Electron petrography of shock-deformed olivine in stony meteorites

We have studied olivine by high-voltage electron microscopy in meteorites showing shock effects, namely the ordinary chondrites Olivenza and Hedjaz, the ureilite Goalpara and the carbonaceous chondrite Allende. The observations are compared with published data on experimentally deformed and annealed olivine.Olivenza and Hedjaz have suffered low-temperature shock, which has produced high densities of [001] screw dislocations and cracks. Arrays of cracks are found to correspond to planar features which can be seen optically and to be responsible for mosaicism. Goalpara has suffered very heavy shock, of which the final result is extensive recrystallization of the olivine, and the new grains have distinctive low-density distributions of dislocations. Allende has not been shocked as a whole, but individual parts have deformational and heating histories dating from before the aggregation of the meteorite.