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1.
Abstract– Petrological and geochemical analyses of Miller Range (MIL) 03346 indicate that this meteorite originated from the same augitic cumulate layer(s) as the nakhlite Martian meteorites, but underwent rapid cooling prior to complete crystallization. As with the other nakhlites, MIL 03346 contains a secondary alteration assemblage, in this case consisting of iddingsite‐like alteration veins in olivine phenocrysts, Fe‐oxide alteration veins associated with the mesostasis, and Ca‐ and K,Fe‐sulfate veins. We compared the textural and mineralogical compositions of MIL 090030, 090032, and 090136 with MIL 03346, focusing on the composition and Raman spectra of the alteration assemblages. These observations indicate that the meteorites are paired, and that the preterrestrial olivine‐bound alteration assemblages were produced by weakly acidic brine. Although these alteration assemblages resemble similar assemblages in Nakhla, the absence of siderite and halite in the Miller Range nakhlites indicates that the parental alteration brine was comparatively HCO3? depleted, and less concentrated, than that which altered Nakhla. This indicates that the Miller Range nakhlite alteration brine experienced a separate evolutionary pathway to that which altered Nakhla, and therefore represents a separate branch of the Lafayette‐Nakhla evaporation sequence. Thin‐sections cut from the internal portions of these meteorites (away from any fusion crust or terrestrially exposed edge), contain little Ca‐sulfate (identified as gypsum), and no jarosite, whereas thin‐sections with terrestrially exposed edges have much higher sulfate abundances. These observations suggest that at least the majority of sulfate within the Miller Range nakhlites is terrestrially derived.  相似文献   

2.
The weathering products present in igneous terrestrial Antarctic samples were analyzed, and compared with those found in the four Miller Range nakhlite Martian meteorites. The aim of these comparisons was to determine which of the alteration phases in the Miller Range nakhlites are produced by terrestrial weathering, and what effect rock composition has on these phases. Antarctic terrestrial samples MIL 05031 and EET 96400, along with the Miller Range nakhlites MIL 03346 and 090032, were found to contain secondary alteration assemblages at their externally exposed surfaces. Despite the difference in primary mineralogy, the assemblages of these rocks consist mostly of sulfates (jarosite in MIL 05031, jarosite and gypsum in EET 96400) and iddingsite‐like Fe‐clay. As neither of the terrestrial samples contains sulfur‐bearing primary minerals, and these minerals are rare in the Miller Range nakhlites, it appears that SO42?, possibly along with some of the Na+, K+, and Ca+ in these phases, was sourced from wind‐blown sea spray and biogenic emissions from the southern ocean. Cl enrichment in the terrestrially derived “iddingsite” of MIL 05031 and MIL 03346, and the presence of halite at the exterior edge of MIL 090032, can also be explained by this process. However, jarosite within and around the olivine‐bound melt inclusions of MIL 090136 is present in the interior of the meteorite and, therefore, is probably the product of preterrestrial weathering on Mars.  相似文献   

3.
Abstract— Antarctic meteorite Miller Range (MIL) 03346 is a nakhlite composed of 79% clinopyroxene, ?1% olivine, and 20% vitrophyric intercumulus material. We have performed a petrological and geochemical study of MIL 03346, demonstrating a petrogenetic history similar to previously discovered nakhlites. Quantitative textural study of MIL 03346 indicates long (>1 × 101 yr) residence times for the cumulus augite, whereas the skeletal Fe‐Ti oxide, fayalite, and sulfide in the vitrophyric intercumulus matrix suggest rapid cooling, probably as a lava flow. From the relatively high forsterite contents of olivine (up to Fo43) compared with other nakhlites and compositions of augite cores (Wo38–42En35–40Fs22–28) and their hedenbergite rims, we suggest that MIL 03346 is part of the same or a similar Martian cumulate‐rich lava flow as other nakhlites. However, MIL 03346 has experienced less equilibration and faster cooling than other nakhlites discovered to date. Calculated trace element concentrations based upon modal abundances of MIL 03346 and its constituent minerals are identical to whole rock trace element abundances. Parental melts for augite have REE patterns that are approximately parallel with whole rock and intercumulus melt using experimentally defined partition coefficients. This parallelism reflects closed‐system crystallization for MIL 03346, where the only significant petrogenetic process between formation of augite and eruption and emplacement of the nakhlite flow has been fractional crystallization. A model for the petrogenesis of MIL 03346 and the nakhlites (Nakhla, Governador Valadares, Lafayette, Yamato‐000593, Northwest Africa (NWA) 817, NWA 998) would include: 1) partial melting and ascent of melt generated from a long‐term LREE depleted mantle source, 2) crystallization of cumulus augite (± olivine, ± magnetite) in a shallow‐level Martian magma chamber, 3) eruption of the crystal‐laden nakhlite magma onto the surface of Mars, 4) cooling, crystal settling, overgrowth, and partial equilibration to different extents within the flow, 5) secondary alteration through hydrothermal processes, possibly immediately succeeding or during emplacement of the flow. This model might apply to single—or multiple—flow models for the nakhlites. Ultimately, MIL 03346 and the other nakhlites preserve a record of magmatic processes in volcanic rocks on Mars with analogous petrogenetic histories to pyroxene‐rich terrestrial lava flows and to komatiites.  相似文献   

4.
Abstract— We petrologically examined the Miller Range (MIL) 03346 nakhlite. The main‐phase modal abundances are 67.7 vol% augite, 0.8 vol% olivine, and 31.5 vol% mesostasis. Among all known nakhlites, MIL 03346's modal abundance of olivine is the smallest and of mesostasis is the largest. Augite occurs as cumulus phenocrysts having a homogeneous core composition (En36–38Fs24–22Wo40), which is identical with other nakhlites. They accompany thin ferroan rims divided into inner and outer rims with a compositional gap at the boundary between the two rims. Olivine grains have magnesian cores (Fa ≥ 55) and show normal zoning toward ferroan rims (Fa ≤ 84). Mesostasis consists mostly of glass (26.0 vol%) with minor skeletal fayalites, skeletal titanomagnetites, acicular phosphate, massive cristobalite, and sulfides. We conclude that MIL 03346 is the most rapidly cooled nakhlite among all known nakhlites based on the petrography. We obtain the intercumulus melt composition for MIL 03346 from the mass balance calculation using the modal abundances and discuss the crystallization sequence of MIL 03346 in comparison with that of Yamato (Y‐) 000593. Although magnesian olivines of Y‐000593 are phenocrystic, magnesian olivine grains of MIL 03346 seem to have texturally crystallized from the intercumulus melt. After the MIL 03346 magma intruded upward to the Martian surficial zone, the magnesian olivine crystallized, and then the ferroan inner rim formed on phenocrystic core augite. The outer rim of phenocrystic augites formed after the crystallization of skeletal fayalites and skeletal titanomagnetites, resulting in a compositional gap between the inner and outer rims. Finally, glassy mesostasis formed from the residual melt. This crystallization sequence of MIL 03346 is different from those of other nakhlites, including Y‐000593.  相似文献   

5.
Abstract— Crystallization of parent melts for nakhlites was experimentally studied under QFM ± 2 at one bar. Isothermal experiments suggest that melts having parent magma composition for nakhlites crystallize both augites and titanomagnetites at liquidus temperatures of 1144–1154 °C. Compositions of the augites are identical to those of phenocrystic core augites (En36–38Fs22–25Wo39–40) in nakhlites. No olivines crystallize from the isothermal runs, and solidus temperature is about 1000 °C. Linear‐cooling experiments were carried out at various cooling rates (1–17 °C/h) ranging from liquidus to solidus temperatures under similar pressure conditions to the isothermal runs. Augites, titanomagnetites, and fayalites crystallized in the cooling runs, but magnesian olivines never crystallized there. Magnesian core augite in the cooling runs has the same composition as those of nakhlites. Rims of augite crystals from the cooling runs of 1–4 °C/h consist of two layers, ferroan augite inner rim and hedenbergite outer rim, which are very similar to those in the Miller Range (MIL) 03346 nakhlite. Small amounts of pyroxferroite crystallized in mesostasis and augite rims from two cooling runs. Titanomagnetites from cooling runs never accompany ilmenite lamellae as seen in nakhlites, suggesting that the subsolidus cooling rate of the cooling runs was much more rapid than those of nakhlite intercumulus melts. The cooling experiments reproduce the crystallization processes of pyroxenes and the compositional change of residual melt for a rapidly cooled magma such as MIL 03346.  相似文献   

6.
We present a geochemical study of recently discovered Martian meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 5790 and use our results to constrain its origin and relationship with the other nakhlites. This nakhlite is a clinopyroxene cumulate composed of phenocrysts of augite, olivine, and rare oxides surrounded by a mesostasis composed of vitrophyric glass, feldspars, oxides, phosphates, and fine‐grained olivines and augite. Petrography, and major and trace element compositions of the phases present are consistent with derivation of NWA 5790 from a parental magma common to all the nakhlites. Olivine cores grew from a distinct, incompatible‐element enriched magma and are surrounded by rims containing augite inclusions that grew from the nakhlite parental liquid, supporting previous arguments for xenocrystic olivine cores in nakhlites. Rare earth element microdistributions suggest derivation of NWA 5790 augites from an evolved, relatively oxidized magma, produced by augite fractionation from the common nakhlite parental liquid. Augite grain shapes and CSD patterns are consistent with rapid cooling and derivation near the top of the nakhlite cumulate pile, but patterns are distinct from other nakhlites thought to have formed near the stratigraphic top. The high mesostasis abundance (~44 vol%) indicates solidification near the top of the nakhlite pile close to locations suggested for nakhlites NWA 817 and Miller Range (MIL) 03346. However, the geochemical and petrographic characteristics of these three samples do not permit their placement in a simple stratigraphic order as would occur in a single lava flow. This lack of simple ordering suggests that the nakhlite lava flow split into multiple sections as would occur during breakouts from a single lava flow. Finally we note that NWA 5790 is unique among currently available nakhlites in having phenocryst abundances low enough to allow it to flow.  相似文献   

7.
Abstract— Experimentally rehomogenized melt inclusions from the nakhlite Miller Range 03346 (MIL 03346) and the lherzolitic shergottite Allan Hills 77005 (ALH 77005) have been analyzed for their rare earth element (REE) concentrations in order to characterize the early melt compositions of these Martian meteorites and to calculate the oxygen fugacity conditions they crystallized under. D(Eu/Sm)pyroxene/melt values were measured at 0.77 and 1.05 for ALH 77005 and MIL 03346, respectively. These melts and their associated whole rock compositions have similar REE patterns, suggesting that whole rock REE values are representative of those of the early melts and can be used as input into the pyroxene Eu‐oxybarometer for the nakhlites and lherzolitic shergottites. Crystallization fO2 values of IW + 1.1 (ALH 77005) and IW + 3.2 (MIL 03346) were calculated. Whole rock data from other nakhlites and lherzolitic shergottites was input into the Eu‐oxybarometer to determine their crystallization fO2 values. The lherzolitic shergottites and nakhlites have fO2 values that range from IW + 0.4 to 1.6 and from IW + 1.1 to 3.2, respectively. These values are consistent with some previously determined fO2 estimates and expand the known range of fO2 values of the Martian interior to four orders of magnitude. The origins of this range are not well constrained. Possible mechanisms for producing this spread in fO2 values include mineral/melt fractionation, assimilation, shock effects, and magma ocean crystallization processes. Mineral/melt partitioning can result in changes in fO2 from the start to the finish of crystallization of 2 orders of magnitude. In addition, crystallization of a Martian magma ocean with reasonable initial water content results in oxidized, water‐rich, late‐stage cumulates. Sampling of these oxidized cumulates or interactions between reduced melts and the oxidized material can potentially account for the range of fO2 values observed in the Martian meteorites.  相似文献   

8.
Caleta el Cobre (CeC) 022 is a Martian meteorite of the nakhlite group, showing an unbrecciated cumulate texture, composed mainly of clinopyroxene and olivine. Augite shows irregular core zoning, euhedral rims, and thin overgrowths enriched in Fe relative to the core. Low‐Ca pyroxene is found adjacent to olivine. Phenocrysts of Fe‐Ti oxides are titanomagnetite with exsolutions of ilmenite/ulvöspinel. Intercumulus material consists of both coarse plagioclase and fine‐grained mesostasis, comprising K‐feldspars, pyroxene, apatite, ilmenite, Fe‐Ti oxides, and silica. CeC 022 shows a high proportion of Martian aqueous alteration products (iddingsite) in olivine (45.1 vol% of olivine) and mesostasis. This meteorite is the youngest nakhlite with a distinct Sm/Nd crystallization age of 1.215 ± 0.067 Ga. Its ejection age of 11.8 ± 1.8 Ma is similar to other nakhlites. CeC 022 reveals contrasted cooling rates with similarities with faster cooled nakhlites, such as Northwest Africa (NWA) 817, NWA 5790, or Miller Range 03346 nakhlites: augite irregular cores, Fe‐rich overgrowths, fine‐grained K‐feldspars, quenched oxides, and high rare earth element content. CeC 022 also shares similarities with slower cooled nakhlites, including Nakhla and NWA 10153: pyroxene modal abundance, pyroxenes crystal size distribution, average pyroxene size, phenocryst mineral compositions, unzoned olivine, and abundant coarse plagioclase. Moreover, CeC 022 is the most magnetic nakhlite and represents an analog source lithology for the strong magnetization of the Martian crust. With its particular features, CeC 022 must originate from a previously unsampled sill or flow in the same volcanic system as the other nakhlites, increasing Martian sample diversity and our knowledge of nakhlites.  相似文献   

9.
Abstract— Dynamic crystallization experiments performed on Fe‐rich, Al‐poor basalt are employed as a textural calibration set to quantify the late‐stage igneous history of nakhlite Miller Range (MIL) 03346. The ratio of crystal‐melt surface area to volume typifying morphologically distinct populations of Ca‐pyroxene has been shown to vary as a strong function of cooling rate (Hammer 2006). Furthermore, a texture of phenocrysts surrounded by finer‐grained groundmass crystals arises by sequential nucleation events during constant‐rate cooling, but multiple populations nucleate only if the cooling rate is 72 °C h?1. Textural analysis of meteorite MIL 03346 reveals at least two distinct populations. The Ca‐pyroxene phenocryst and microphenocryst three dimensional (3D) aspect ratios are 112 ± 8.3 and 1530 ± 160 mm?1, respectively. By comparison with the calibration set, the range of cooling rates consistent with 3D aspect ratios of both populations in MIL 03346 is ?20 °C h?1An additional experiment was performed approximating a conductive heat transfer profile in order to interpret and apply results of constant‐rate cooling experiments to the natural cooling of magma. Results suggest that the textures of constant‐rate experiments parallel the initial period of rapid cooling in natural magma. Initial cooling rates of ?20 °C h?1in the lava hosting MIL 03346 occur in conductively solidifying lava at depths of?0.4 m, constraining the minimum total thickness to 0.8 m. Crystal accumulation beginning in a subsurface reservoir and continuing after lava emplacement as an inflated pahoehoe sheet satisfies all textural constraints on the late‐stage igneous history of MIL 03346.  相似文献   

10.
Recently it has been shown that the relatively low closure temperature (Tc) of 500 (100)°C calculated for augite from Miller Range nakhlite (MIL 03346,13) using the available geothermometers would correspond to a slow cooling rate inconsistent with the petrologic evidence for an origin from a fast‐cooled lava flow. Moreover, previous annealing experiments combined with HR‐SC‐XRD on an augite crystal from MIL 03346 clearly showed that at 600 °C, the Fe2+‐Mg degree of order remained unchanged, thus suggesting that the actual Tc is close to this temperature. In order to clarify this discrepancy, we undertook an ex situ annealing experimental study at 700, 800, and 900 °C, until the equilibrium in the intracrystalline Fe2+‐Mg exchange is reached, using an augite crystal from Miller Range nakhlite (MIL 03346,13) with a composition of about En36Fs24Wo40. These data allowed us to calculate the following new geothermometer calibration for Martian nakhlites: where The application of this new equation to other Martian nakhlites (NWA 988 and Nakhla) suggests that for augite with composition close to that of MIL 03346, the Tc is up to 170 °C higher with respect to the one calculated using the previous available geothermometer equation, thus suggesting a significantly faster cooling in agreement with petrologic evidence.  相似文献   

11.
Abstract— Pyroxene structural data, along with analyses of titanomagnetite, fayalite and mesostasis of the new nakhlite Miller Range (MIL) 03346, define equilibration near 1 bar, 1100 °C, and oxygen fugacity near the FMQ buffer. There is a clear progression of oxygen fugacity (fO2) in Martian meteorites from reduced Allan Hills (ALH) 84001 to intermediate shergottites to oxidized nakhlites. This trend can be explained by polybaric graphite‐CO‐CO2 equilibria in the Martian mantle. Shergottites would have formed at pressures between 1.2 and 3.0 GPa, and nakhlite parent liquids formed at pressures >3.0 GPa, consistent with geochemical and petrologic data for the shergottites and nahklites. Carbon buffering in the Martian mantle could be responsible for variation in fO2 in Martian meteorites (rather than assimilation or crustal interaction), as well as C‐H‐O fluids that could be the source of ˜30 ppb CH4 detected by recent spacecraft missions. The conundrum of an oxidized current mantle and basalts, but reduced early mantle during core‐mantle equilibrium exists for both the Earth and Mars. A polybaric buffering role for graphite can explain this discrepancy for Mars, and thus it may not be necessary to have an oxidation mechanism like the dissociation of MgFe‐perovskite to account for the oxidized terrestrial mantle.  相似文献   

12.
Nakhlites, clinopyroxenite meteorites from Mars, share common crystallization and ejection ages, suggesting that they might have been ejected from the same place on Mars by the same ejection event (impact) and are different samples of the same thick volcanic flow unit or shallow sill. Mean modal abundances and abundance ranges of pyroxene, olivine, and mesostasis vary widely among different thin‐sections of an individual nakhlite. Lithologic heterogeneity is the main factor contributing to the observed modal‐abundance variations measured in thin‐sections prepared from different fragments of the same stone. Two groups of nakhlites are distinguished from one another by which major constituent varies the least and the abundance of that constituent. The group consisting of Nakhla, Lafayette, Governador Valadares, and the Yamato nakhlite pairing group is characterized by low modal mesostasis and pyroxene‐olivine covariance, whereas the group consisting of the Miller Range nakhlite pairing group and Northwest Africa 5790 is characterized by low modal olivine and pyroxene‐mesostasis covariance. These two groups sample the slowest‐cooled interior portion and the chilled margin, respectively, of the nakhlite emplacement body as presently understood, and appear to be also related to recently proposed nakhlite groups independently established using compositional rather than petrographic observations. Phenocryst modal abundances vary with inferred depth in the nakhlite igneous body in a manner consistent with solidification of the nakhlite stack from dynamically sorted phenocryst‐rich magmatic crystal‐liquid mush.  相似文献   

13.
Twelve samples belonging to the chassignite and nakhlite subgroups of Martian meteorites were investigated using a variety of micro‐beam analytical techniques to gain insight into the petrogenesis of these two meteorite classes. There are a striking number of geochemical similarities between the chassignites and nakhlites, including mineralogy and petrology, crystallization age, cosmic‐ray exposure age, and radiogenic isotopic compositions. However, there are also geochemical differences, namely in trace element systematics of pyroxenes, that have led some authors to conclude that the nakhlites are comagmatic with each other, but not comagmatic with the chassignites. On the basis of data presented here, we propose a model in which these differences can be reconciled by the addition of an exogenous Cl‐rich fluid to the chassignite‐nakhlite magma body shortly after the formation of the cumulate horizon that was sampled by the Chassigny meteorite. This model is supported by the textural and chemical associations of the volatile‐bearing minerals apatite, amphibole, and biotite, which record a history starting with the addition of a Cl‐ and LREE‐enriched fluid to the magma body. As the magma continued to crystallize, it eventually reached chloride saturation and degassed a Cl‐rich fluid phase. Depending on the provenance of the Cl‐rich fluid, this model could explain how the chassignites and nakhlites originated from an LREE‐depleted source, yet all exhibit LREE‐enriched bulk‐rock patterns. Additionally, the model explains the range in oxygen fugacity that is recorded by the chassignites and nakhlites because eventual exsolution and loss of Cl‐rich fluid phases near the end of crystallization of the nakhlite sequence leads to auto‐oxidation of the magma body due to the preferential partitioning of Fe2+ into the fluid phase.  相似文献   

14.
Northwest Africa (NWA) 6112, Miller Range (MIL) 090206 (plus its pairs: MIL 090340 and MIL 090405), and Divnoe are olivine‐rich ungrouped achondrites. We investigated and compared their petrography, mineralogy, and olivine fabrics. We additionally measured the oxygen isotopic compositions of NWA 6112. They show similar petrography, mineralogy, and oxygen isotopic compositions and we concluded that these five meteorites are brachinite clan meteorites. We found that NWA 6112 and Divnoe had a c axis concentration pattern of olivine fabrics using electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD). NWA 6112 and Divnoe are suggested to have been exposed to magmatic melt flows during their crystallization on their parent body. On the other hand, the three MIL meteorites have b axis concentration patterns of olivine fabrics. This indicates that the three MIL meteorites may be cumulates where compaction of olivine grains was dominant. Alternatively, they formed as residues and were exposed to olivine compaction. The presence of two different olivine fabric patterns implies that the parent body(s) of brachinite clan meteorites experienced diverse igneous processes.  相似文献   

15.
Abstract– The absence of dunite (>90 vol% olivine) in the howardite, eucrite, and diogenite (HED) meteorite suite, when viewed with respect to spectroscopic and petrologic evidence for olivine on Vesta, is problematic. Herein, we present petrologic, geochemical, and isotopic evidence confirming that Miller Range (MIL) 03443, containing 91 vol% olivine, should be classified with the HED clan rather than with mesosiderites. Similarities in olivine and pyroxene FeO/MnO ratios, mineral compositions, and unusual mineral inclusions between MIL 03443 and the diogenites support their formation on a common parent body. This hypothesis is bolstered by oxygen isotopic and bulk geochemical data. Beyond evidence for its reclassification, we present observations and interpretations that MIL 03443 is probably a crustal cumulate rock like the diogenites, rather than a sample of the Vestan mantle.  相似文献   

16.
Carbonaceous chondrites of the Vigarano group (CV) are primitive (nearly un-metamorphosed) meteorites that provide a wealth of information about the early solar system, including constraints on chondrule formation, origin of calcium-aluminum inclusions, stability of organic compounds, and redox conditions. The US Antarctic meteorite collection contains 119 CV samples from 15 dense collection areas (DCAs) from the TransAntarctic Mountains; these samples have been assigned a preliminary classification as CVs, but not to the subgroups oxidized A, oxidized B, and reduced. Furthermore, variation in petrologic grade can be determined non-destructively using Raman spectroscopy. To update the classification of both subgroups and petrologic types in the collection, we have acquired magnetic susceptibility, metal and sulfide compositions, and Raman spectra. Overall, there are 55 oxidized A samples, 18 oxidized B samples, and 46 reduced samples. Several of the CVs are quite primitive (Lewis Cliffs Ice Tongue and MacAlpine Hills) but are also very small. Multiple pairing groups have been identified in the Miller Range (MIL), Queen Alexandra Range, and Larkman Nunatak DCAs, including all of the subgroups. In MIL 090981, there is evidence for multiple lithologies. We make suggested updates for all the samples, knowing that this information will help to better guide researchers interested in studying the CV chondrites in the US Antarctic meteorite collection.  相似文献   

17.
Potassic‐chloro‐hastingsite has been found in melt inclusions in MIL 03346, its paired stones, and NWA 5790. It is some of the most chlorine‐rich amphibole ever analyzed. In this article, we evaluate what crystal chemistry, terrestrial analogs, and experiments have shown about how chlorine‐dominant amphibole (chloro‐amphibole) forms and apply these insights to the nakhlites. Chloro‐amphibole is rare, with about a dozen identified localities on Earth. It is always rich in potassium and iron and poor in titanium. In terrestrial settings, its presence has been interpreted to result from medium to high‐grade alteration (>400 °C) of a protolith by an alkali and/or iron chloride‐rich aqueous fluid. Ferrous chloride fluids exsolved from mafic magmas can cause such alteration, as can crustal fluids that have reacted with rock and lost H2O in preference to chloride, resulting in concentrated alkali chloride fluids. In the case of the nakhlites, an aqueous alkali‐ferrous chloride fluid was exsolved from the parental melt as it crystallized. This aqueous chloride fluid itself likely unmixed into chloride‐dominant and water‐dominant fluids. Chloride‐dominant fluid was trapped in some melt inclusions and reacted with the silicate contents of the inclusion to form potassic‐chloro‐hastingsite.  相似文献   

18.
Meteorites ejected from the surface of the Moon as a result of impact events are an important source of lunar material in addition to Apollo and Luna samples. Here, we report bulk element composition, mineral chemistry, age, and petrography of Miller Range (MIL) 090036 and 090070 lunar meteorites. MIL 090036 and 090070 are both anorthositic regolith breccias consisting of mineral fragments and lithic clasts in a glassy matrix. They are not paired and represent sampling of two distinct regions of the lunar crust that have protoliths similar to ferroan anorthosites. 40Ar‐39Ar chronology performed on two subsplits of MIL 090070,33 (a pale clast impact melt and a dark glassy melt component) shows that the sample underwent two main degassing events, one at ~3.88 Ga and another at ~3.65 Ga. The cosmic ray exposure data obtained from MIL 090070 are consistent with a short (~8–9 Ma) exposure close to the lunar surface. Bulk‐rock FeO, TiO2, and Th concentrations in both samples were compared with 2‐degree Lunar Prospector Gamma Ray Spectrometer (LP‐GRS) data sets to determine areas of the lunar surface where the regolith matches the abundances observed on the sample. We find that MIL 090036 bulk rock is compositionally most similar to regolith surrounding the Procellarum KREEP Terrane, whereas MIL 090070 best matches regolith in the feldspathic highlands terrane on the lunar farside. Our results suggest that some areas of the lunar farside crust are composed of ferroan anorthosite, and that the samples shed light on the evolution and impact bombardment history of the ancient lunar highlands.  相似文献   

19.
Miller Range (MIL) 090340 and MIL 090206 are olivine‐rich achondrites originally classified as ureilites. We investigate their petrography, mineral compositions, olivine Cr valences, equilibration temperatures, and (for MIL 090340) oxygen isotope compositions, and compare them with ureilites and other olivine‐rich achondrites. We conclude that they are brachinite‐like achondrites that provide new insights into the petrogenesis of brachinite clan meteorites. MIL 090340,6 has a granoblastic texture and consists of ~97 modal % by area olivine (Fo = molar Mg/[Mg+Fe] = 71.3 ± 0.6). It also contains minor to trace augite, chromite, chlorapatite, orthopyroxene, metal, troilite, and terrestrial Fe‐oxides. Approximately 80% by area of MIL 090206,5 has a granoblastic texture of olivine (Fo 72.3 ± 0.1) plus minor augite and chromite, similar to MIL 090340 but also containing minor plagioclase. The rest of the section consists of a single crystal of orthopyroxene (~11 × 3 mm), poikilitically enclosing rounded grains of olivine (Fo = 76.1 ± 0.6), augite, chromite, metal, and sulfide. Equilibration temperatures for MIL 090340 and MIL 090206, calculated from olivine‐spinel, olivine‐augite, and two‐pyroxene thermometry range from ~800 to 930 °C. In both samples, symplectic intergrowths of Ca‐poor orthopyroxene + opaque phases (Fe‐oxides, sulfide, metal) occur as rims on and veins/patches within olivine. Before terrestrial weathering, the opaques were probably mostly sulfide, with minor metal. All petrologic properties of MIL 090340 and MIL 090206 are consistent with those of brachinite clan meteorites, and largely distinct from those of ureilites. Oxygen isotope compositions of olivine in MIL 090340 (δ18O = 5.08 ± 0.30‰, δ17O = 2.44 ± 0.21‰, and Δ17O = ?0.20 ± 0.12‰) are also within the range of brachinite clan meteorites, and well distinguished from ureilites. Olivine Cr valences in MIL 090340 and the granoblastic area of MIL 090206 are 2.57 ± 0.06 and 2.59 ± 0.07, respectively, similar to those of three brachinites also analyzed here (Brachina, Hughes 026, Nova 003). They are higher than those of olivine in ureilites, even those containing chromite. The valence systematics of MIL 090340, MIL 090206, and the three analyzed brachinites (lower Fo = more oxidized Cr) are consistent with previous evidence that brachinite‐like parent bodies were inherently more oxidized than the ureilite parent body. The symplectic orthopyroxene + sulfide/metal assemblages in MIL 090340, MIL 090206, and many brachinite clan meteorites have superficial similarities to characteristic “reduction rims” in ureilites. However, they differ significantly in detail. They likely formed by reaction of olivine with S‐rich fluids, with only minor reduction. MIL 090340 and the granoblastic area of MIL 090206 are similar in modal mineralogy and texture to most brachinites, but have higher Fo values typical of brachinite‐like achondrites. The poikilitic pyroxene area of MIL 090206 is more typical of brachinite‐like achondrites. The majority of their properties suggest that MIL 090340 and MIL 090206 are residues of low‐degree partial melting. The poikilitic area of MIL 090206 could be a result of limited melt migration, with trapping and recrystallization of a small volume of melt in the residual matrix. These two samples are so similar in mineral compositions, Cr valence, and cosmic ray exposure ages that they could be derived from the same lithologic unit on a common parent body.  相似文献   

20.
Abstract— The unusual composition of the nakhlites, a group of pyroxenitic martian meteorites with young ages, presents an opportunity to learn about nonbasaltic magmatic activity on another planet. However, the limited number of these meteorites makes unraveling their history difficult. A promising terrestrial analog for the formation of the nakhlites is Theo's Flow in Ontario, Canada. This atypical, 120 m-thick flow differentiated in place, forming distinct layered lithologies of peridotite, pyroxenite, and gabbro. Theo's pyroxenite and the nakhlites share strikingly similar petrographies, with concentrated euhedral to subhedral augite grains set in a plagioclase-rich matrix. These two suites of rocks also share specific petrologic features, mineral and whole-rock compositional features, and size and spatial distributions of cumulus grains. The numerous similarities suggest that the nakhlites formed by a similar mechanism in a surface lava flow or shallow intrusion. Their formation could have involved settling of crystals in a phenocryst-laden flow or in situ nucleation and growth of pyroxenes in an ultramafic lava flow. The latter case is more likely and requires steady-state nucleation and growth of clusters of pyroxene grains (and olivine in the nakhlites), circulating in a strongly convecting melt pool, followed by settling and continued growth in a thickening cumulate pile. Trapped pockets of intercumulus liquid in the pile gradually evolved, finally growing Fe-enriched rims on cumulus grains. With sufficient evolution, the melt reached plagioclase supersaturation, causing rapid growth of plagioclase sprays and late-stage mesostasis growth.  相似文献   

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