Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T01:33:29.018Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Two kinds of exsolution in chondritic olivine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

J. R. Ashworth*
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Aston in Birmingham, Birmingham B4 7ET

Summary

Transmission electron microscopy of several chondritic meteorites reveals exsolution products of two kinds in olivine. The coarser variety comprises particles that have nucleated heterogeneously on subgrain boundaries. Electron microprobe data confirm that these are chromite. The second variety, consisting of smaller precipitates distributed randomly, is interpreted as a homogeneously nucleated analogue of the first. It is potentially important as an indicator of cooling history. The aluminium-poor compositions of heterogeneously exsolved chromites suggest that some Cr may have entered tetrahedral sites in olivine during initial rapid crystallization from the melt.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1979

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arai, (S.), 1978. Chromian spinel lamellae in olivine from the Isanai-Dake peridotite mass, Hokkaido, Japan. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 39, 267-73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashworth, (J. R.) and Barber, (D. J.), 1977. Electron microscopy of some stony meteorites. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 286, 493-506.Google Scholar
Bell, (P. M.), Mao, (H. K.), Roedder, (E.), and Weiblen, (P. W.), 1975. The problem of the origin of symplectites in olivine-bearing lunar rocks. Proc. 6th Lunar Sci. Conf. 1, 231-48.Google Scholar
Bunch, (T. E.), Keil, (K.), and Snetsinger, (K. G.), 1967. Chromite composition in relation to chemistry and texture of ordinary chondrites. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta,. 31, 1569-82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Champness, (P. E.), 1970. Nucleation and growth of iron oxides in olivines, (Mg,Fe)2SiO4. Mineral, Mag. 37, 790-800.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deer, (W. A.), Howie, (R. A.), and Zussman, (J.), 1962. Rock-forming Minerals,. 1, 5-6. London, Longmans.Google Scholar
Deer, (W. A.), Howie, (R. A.), and Zussman, (J.) 1963. Rock-forming Minerals, 5, fig. 6. London, Longmans.Google Scholar
Dodd, (R. T.), 1969. Metamorphism of the ordinary chondrites: A review. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta,. 33, 161-203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dodd, (R. T.) 1973. Minor clement abundances in olivines of the Sharps (H-3) chondrite. Contrib. Mineral. Petrol. 42, 159-67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dodd, (R. T.) Morrison-Smith, (D. J.), and Heyse, (J. V.), 1975. Chromium-bearing olivine in the St. Mesmin chon-drite. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta,. 39, 1621-7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Okamura, (F. P.), McCallum, (I. S.), Stroh, (J. M.), and Ghose, (S.), 1976. Pyroxene-spinel intergrowths in lunar and terrestrial pyroxenes. Proc. 7th Lunar Sci. Conf. 2, 1889-99.Google Scholar
Ramdohr, (P.), 1973. The Opaque Minerals in Stony Meteorites, 47. Amsterdam, Elsevier.Google Scholar
Reed, (S. J. B.) and Long, (J. V. P.), 1963. Electron-probe measurements near phase boundaries. In X-ray optics and X-ray microarralysis. Eds. V. E. Cosslett and A. Engström. New York, Academic Press.Google Scholar
Van Schmus, (W. R.), 1969. The mineralogy and petrology of chondritic meteorites. Earth Sci. Rev. 5, 145-84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Schmus, (W. R.) and Wood, (J. A.), 1967. A chemical-petrologic classification for the chondritic meteorites. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta,. 31, 747-65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yund, (R. A.) and McCallister, (R. H.), 1970. Kinetics and mechanism of exsolution. Chem. Geol. 6, 5-30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar