Antarctic Meteorite Petrographic Description

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Sample Petrographic Description

Sample Number

GRA 98108

Newsletter

23,1

Location

Graves Nunataks

Field Number

11510

Dimensions (cm)

2.0 x 2.0 x 2.0

Weight (g)

12.68

Original Classification

Diogenite (Olivine)

Mineral Composition (%Fa & %Fs)

Fayalite (mol%): 27;Ferrosilite (mol%): 22

Weathering

Fracturing

Macroscopic Description - Kathleen McBride

The exterior surface of this meteorite has small patches of rough, black fusion crust (5% of surface area). The exposed interior is yellowish-green, coarse-grained olivine crystals. There are some areas that appear to be rust stained or have root beer (pyroxene?) colored minerals. The olivine crystals are opaque to transparent. Freshly broken faces show transparent, white crystalline (plagioclase?) material with coarser-grained olivine. Single grains are several mm in length. Individual crystal faces are visible as well as cleavage planes. There are several rusty areas where minerals are stained. Maroon colored minerals and small black specks are distributed throughout the rock.

Thin Section Description (,5) - Tim McCoy

The section contains both finer-grained (0.2-0.5 mm grain size) equigranular areas of olivine, orthopyroxene and rare plagioclase with 120º triple junctions, and coarser (up to 5 mm) grains of orthopyroxene and olivine intergrown with ragged boundaries. Orthopyroxene is the more abundant phase. Olivine is Fa₂₇, orthopyroxene is Fs₂₂Wo₂and plagioclase is An₈₉. The Fe/Mn ratio is ~27. Opaque phases comprise only a few percent of the rock and include troilite, chromite and rare metal. It is moderately shocked. It is an unusual achondrite, and is most likely an olivine diogenite.

Antarctic Meteorite Images for Sample GRA 98108

Field Photo(s) :

ANSMET GRA 98108 - Field Number: 11510, NASA Photo Number: jsc2018e087499

Field photo image(s) courtesy of the ANSMET (ANtarctic Search for METeorites) Program, Case Western Reserve University and the University of Utah

Antarctic Meteorite Images for Sample GRA 98108

Lab Photo(s) :

Lab Photo of Sample GRA 98108 Showing Bottom View

Antarctic Meteorite Images for Sample GRA 98108

Thin Section Photo(s) :

Thin Section Photo of Sample GRA 98108 in Cross-Polarized Light with 1.25X Magnification

References for Sample GRA98108

Righter, K., Sutton, S.R., Danielson, L., Pando, K., Newville, M., 2016, Redox variations in the inner solar system with new constraints from vanadium XANES in spinels. , American Mineralogist, 101 , 1928-1944 .

Mittlefehldt, D. W., 2015, Asteroid (4) Vesta: I. The howardite-eucrite-diogenite (HED) clan of meteorites. , Chemie der Erde - Geochemistry, 75 Issue 2 , Jun-15 , 155-183 , ISSN 0009-2819 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemer.2014.08.002 .

Beck, A. W., Lawrence, D. J., Peplowski, P. N., Prettyman, T. H., Mccoy, T. J., Mcsween, H. Y., Toplis, M. J., Yamashita, N., 2015, Using HED meteorites to interpret neutron and gamma-ray data from asteroidÿ4 Vesta. , Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 50 , 1311-1337 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/maps.12467 .

Lunning, N. G., Mcsween Jr., H. Y., Tenner, T. J., Kita, N. T., Bodnar, R. J., 2015, Olivine and pyroxene from the mantle of asteroid 4 Vesta. , Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 418 , 15-May-15 , 126-135 , ISSN 0012-821X , http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2015.02.043 .

Grady, M.M., Pratesi G., and Moggi Cecchi, V., 2014, Atlas of Meteorites , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, , 384 p. .

Greenwood, R. C., Barrat, J. A., Yamaguchi, A., Franchi, I. A., Scott, E. R., Bottke, W. F., Gibson, J. M., 2014, The oxygen isotope composition of diogenites: Evidence for early global melting on a single, compositionally diverse, HED parent body. , Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 390 , 165-174 .

Mittlefehldt, D. W., Beck, A. W., Lee, C.-T. A., Mcsween, H. Y., Buchanan, P. C., 2012, Compositional constraints on the genesis of diogenites. , Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 47 , 72-98 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2011.01314.x .

Beck, A. W., Mcsween Jr., H. Y., 2010, Diogenites as polymict breccias composed of orthopyroxenite and harzburgite. , Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 45 , 850-872 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2010.01061.x .

Shearer, C. K., Burger, P., Papike, J. J., 2010, Petrogenetic relationships between diogenites and olivine diogenites: Implications for magmatism on the HED parent body. , Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 74 Issue 16 , 15-Aug-10 , 4865-4880 , ISSN 0016-7037 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2010.05.015 .

Schultz, L., Franke, L., 2004, Helium, neon, and argon in meteorites: A data collection. , Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 39 , 1889-1890 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.2004.tb00083.x .

, PLATE Preface-Pictorial Guide to Selected Meteorites, 2015, In Righter, K., Corrigan, C.M., McCoy, T.J., and Harvey, R.P. Meteorites: A Pictorial Guide to the Collection, First Edition , AGU Wiley, Book Plates, .

RELAB, , Reflectance Experiment Lab , catalogue of samples, .

Antarctic Meteorite Petrographic Description

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