The Nakhla Martian meteorite is a cumulate igneous rock. Comment on “Glass-bearing inclusions in Nakhla (SNC meteorite) augite: heterogeneously trapped phases” (2001) by M. E. Varela, G. Kurat, and R. Clocchiatti

Summary ?All the properties of the Nakhla Martian meteorite suggest that it is a cumulate igneous rock, formed from a basaltic parental magma. Anomalous magmatic inclusions in Nakhla’s augite grains (Varela et al., 2001) can be explained by disequilibrium processes during crystal growth, and have little significance in the geological history of the meteorite. Received January 17, 2002; revised version accepted April 12, 2002