilibration trend for pallasites. For the basalts, not even local equilibration of Fe, Ni and Co at metal/olivine interfaces can be detected by microprobe. Ni and Co concentrations range from about 300 ppm in olivine cores to about 70 ppm in rims. The limits of detection, at 95% confidence, are 36 ppm (Ni) and 25 ppm (Co). The distribution of Ni and Co in olivine, like that of Mg and Cr, records the depletion of these elements in the melt.Fractional solidification models, using the Ni and Co concentrations of the whole rock, and Ni and Co concentrations of the earliest formed olivine, metal and “opaques” as initial compositions, allow metal and olivine compositions to be predicted if the order of crystallization is known. Conversely the order of crystallization can be established if known olivine and metal compositions are reproduced. Calculated Ni and Co contents for metal and olivine in these basalts correspond to observed concentrations only where metal precipitation is delayed until the liquid has crystallized 4–5 wt.% olivine.