Matrices of type 3 ordinary chondrites—primitive nebular records

Petrologic studies were made on the fine-grained matrices of type 3 ordinary chondrites of the lowest petrologic subtype. The matrix minerals, in order of abundance, are olivine (Fo₉₉ to Fo₉), enstatite or bronzite, augite or subcalcic augite, albite, Fe-Ni metal, troilite, magnetite, spinel (MgAl₂O₄), chromite, and calcite. Fe- and Mg-rich fluffy particles and albite-like particles are also major constituents. The chemical compositions of olivine and pyroxenes vary within and among the chondrites and are in gross disequilibrium, showing that the matrix materials were hardly heated after their formation. Textural relationships indicate that magnesian olivine was formed after Ca-pyroxene, followed by intermediate to iron-rich olivine. Intermediate olivine was formed from enstatite and metallic iron under relatively oxidizing conditions. The observations indicate that matrices of chondrites are neither the fragments of chondrules nor the precursors of chondrules. They were mostly the products of condensation and reaction among solids and/or between solids and the ambient gas mostly at low temperatures, and thus they contain records of primitive processes in the nebula. In order to explain the presence of olivines more iron-rich than Fo₅₀, the presence of free SiO₂ or a high activity of SiO₂ in the gas is necessary, which was not shown in previous thermochemical calculations. Mineral assemblages of matrix minerals of chondrites of different chemical groups differ systematically according to oxidation state of the parental meteorites, indicating that they were formed at different oxygen fugacities. The rims of chondrules, and surrounding matrix materials, must have accreted onto chondrules during turbulent movements of the nebula.